Consulting-Specifying Engineer - October 2008 - (Page 75)

Case Study Energy-saving lighting system makes headlines AT A GLANCE In June 2000, The New York Times Co. announced its plan to construct a new building to house its headquarters in midtown Manhattan. The 1.5-million-sq-ft, 52-story structure was completed in 2007 and features 730,000 sq ft of retail and office space. It also boasts a state-of-the-art, energy-saving lighting system that Times Co. executives believe is increasing employee productivity. The New York Times Building’s total light management system, designed by Lutron Electronics Co. Inc., allows it to use 70% less energy for lighting than the building’s design called for. The 70% lighting energy reduction represents a savings of $315,100 per year at New York City electric rates. It also means the prevention of 1,250 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. In this age of rising energy costs, these are indeed reasons to “stop the presses.” First published in 1851, The New York Times has long enjoyed a prominent place among U.S. news organizations. The organization understands that what it says and does reverberates across many borders. It’s no surprise, then, that when the newspaper’s parent company, The New York Times Co., decided to build a new headquarters in Manhattan, it eschewed the idea of maintaining a passive role in the project and resolved to exercise control at every stage of the project’s design and construction. “We desired an interior environment that allowed our employees to be as comfortable as possible and that would reinforce our company’s emphasis on open communication, collaboration, and transparency,” said David Thurm, vice president and CIO of the Times Co. “In addition, we insisted that the building be as environmentally friendly as possible.” To accomplish these objectives, the Times Co. hired world-renowned architect Renzo Piano, along with two major architectural firms, FXFOWLE of New York and Gensler of San Francisco. The Times Co. also employed the lighting design services of SBLD Studio of New York. The result is a dazzling tower jointly owned with Forest City Ratner Companies of New York. Its chief attributes are open spaces and floor-to-ceiling glass walls that give the building’s occupants wide views of the neighboring skyscrapers and, conversely, allow outsiders to look in. “The No. 1 priority was to allow natural light to make our employees feel more comfortable and to produce an energizing work environment,” said Thurm. The Times Co. recognized the importance of lighting controls from the start. Executives researched state-of-the-art lighting control options to satisfy their twin desires for harvesting daylight and for the flexibility to reconfigure spaces easily and simply. The research eventually gravitated to the Building Technologies Department at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California. With guidance from the Berkeley Lab, the project design team, and manufacturers, the Times Co. built a replica of the southwest corner of its new building at one of its printing facilities in Queens, New York. For six months, from winter solstice to summer solstice, the mock-up tested an array of different lighting technologies and products from a variety of manufacturers—including a new technology just emerging from Lutron. The testing, plus Lutron’s response to a competitive bid, convinced the Times Co. to select Lutron’s Quantum light management solution for its office space. EcoSystem/Quantum employs a number of different strategies—including daylight control, occupant control, target set point control, time clock control, and emergency lighting control—to give building occupants maximum comfort and give business owners the flexibility to Consulting-Specifying Engineer • OCTOBER 2008 The New York Times headquarters in New York. By using Lutron Electronics Co. Inc.’s EcoSystem/Quantum lighting solution, The New York Times Co. was able to slash the amount of energy needed to light its new Manhattan headquarters. The Times Co. chose EcoSystem/Quantum after testing various lighting technologies and products. The EcoSystem/ Quantum lighting solution helped the company meet its goals of using natural light while retaining the ability to reconfigure spaces easily. It did this with a combination of lighting strategies like light level tuning, daylight harvesting, occupancy sensing, and scheduling, The results are a 70% lighting energy reduction, a savings of $315,100 per year in electricity costs, a reduction in the CO 2 emissions, and increased employee productivity. Photo: Nic Lehoux 75

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Consulting-Specifying Engineer - October 2008 Contents Viewpoint Letters News M/E Roundtable Cities Under One Roof Eight Design Tips for Integration Is 'Green' Really New? Down the Drain Product of the Year Awards Codes & Standards Case Study New Products Equipment Lifecycles Advertiser Index Green Space

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - October 2008

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