As a partner of the Empire Building Challenge, BXP will complete a decarbonization pilot project at 601 Lexington Avenue. The 1.52 million square foot, 59-story, multi-tenant premier workplace in midtown Manhattan was constructed in 1977 and features building systems typical among commercial high-rises of a similar vintage. The innovative measures planned for implementation demonstrate a scalable and replicable decarbonization opportunity within a difficult-to-decarbonize building type.
As part of their demonstration project, BXP will install water-to-water heat pumps to transfer heat from the condenser water loop to secondary water systems. Recovered heat will then be used to offset perimeter heating loads. By deploying existing technology in a novel way, this project creates a thermal network which utilizes heat that would otherwise be rejected to the atmosphere from the building’s cooling system. BXP will reduce the building’s annual steam consumption by over 30% with this innovative thermal system.
BXP is a fully integrated real estate investment trust and is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the U.S. with a portfolio spanning 54.5 million square feet.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
This diagram illustrates the building prior to the initiation of Strategic Decarbonization planning by the owners and their teams.
Click through the measures under “Building After” to understand the components of the building’s energy transition.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
Capital costs of decarbonization.
Energy cost savings: 287k / YR.
Repairs & maintenance savings: 25k / YR.
LL97 avoidance from 2030-2034.
No fines in 2035+ assuming electric grid coefficient aligns with CLCPA goals.
Incentives.
Pursuing ConEd Rebates through the Clean Heat Rebate Program.
Net difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a period of time.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
Lessons from New York’s Empire Building Challenge
This article, published in NESEA’s BuildingEnergy magazine (Vol. 40 No. 1), addresses common “decarbonization blind spots” that impede progress and shares insights gained from the incremental methodology and integrated design process pioneered through NYSERDA’s Empire Building Challenge.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
Large commercial and residential buildings must overcome various hurdles before implementing deep retrofits or capital projects that help achieve building decarbonization. This section addresses technical barriers and questions often faced by building owners and retrofit project developers.
Below are high temperature renewable resource alternatives to district steam. These alternatives are limited and face barriers to implementation due to cost, scalability, and other factors.
Building Electric Capacity Upgrades
Local Network Electric Capacity Upgrades
Gas Utility Earnings Adjustment Mechanisms (EAM) focused on System Peak Demand Reductions
Total Connected Loads and Peak Demand drive need for capacity upgrades
Thermal Storage
Geothermal (ambient temperature), Deep Bore Geothermal (high temperature) or Shared Loop District Energy Systems provide cooling and heating with lower peak demand than standard electric equipment
Other Energy Efficiency/Conservation Measures with proven/attractive economics (these measures are limited by lack of capital or knowledge)
Behavioral Modification
Submetering and billing, potentially creates split incentive between landlord and tenant
These include multi-purpose technology for heating, cooling, heat exchange and ventilation, filtration, and/or domestic hot water.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
These playbooks summarize retrofit strategies that maximize occupant comfort and energy savings through a transition from fuel to electricity- based heating, cooling and hot water systems.
Playbooks are organized by building system— lighting & loads, envelope, ventilation, heating & cooling, and domestic hot water– detailing common existing systems, typical issues, and recommended measures.
59-17 Junction Boulevard, developed by LeFrak Commercial, highlights the crucial intersection between decarbonization and resiliency. The 454,645 square foot, 20-story commercial property located in Queens, NY was built in 1970 and features an inefficient 2-pipe heating and cooling system that has reached the end of its useful life, due in part to damage sustained by Hurricane Ida.
As part of their participation in the Empire Building Challenge, LeFrak will complete a significant decarbonization project valued at $19.7 million, resulting in the overall reduction of onsite fossil fuels by 2035. The measures aim to electrify and recover heat of thermal loads at the property, immediately reducing site energy use by over 33% from a 2021 baseline.
