Here's how Cornell Tech is building one of the most sustainable campuses in the world

by Taylor Majewski
December 1, 2015

If you haven’t heard, Cornell University is developing a gargantuan new technology campus on Roosevelt Island. Cornell Tech’s first residential building is slated to break ground soon, be fully completed around 2043 and will become the first high-rise residential building in the world to employ the Passive House Standard.

The Passive House Standard is a rigorous building standard that produces ultra-low energy buildings with reduced ecological footprints. The concept, which allows for a 90 percent reduction rate in heating and cooling energy and up to a 75 percent reduction rate in primary energy usage, mitigates carbon production from buildings.

The Cornell Tech tower, which is being developed by The Hudson Companies and Related Companies, will use passive design with cutting-edge materials and insulation techniques to make the high-rise airtight. Using a low amount of power, this design will guard the building against the northeast’s cold winters by keeping its internal temperature at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The building is projected to save 882 tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is equivalent to planting 5,300 new trees.

The standard was developed by the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt, Germany in the 1990s and has since spread throughout Europe as a method to cut energy costs in buildings. Passive design fuses into a building’s architectural design, which includes a special ventilation method to provide fresh air into the building.

This approach minimizes heating and cooling through insulation by utilizing heat recovery, passive use of solar energy, orientation, massing, solar shading and elimination of thermal bridges. Passive houses maintain habitable interiors through cold weather without using power, and reduce power demand by using rooftop solar panels or other renewable energy sources.

Passive design differs from its environmentally friendly counterpart, the LEED standard, in that passive houses reduce energy exertion through a building’s built insulation and ventilation. LEED methods increase sustainability through water usage, energy efficiency and design materials used. According to The Hudson Companies, the Cornell residential building will achieve a minimum of LEED Silver and NYSERDA ENERGY STAR certifications.

The building, which is projected to open in 2017 and hold about 350 apartments, will stand at 270-feet tall. Designed by Handel Architects, the building is geared towards Cornell’s students and faculty who want to live in a residential campus setting in New York City.

While ground has not yet broken on this building, construction for the Cornell Tech project has already started on Roosevelt Island. The campus, which overlooks the East River into Manhattan, will include sweeping green lawns and outdoor classrooms among its eco-friendly buildings. The entire project plans to push architectural and engineering norms, and make way for a sustainable and energy-efficient campus with a built foundation as innovative as its future students.

 

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