Sign The Times Of

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Transparency, in the form of floorto-ceiling glass windows, is the
architectural theme of the 51-story
New York Times headquarters,
slated to open in 2007.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
AT ITS NEW
L
ighting professionals often
complain that lighting gets
no respect; that it’s an oh-bythe-way element, the last thing to
be considered in the construction
process and the first to be valueengineered out when budgets
begin to shrink.
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IS PUTTING A PREMIUM ON LIGHTING DESIGN—AND IN PARTICULAR DAYLIGHT—
HEADQUARTERS BUILDING. WILL THE GOOD NEWS TRAVEL FAST?
whole. The B.H.A.G. is to “transform
the marketplace” so owners “won’t
have to pay a premium for dimmable lighting,” said the Times’s director of construction Glenn Hughes,
during a Daylighting Institute seminar at LIGHTFAIR 2005 in April.
“We don’t want this lighting system
tect and Flack and Kurtz as engineer)
is to promote “transparency, lightness, dematerialization, strength and
integrity,” says Hughes. The concept
of transparency is linked to the
Times being a news organization
(i.e., open to the public).
Architecturally, the transparency
Simply put, the design was based
on the philosophy that occupants of
commercial office buildings prefer
natural light to electric light. With
that in mind, the Times began
investigating automated roller
shades and daylight control systems
and ultimately approached the
Sign of the Times
RENDERING COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Paul Tarricone
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They don’t have the New York
Times as a client.
Not only has the Times built a
mock-up to study daylighting of its
soon-to-be-constructed midtown
Manhattan headquarters, but the
company is so passionate about
lighting that it uses the term “Big
Hairy Audacious Goal” or B.H.A.G.
(a phrase made popular by the
Harvard Business Review) to
describe how the lighting of this
one project could have a ripple
effect on the building industry, as a
www.iesna.org
to be a one-off for the New York
Times.”
In the meantime, all eyes are on
Eighth Avenue between 40th and
41 Streets, near Times Square,
where the foundation has been
poured and steel is ready to go up
for the 1.6 million sq ft, 51-story
tower. The project is slated for completion in mid-2007.
The vision of architect Renzo
Piano (who designed the building in
association with architect Fox &
Fowle, with Gensler as interior archi-
July 2005 LD+A
theme is reflected in the tower’s
floor-to-ceiling glass façade. Placed
1.5 ft off the façade on the exterior
are horizontal ceramic rods, five ft
long and 1 5/8 in. in diameter. These
rods shade the upper and lower portion of the glazed façade on each
floor and will diffuse light, bathing
the tower in a shifting palette of colors. A portion of the window wall
from 2.9 ft to 6.6 ft above the floor is
left open, providing views for standing or seated occupants and allowing
daylight to penetrate the space.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in early 2003, in the hope of
acquiring third-party data so it could
understand the risks associated
with these technologies.
Offsite Mock-up
The result was the creation of a
4500 sq ft mock-up on the site of the
Times’ printing plant in Queens, NY,
where commercially available automated roller shades, conventional
and DALI ballasts, and daylight control systems from different vendors
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PHOTOS: VORAPAT INKAROJRIT
A view of the ceramic rods on the exterior façade of the mock-up at the Times’s printing plant in Queens, NY. These rods are part of the “façade management strategy” and
shade the upper and lower portion of the window wall.
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were field-tested over six months in
2004. The research was funded by
the New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority, the
California Energy Commission and
the U.S. Department of Energy.
The mock-up reproduced the
southwest corner of the new building at full-scale and was fully furnished. An array of sensors continuously measured lighting energy use,
luminance levels at the work plane,
control operations (shade heights),
exterior solar conditions and other
parameters related to visual comfort. The tests were exhaustive; data
was collected one time per minute,
24 hours per day, seven days per
week. Shadows, reflected sunlight
and obstructions caused by other
buildings were also studied.
