Clean Technica
Summary
Local Law 97 in New York City requires buildings of more than 25,000 square feet (2323 sq. m) to meet specific emissions limits, which become more stringent in 2030, or face hefty fines. There is a 17-story concrete building built in 1931 at 345 Hudson Street in the SoHo (south of Houston) district at the south end of Manhattan. The owners are thinking ahead to 2030 and installing heat pumps now to meet the requirements of Local Law 97, rather than waiting until the last minute.
To redistribute heat, Rodney’s team is installing a kind of thermal circulatory system. It consists of a network of new and existing pipes that will carry a constant flow of water around the building. Each floor will have a heat pump that can then tap into or reject heat from this system in order to keep its occupants comfortable. The design is an example of a thermal energy network and is far more efficient than having two isolated conditioning systems that don’t interact, Rodney said. “You’re creating this energy balance throughout the building.”
Heat redistribution within and among buildings is common in Scandinavian countries, where district heating systems are used frequently. But this project “is one of the first times in New York and the United States in which heat is being shared in this way,” said Jared Rodriguez, principal at Emergent Urban Concepts and an adviser to NYSERDA on the Empire Building Challenge. He added that utilizing energy resources efficiently is a critical part of the playbook for retrofitting large buildings, hence the importance of trying out ways to recycle their excess heat.
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