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The Project at a Glance
Download| Building Information |
|---|
| Bloomberg LP Tenant Name |
| Global Holdings Inc. Building Owner |
| 120 Park Avenue, New York, NY Location |
| 10 years Lease Term |
| 20,000 square feet Project Size |
In 2011, Bloomberg LP—a leading provider of global business information, financial information, and news—signed a lease at 120 Park Avenue to accommodate the company’s growth. A critical factor in selecting Bloomberg LP’s new space was to capture the company’s core values and culture, including a commitment to sustainability within its entire real estate portfolio. Bloomberg LP often receives the highest green building accolades for its spaces worldwide.
Bloomberg LP was familiar with the whole-building energy efficiency retrofit at the Empire State Building and chose to enlist consultants to use the Tenant Energy Optimization process to analyze and make energy efficiency recommendations in the design and construction of the floor 16 space. The process is a proven, replicable approach that integrates energy efficiency into tenant space design and construction and delivers excellent financial returns through energy conservation.
| Rocky Mountain Institute tenant space | Projected design |
|---|---|
| Lease term | 5 years |
| Square footages | 14,302 square feet* |
| Modeled energy reduction** | 36.5% |
| Energy savings compared with RMI's old space | 21 kBtu/square foot/year*** |
| Return on investment without incentives | 6-9%**** |
| Payback period (without incentives)***** | 10-15 year payback period |
**As this was a new building, this data point is based on Boulder code.
***Note that 21 kBtu/square foot/year is kBtu of entire building. RMI’s old building used 47 kBtu/square foot/year while Boulder
Commons uses 26 kBtu/square foot/year.
****Because of the expansion of RMI’s leased space, an extended lease (eight years) and potentially changing energy prices in
coming years, this percentage may fluctuate between 6 and 9 percent. However, even at the low end of 6 percent, this represents
an average real estate ROI.
*****Note that RMI represents about 20 percent of the entire Boulder Commons property. The payback period has been calculated
with this as a consideration.
Executing the Process
Design and Construction
Bloomberg LP assembled many of the practitioners developing the Tenant Energy Optimization process with other tenants in New York City to be a part of its own project team.
The team outlined energy performance goals that aligned with Bloomberg LP’s overall corporate sustainability targets and developed an extensive list of energy performance measures (EPMs) to be considered for implementation into the final buildout. EPMs are technologies and systems that aim to reduce energy use through efficiency and conservation. They are also frequently referred to as energy conservation measures (ECMs).
Some of the most important factors Bloomberg LP wanted included in the floor 16 buildout were the following:
- A reduction in energy associated with lighting power;
- An open office design that allows all employees to have window views;
- Heating and air conditioning comfort, control, and efficiency during work hours and after hours;
- Computer energy management; and
- High-quality and user-friendly design.
Using energy performance modeling, incremental costing information, and cost savings projections, the team was able to choose a package of EPMs that would meet the company’s energy and financial goals.
The EPMs implemented in Bloomberg LP’s space on floor 16 include the following:
| Energy performance measure (EPM) | Cost to implement | Savings potential | Target area |
|---|---|---|---|
| LED lights | Low | High | Lighting |
| Efficient HVAC system: variable refrigerant flow | High | High | HVAC |
| Plug-load monitoring | Low | Medium | Plug loads |
| Triple-pane windows | High | Medium | Base building |
| Samsung Smart Things devices | Medium | Medium | Plug loads |
| Submetering of HVAC | Low | Medium | HVAC |
| Submetering of lighting | Low | Medium | Lighting |
| Continuous thermal envelope/AeroBarrier | High | Medium | Base building |
| Geothermal | High | High | Base building |
| Nighttime air flushing | Medium | Medium | Base building |
| Automated venting | Medium | High | Base building |
| Automated window blinds | Medium | Medium | Base building |
| Alternative wall construction methods | Low | Low | Base building |
| Fiberglass frames with triple-paned windows | Medium | High | Base building |
| Redirecting window film | Low | Low | Base building |
| Renewable energy: solar photovoltaic array | High | High | Renewable energy |
| Narrow floor plates | Low | Low | Base building |
| Lighting controls and sensors | Low | Medium | Lighting |
Measurement and Verification
| Boulder Commons core and shell & RMI tenant space teams |
|---|
| Morgan Creek Ventures Building owner |
| Project One Core & Shell Project manager |
| Coburn Architecture Architect |
| EHDD Architectural design consultant |
| Encore Lighting designer |
| Integral Group Conceptual core and shell energy analysis |
| Group 14 Commissioning agent |
| Mortenson Contractor |
| Huntsman Architectural Group Tenant fit-out architect |
| Mazzetti MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing), lighting engineer |
| Holland & Hart RMI legal lease negotiation counsel |
| CBRE Broker |
After completion of the buildout, the energy team returned to Bloomberg LP’s space to perform measurement and verification (M&V) to ensure that the implemented EPMs were performing as intended. Initial M&V was conducted over the course of a ten-day period, once the space was fully occupied and operational.
Areas where design features were performing as intended:
- High-efficiency lighting was implemented successfully, as evidenced by the overall lighting power density that was measured at 0.824 watts per square foot, slightly better than the design projections of 0.889 watts per square foot.
- Daylight harvesting controls were observed to be operated effectively, based on lighting power profiles that are consistent with time-of-day and weather conditions.
- NightWatchman software reduced equipment power density of connected plug loads during overnight hours by 15 percent. This is less than the typical reduction of 50 percent because Bloomberg LP has a significant amount of critical computing equipment that cannot be shut down during unoccupied hours and therefore cannot be connected to the software.
Areas for further improvement:
- The energy project team determined that further energy savings may be possible by reconsidering overnight conditioning of floor 16 to reduce the use of mechanical duct bridging. At the time of the M&V period, however, overnight cooling was assumed to be necessary because of the sporadic nature of off-hours occupancy.
Post-Project Actions
Bloomberg LP remains committed to sustainability and has achieved a 22 percent reduction in energy associated with lighting power across its 4.5 million-square-foot real estate portfolio. Specifically regarding the floor 16 buildout, Bloomberg LP continues to track and report its energy use internally to senior management.