The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park in New York City.
Upon completion in 2008, The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park will be the country's greenest high-rise building, demonstrating the state of the art in energy efficiency, indoor air quality, sustainable materials, and environmentally-conscious construction, operations, and maintenance procedures. Designed by Cook + Fox Architects, LLP, the 55-story, 2.2 million sq. ft. tower is the first to strive for the Platinum LEED designation.
Like The New York Times Building, this project was developed as part corporate headquarters, part speculative office space. Initiated by The Durst Organization, which in 1996 built New York's first green tower, 4 Times Square, the building has become a joint venture with the Bank of America, anchoring its New York City operations, including global corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and consumer and commercial banking businesses. Initially planning to occupy 1.1 million sq. ft., the bank recently expanded to take another 500,000 sq. ft., or more than three-quarters of the building. The remaining space will be leased by The Durst Organization to other tenants.
Highlights of the building's many green features include the following. An air filtration system removes 95% of particulates, as well as ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Air vented back to the city will be cleaner than the intake, making the skyscraper effectively a giant air filter. In the interior environment, the office tower employs filtered under-floor displacement air ventilation for the comfort and control of individual workers and carbon dioxide monitors that automatically introduce more fresh air when necessary.
Emphasizing transparency, the design uses low-emissivity insulating glass in floor-to-ceiling windows that permit maximum daylight and optimum views. An advanced double-wall system in portions of the facade further conserves energy. Perimeter daylight dimming and LED lights reduce electric usage.
Cook+Fox Architects LLP
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A 5.1-megawatt cogeneration plant will supply 70% of the building's energy with a clean natural-gas burning power plant. For climate control, it will rely on a ground- water heat exchanger that is the first of its type and will make ice with excess thermal energy from the power plant, supplementing the air conditioning system and reducing the peak demand loads on the city's electrical grid.
The building will save 10.3 million gallons of water annually through such devices as waterless urinals and low-flow fixtures. A gray water system will capture, store, and re-use 100% of rainwater and recycle waste water and planted roofs, reducing the urban heat island effect. Bottom line, the Bank of America Tower will reduce energy consumption by 50%, potable water consumption by 50%, and create net zero carbon dioxide emissions.
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Cook+Fox Architects LLP.........................................................Cook+Fox Architects LLP
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