Part 2: How outcome-based regulation impacts new building façade design in NYC - October blog

Twinsburg, Ohio
october 2020 blog
by Helen Sanders, Ph.D
241 West 28th Street in NYC
241 West 28th Street in NYC combines both Zone Green and LL97 with an energy efficient hand laid brick veneer façade and punched windows. It is a 22-story residential project, which will have 30% affordable housing units and retail on the ground floor. Developer: L&L MAG, Architect: COOKFOX Architects, Envelope consultant: Thornton Tomasetti. Rendering courtesy of COOKFOX.

Designers must also look out yet further and “future-proof” their buildings to meet the 2030 requirements and beyond. If not, the building owners will risk financial penalties. An interesting corollary of this is that design teams that are able to plan for enhanced serviceability and easy upgradeability of façades also will create more value and reduce financial risk for the building owner as energy caps continue to become more stringent post 2030. There are some interesting opportunities here for curtainwall manufacturers to design their systems for better serviceability and upgradeability to support extended lifetimes.

While there is still some debate within the developer community as to whether LL97 will undergo significant change between now and 2024, the architectural community appears to be preparing for the introduction of energy caps in 2024. The Building Energy Exchange released a beta version of a LL97 calculator, which helps owners understand where their buildings’ performance stand relative to the energy caps. At the 2020 Zak World of Facades, Tali Mejicovsky of Arup New York’s office presented a new software tool called the “decarbonization playbook,” they have developed to support NYC building design...to continue reading click here.

(the full blog, as well as previous posts, are hosted on usglassmag.com)

Do you have a challenge for us?