LeFrak is a preeminent, family-owned property company that owns and manages an extensive portfolio of real property concentrated in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, as well as South Florida, Los Angeles, and throughout the West Coast.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
25.1 million
Total project investment to install retrofits enabling electrification and heat recovery of thermal loads at the property and reduce site energy use intensity by 33%.
Replacing fuel-fired absorption chillers with modular heat pump electric chillers enhances heating and cooling capabilities.
“LeFrak is proud to work in partnership with NYSERDA and the Empire Building Challenge to advance the real estate industry’s ability to decarbonize high-rise buildings. We recognize the importance of leading the path to carbon neutrality and are committed to working together to rethink our building environment.”
John Fitzsimmons
Senior Director, Head of Commercial Property Management
LeFrak Commercial
Installation of heat exchangers and critical re-piping enables the core and perimeter of the building to operate independently and provides heat recovery.
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
This diagram illustrates the building prior to the initiation of Strategic Decarbonization planning by the owners and their teams.
Click through the measures under “Building After” to understand the components of the building’s energy transition.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
Capital costs of Empire Building Challenge funded decarbonization measures: 9.7M.
Capital costs of other renovation work: 15.4M.
Energy cost savings: 8.5k / YR.
BAU cost of system replacement/upgrades (replacement in kind (non-electric chiller, estimated): 10.7M.
Avoided LL97 fines starting in 2030.
Empire Building Challenge Incentives: 3M.
Other incentives: 500k.
Net difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a period of time.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
The Empire Technology Prize is a $10 million competitive opportunity for global solution providers focused on advancing building technologies for low-carbon heating system retrofits in tall commercial and multifamily buildings across New York State. This NYSERDA initiative, administered by The Clean Fight with technical support from Rocky Mountain Institute, includes a $3 million sponsorship from Wells Fargo. Accelerating low-carbon building retrofits is fundamental to New York State’s national-leading Climate Act agenda, including the goal to achieve an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
While each individual building has a unique capital improvement plan and timeline, retrofit projects or decarbonization interventions may be organized and grouped by similarity as property owners plan for the future. Below is the overarching hierarchy for decarbonization intervention points according to industry best practices:
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
These case studies cover projects that will dramatically reduce carbon emissions with deep energy retrofits for affordable multifamily housing in the Boston area. Deep energy retrofits dramatically reduce carbon emissions. These renovations transform affordable housing to be highly energy efficient, all-electric, powered by clean renewable energy, and renovated with materials low in embodied carbon. These projects are part of the Advanced Building Construction Collaborative’s demand aggregation. This work aims to demonstrate streamlined deep energy retrofits and retrofits using advanced building construction techniques to accelerate the adoption of this work in the market.
Planning
Under Construction
Monitoring & Evaluation
A baseline assessment is key to understanding current systems and performance, then identifying conditions, requirements or events that will trigger a decarbonization effort. The assessment looks across technical systems, asset strategy and sectoral factors.
Effective engineering integrates measures for reducing energy load, recovering wasted heat, and moving towards partial or full electrification. This increases operational efficiencies, optimizes energy peaks, and avoids oversized heating systems, thus alleviating space constraints and minimizing the cost of retrofits to decarbonize the building over time.
Making a business case for strategic decarbonization requires thinking beyond a traditional energy audit approach or simple payback analysis. It assesses business-as-usual costs and risks against the costs and added value of phased decarbonization investments in the long-term.
An emissions decarbonization roadmap helps building owners visualize their future emissions reductions by outlining the CO2 reductions from selected energy conservation measures. This roadmap is designed with a phased approach, considering a 20- or 30-year timeline, and incorporates the evolving benefits of grid decarbonization, ensuring a comprehensive view of long-term environmental impact.
The Empire Technology Prize team has produced the New York State Market Insight and Characterization report, which explores the technical challenges posed by achieving efficient decarbonization of heating systems and explores alternatives in two focus areas: high temperature heat pumps, and minimally disruptive distribution system solutions.
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