The objective of these tests was
not to perform a side-by-side comparison of competing systems but to
enable the Times to develop a
detailed performance specification
that would be open for bid by qualified vendors. In short, the Times
aimed to leverage the initial mockup phase to create a more competitive marketplace for daylighting and
controls products. (Hence, the
B.H.A.G.) “When new technologies
come out of the box much of the
research and development costs are
passed on to the first tier of users,”
says Susan Brady, president of SBLD
Studio, New York, the lighting
designer for the new tower and the
mock-up. “The Times was very
eager to push the envelope in terms
of technology and did not accept
that they should be fiscally burdened for being a pioneer. With a
prominent project that could offer
manufacturers the opportunity to
showcase their products, coupled
with it publicity power, the Times
felt it had much to offer in return for
a more moderately priced system.”
After the bids were awarded, the
mock-up was completely re-built
using the selected manufacturers’
www.iesna.org
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FIGURES COURTESY OF MECHOSHADE
The position of the shades is based on window geometry, orientation, glazing optical properties, allowable solar penetration
and real-time sky conditions (i.e., sunny or cloudy). The goal is to reduce energy cost, maximize view and control glare.
products only, in order to test the
final system components. This second phase of testing started in
February 2005 and was expected to
end in June 2005. MechoShade
Systems, Inc., Long Island City, NY,
was awarded the contract for the
automated shade system and shade
control software. Lutron, Coopersburg, PA, received the contract for
digital lighting controls including control software for daylight dimming
and all dimmable ballasts. Zumtobel,
Highland, NY, was awarded the contract for fixtures.
2:15
System Selection
July 2005 LD+A
2:40
PHOTOS: DAVID JOSEPH
An almost entirely glass façade
highlights the importance of what
MechoShade calls “window management strategy.” Well-executed window management would reduce
solar heat gain and glare in the building, while maximizing daylight and
views. However, the Times felt that if
shade management was left to the
occupants sitting closest to the window, the shades would likely be left
down most of the time, since
employees are too busy to worry
about shade position.
At the mock-up, the ACC SolarTrac has lowered the shades at 2:15 p.m. (top) in reaction to the sun’s shift to the west. The light dimming system senses enough daylight for
the overhead lights to remain off. At 2:40 p.m. (bottom), the sun moves further on to
the west elevation, becoming more direct. The system lowers the shades to the next
position to control solar penetration into the work area. Electric lights remain off.
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T a k e
I t
W
hile window management is the technique
being used to bring daylight into the New
York Times headquarters, there are other
ways to channel daylight—namely from the top
down.
Skylights can infuse dark, drab interiors with natural light, fostering a more pleasant or productive environment for customers and employees, while reducing energy consumption. What follows is a look at two
skylight systems and how each was applied.
A Truly Healthy Building
It’s only fitting that a company in the business of promoting health would want its lighting system to do the
same. Hoping to “walk the talk” on creating a healthy
environment, the White
Bear Racquet & Swim Club
in White Bear Lake, MN.,
recently used 47 skylights
to illuminate its 10,000 sq
ft fitness center and adjacent reception and dining
areas. The club felt that
integrating daylighting into
the facility would support
its “total wellness” approach to fitness.
The system specified, MechoShade’s AAC SolarTrac product, will
automatically adjust the window
shade position in accordance with
the angle of the rays of the sun. The
software-based control system monitors the sun’s path as it moves
across the sky (through the AAC
SolarTrac), as well as the brightness
of the window wall (using the
Daylight Manager Module), as solar
position and brightness changes
throughout the day, the season and
year. The system also accounts for
the momentary position of the solar
ray; the window’s geometry and orientation; solar optical properties of
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F r o m
T h e
The skylights were supplied
by Solatube International, Vista,
CA. Its skylights are designed to
provide ample sunlight through
a small aperture. At the White
Bear club, 12 21-in. suspended
ceiling units (with diffusers) and
35 21-in. open ceiling units
were specified.
In addition to the health benefits, White Bear
reports a 50 percent energy savings to 21,000 kWh
per year, along with reduced air conditioning load
from lower electric lamp and ballast heat.
