Syska Wins an ACECNY Diamond Award for BlackRock’s Headquarters
The Syska team that designed MEP systems for BlackRock’s new headquarters in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards recognized that the project is extraordinary, thanks to its combination of striking aesthetics with sustainability and modularity. Fortunately, so did the judges of the 57th annual Engineering Excellence Awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York: They bestowed a Diamond award on the project in the Building/Technology Systems category.
Square Feet
Floors
Exhaust Energy Recovered
ACEC New York presented its Diamond awards to the 26 most exceptional projects of 2024 (out of 124). According to Rob Ioanna, Syska’s chief technical officer, several facets of the project contributed to the recognition. One was the creation of a “building within a building,” which gave the 967,000-square-foot, 15-floor office its own chiller plant, generator power, domestic water feeds, and electrical and mechanical infrastructure.
The chiller plant is first-of-its kind, says Rob. It uses dual-temperature chilled water to feed higher temperature chilled water for sensible cooling and only the lower more costly temperature water for latent or dehumidification purposes. This type of plant typically serves industrial and laboratory facilities; it had never been implemented in commercial office spaces before the BlackRock project.
...the creation of a 'building within a building' gave the 967,000-square-foot, 15-floor office its own chiller plant, generator power, domestic water feeds, and electrical and mechanical infrastructure.
Another first-of-its-kind technology is a modular power distribution system that required special approval (CCD1) from New York City. The system uses an underfloor busway system to easily relocate power to floor boxes under the furniture and wall partitions.
Other notable features include a dedicated outside air system that recovers 70% of the energy of the exhaust air, an underfloor air distribution system that maximizes occupant comfort, an ARC flash mitigation strategy through switchgear sections to enhance operator safety, and a high-efficiency lighting and control system.
The Diamond award is not the only positive outcome. Other successes are LEED platinum certification and a strikingly low energy-use intensity (EUI) when compared to other financial office properties: less than 40/kbtu/SF/year, in spite of the buildings tremendous solar gain from the all-glass structure. “The project sets a new standard for energy-efficiency, flexibility, and resiliency. It has set the standard for energy efficient skyscraper HVAC design,” says Rob. “It’s one of the stars in the Syska portfolio.”