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M Moser Associates’ office in New York’s 1913-vintage Woolworth Building to be retrofit to Platinum WELL Building Standard

International architecture and design firm M Moser Associates is retrofitting and revitalizing their new office space on the 24th-floor of Manhattan’s Woolworth Building.

The Woolworth Building was built in 1913 and was, at the time, the tallest building in the world, engineered to maintain its own electricity, heat, and subway entrance, with windows that could, and still can, be opened when outdoor pollution levels are low.

While acknowledging challenges in retrofitting old office space, such as dealing with old electrical, old plumbing, and old HVAC, M Moser Associates points out that all buildings represent embodied energy and that embodied energy best be recognized and optimized.

As M Moser Associates revitalizes their office space on the 24th floor, the company will pursue both a Platinum Well Building Standard and USGBC LEED certification.

Initiated by Delos and the International WELL Building Institute, the WELL Building Standard is evidence-based, rating the quality of water, air, and light, and is geared toward occupant health, wellness, fitness, and productivity. The WELL Building Standard “marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based medical and scientific research – harnessing the built environment as a vehicle to support human health and well-being.”

M Moser & Associates brings a similar focus on restructuring and re-engineering office space towards employee health, wellness, and productivity in all of its office spaces, including those in Hong Kong, London, San Francisco, and Guangzhou.

See:

“Woolworth Building Office in New York Becomes a Retrofit Lab” | Alyssa Danigelis, Environmental Leader, 30 October 2017

“Learning from Plans to Retrofit One of America’s Oldest Skyscrapers” | Adele Peters, Fastcodesign, 30 October 2017

Delos

#architecture #design #officespace #InternationalWELLBuildingInstitute #Delos #health #wellness #fitness #urbanliving #urbanluxury #luxury #realestate #commercialrealestate #CRE #builtenvironment #buildingtech #engineering #H2O #CO2 #HongKong #London #SanFrancisco #Guangzhou #resilience

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elegance in design & engineering meets recycling

Ten years in the making, a public-private partnership between the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Sims Municipal Recycling, a division of Sims Metal Management, designed and master-planned by Selldorf Architects, New York City’s 11-acre South Brooklyn Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility performs.

Opened in December of 2013, the 140,000-square-foot facility is the principal processing facility for all of New York City’s residential metal, glass, and plastic recyclables. The facility has the capacity to process 1,000 tons of recyclable material every day.

Selldorf Architects (architect to museums and galleries worldwide, including the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego) organized the buildings to create the site’s own urban context and designed the facility to optimize environmental performance.

The buildings are made from 99% recycled American-made steel. The buildings, wharf, recycling equipment, and electrical substations are elevated four feet – using a blend of recycled glass and crushed stone from Second Avenue subway tunneling operations – to prevent damage from sea level rise and storm surges. New York City’s first commercial-scale (100 kW) wind turbine and the City’s largest solar installation (600 kW) generate energy on site. On-site storm water management is included as are two acres of native plantings.

Access by barge will help eliminate 150,000 annual truck trips (240,000 truck miles). Newly-renovated freight rail will be used for the export of processed recyclables.

See:

“Sustainability and Design Tour of Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility” | AtlasObsura, May 2017

“Selldorf Architects’ Sunset Park recycling facility in Brooklyn sets a new standard in sustainable design” | Pei-Ruh Keh, Wallpaper, 13 December 2013

“Mayor Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Holloway and Sanitation Commissioner Doherty Announce Opening of New State-of-the-Art Recycling Facility – Able to Process Metal, Glass and All Plastics in One Location” | Office of the Mayor, City of New York, 12 December 2013

“Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility” | Selldorf Architects

Sims Municipal Recycling

Sims Recyling Solutions

Sims Metal Management

#sunsetparkmaterialrecoveryfacility #Brooklyn #NewYork #NewYorkCity #SimsMetalManagement #SimsMunicipalRecycling #SelldorfArchitects #NYCEconomicDevelopmentCorporstion #recycling #architecture #design #art #museums #galleries #luxury #smartluxury #urbanluxury #resilience #energy #solar #solarenergy #windenergy #engineering #construction #buildingtech #tech #sealevelrise #stormsurge #CO2 #H2O #realestate #commercialrealestate #CRE #finance #ROI

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buildings are a big part of our lives ・let’s get to know them

Many of us, somewhere in the world, live, work, study, go to school, see the doctor, worship, shop, eat out, vacation, collect and/or exhibit and/or sell art in buildings of some sort. The building might be a single-family home, large or small, grand or modest, a multi-family home, a residential tower, an office building, library, school, a shop large or small, a hotel, resort, or spa, a restaurant, hospital, a gallery or museum, public or private, … the list goes on and on. Buildings are a big part of our lives. Let’s get to know them.

A building is much more than an inert structure that we can take for granted. A building is a system of systems that interacts with us on many levels. A building almost lives.

Dodge Data & Analytics together with United Technologies have published a SmartMarket Report that we all can read. This particular report, World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, focuses on a crucial aspect of buildings, how they are “going green.” The intent of the report is to provide information, new world green building trends data, to support green building development.

The report is long-ish. 60+ pages. So I suggest that you read through it step-by-step, in small increments, perhaps a page or two a day. You’ll find lots of good information, valuable economic analyses, and comparative analyses, illustrating how people in different countries are approaching the development, costs, benefits, and economics of green.

How is “green” defined? “Green building” is defined in the study as a construction project that is either certified under any recognized global green rating system or built to qualify for such certification.

Why “green”? We’ll examine this question step-by-step. Hint? Quality of life, longer-term value, longer-term credibility, higher resale values, “future proof.”

Stay tuned.

See:

“World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report” | Dodge Data & Analytics, United Technologies, 2016

#buildings #builtenvironment #resilience #luxury #smartluxury #houses #museums #galleries #retail #restaurants #hospitals #art #artcollections #collections #hospitality #realestate #CRE #commercialrealestate

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energy-efficient buildings & significant ROI

The return on investment in energy-efficient building features is significant and results accrue to corporate bottom lines.

According to the Morgan Stanley Research report, “Building Energy Efficiency,” the ROI in energy-efficient features can lower the cost of ownership by 50% for commercial buildings.

“Green buildings” can yield significant savings at every scale of construction, operations and maintenance. Rising global demand for such buildings is fueling growth of a high-tech, industrial-strength sector focused on delivering state-of-the-art building materials, equipment and energy management.

Observes Europe-based Sustainability Analyst Faty Dembele,

“With residential, commercial and public buildings accounting for more than an estimated 30% of the world’s energy consumption, this is an area of growing interest for consumers, building owners, tenants and regulators.”

See:

“Green Buildings Power Savings & Return” | Morgan Stanley Research, 20 June 2017

#realestate #commercialrealestate #CRE #residentialrealestate #ROI #finance #investments #greenbuildings #resilience #energy #luxury #smartluxury #urbansmart #art #MorganStanley