Green Returns Green
Three years after skylight installation at Patagonia’s
distribution center, “pay back” is not just a projection.
The results are quantifiable. The clothing manufacturer’s daylighting skylight system in its Reno, NV., facility has reduced energy use and produced a greener
bottom line. “We originally estimated a pay back of
three and a half years,” says David Abeloe,
spokesman for the distribution center.
That number proved to be on target for two reasons.
First, the daylighting system (from So-Luminaire
Daylighting Systems Corp., Carlsbad, CA.) cut the number of fluorescent fixtures, lamps and wiring required to
the glazing; allowable solar ray penetration; BTU load; sky conditions
(sunny or cloudy); and the relative
surface brightness of the window
wall. The system then adjusts the
shades on the windows accordingly.
The new headquarters will
require 18,000 DALI ballasts. This
was one area where the Times
could leverage the results of the initial mock-up and its buying power
to reap major cost savings (Table
1). According to LBNL researchers,
the business model for transforming the market for dimming ballasts
and dynamic shading is based on
creating a much larger market for
these systems, thereby shifting the
market from the current “low volume, high cost” paradigm to one of
“high volume, low cost.” In the
case of dimming ballasts, LBNL
researchers, led by Eleanor Lee,
studied component and manufacturing costs and concluded that it is
possible to meet target sales prices
of $20-25 per ballast, although current prices were in the range of
$75-120 per ballast. The final bids
received by The New York Times
were in the range of $30-75 per ballast—a significant step toward more
affordable prices.
www.iesna.org
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T o p
light the 171,000 sq ft center by about two-thirds.
Second, it has reduced annual operating expenses by a
third, according to Abeloe. A total of 88 daylighting
units (at a cost of $800-$1000 per unit) were installed.
Total cost (including installation) was $140,000, with
payback estimated at more than $45,000 per year.
Abeloe adds that the “higher level and quality of
light produced by the skylights has improved morale,
increased productivity and reduced errors.” In particular, the brighter, whiter light at the Patagonia center
has made it easier to read documents and differentiate colors.
T
A
B
L
E
1
Bids received by the New York Times
were close to the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory’s price targets for
widespread adoption of dimmable
ballasts. Data courtesy LBNL.
July 2005 LD+A
The 88 skylights are installed evenly across the building’s roof. The four ft. square by
four ft. high units comprise an
array of mirrors inside a clear
dome. A motorized control box on
the dome’s top adjusts the array
automatically every 10 minutes,
tracking the sun’s path across the
sky from dawn to dusk. Small
solar panels inside the dome drive
the motor, with a battery back-up
providing power on cloudy days.
The units produce an even
spread of light within the building.
Each one generates illumination
equivalent to 800 watts of fluorescent lighting, or more than a 1000
watt metal halide lamp. Since they
do not draw any line voltage, electricity costs for lighting can drop to zero during the 1014 hours a day that they reflect light indoors.
The units are energy efficient because the spectral
content of natural light produces about 2.5 times as
many lumens per Btu of cooling load than electric
lighting. In addition, a clear partition at the bottom of
the units keeps solar heat gain out of occupied areas.
Spreading the News?
The field tests at the mock-up
have created a “validated light prediction model,” says Hughes, that
estimates 65 percent less energy
usage (from the south-facing side of
the building) and 40 percent less
energy use (from the west-facing
side) due to daylighting and dimmable lighting. But energy savings
is just one objective. “The design
has to help the way the New York
Times works. We have to balance
energy savings with people comfort,” Hughes says.
Beyond the Times’s goals for the
project is the question of whether
— Paul Tarricone
this one building will, in fact, be a
catalyst for more daylighting across
the commercial real estate market.
“The project is being looked at very
closely by many in the industry as
a test bed case and will hopefully
accelerate the use of DALI controls
and daylight integration in office
environments and other large scale
projects,” says Brady, who commends the “tenacity of our client in
pursuing this cutting edge technology.”
Tenacity. It’s not just the Times’s
reporters who have that quality.
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