The New York Times Is Satisfied plus 24% More Energy Efficient Too

Image Source: The New York Times Headquarters, New York. © PDK Commercial Photographers, Ltd. DBA Bernstein Associates.
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y., November 20, 2013—The Berkeley Lab (LBNL) has produced a monitored evaluation study on The New York Times Building. The study shows that the innovations that lowered energy use by 24% are attainable, as MechoSystems has been promoting for several years.

The post-occupancy study reflects MechoSystems’ claims about its WindowManagement® System: the state-of-the-art SolarTrac® can contribute to both a building’s energy efficiency, and overall occupant comfort. The New York Times Building’s annual energy savings (compared to an ASHRAE 90.1-2001 baseline, reported by the LBNL) highlight the former feature’s success:

43% lighting energy saved.
23% cooling energy saved.
22% peak-day energy saved.
With sustainability and energy efficiency in mind, The New York Times Company pursued lighting and window-shading designs to also ultimately improve the quality of the workplace for its employees. According to the LBNL study, they were successful in reducing energy use and other operating costs, and MechoSystems’ SolarTrac contributed to an overall satisfaction with the new headquarters.

MechoSystems’ advanced SolarTrac is an automated-shading system engineered to:

Increase opportunities for daylight, thereby reducing dependency on electric lighting.
Reduce solar-heat gain so that air-conditioning needs are also decreased.
Raise and lower the shades according to real-time, outdoor solar conditions.
Maintain a comfortable work environment by managing brightness and glare.
The company has been creating sustainable products and energy-saving systems for its clients since entering the shading industry over 40 years ago—much ahead of current design and manufacturing trends.
The New York Times Headquarters, New York. © PDK Commercial Photographers, Ltd. DBA Bernstein Associates.

It is uncommon to scientifically compare the post-occupancy reality with initial sustainability goals and parameters, from the outset of building and design. Yet in order to examine the actual efficiency of a structure’s integrated systems, the post-occupancy study is vital. The LBNL study validates the benefit of automated shading in general (and MechoSystems’ SolarTrac, in particular). The hope is that studies like this one will encourage other buildings, old and new, to implement these kinds of systems, too.

For more information on the lessons learned by The New York Times Building design and construction process, read the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report here: A Post-Occupancy Monitored Evaluation of the Dimmable Lighting, Automated Shading, and Underfloor Air Distribution System in The New York Times Building, or the Green Light New York report.

The automated shades can also be seen in the film Bill Cunningham New York (now on Hulu and Netflix): they are in the background of scenes in The Times’s Headquarters.

Source: MechoSystems mechosystems.com