Rockefeller Group Improves Overall IAQ And Saves Money
- Building: 1271 6th Ave, New York, NY
- Location: New York, NY
- Environment: Downtown Major Metropolitan Area
- HealthWay Partner: Gil-Bar (https://gil-bar.com/)
- Project Goal: To improve overall indoor air quality and reduce air filtration related operating costs.
Rockefeller Group is the proud owner of historic 1271 Avenue of the Americas in bustling midtown New York City. Built in 1959 this majestic building is part of the world famous Rockefeller Center complex and where companies like Major League Baseball, Lathum & Watkins and Bessemer Trust call home. But while the structure itself may be historic, a recent complete redevelopment in 2020 put it on the cutting edge of building technology. Through careful planning and partnership with Gil-Bar the Rockefeller Group was able to achieve LEED Gold certification and Platinum Wired Certification, breathing new life into a beloved New York landmark.
Challenge
Working with the existing air handling units (AHUs), find a flexible & repeatable way to improve overall IAQ while also realizing operational cost savings and reducing carbon footprint. A total of 38 existing air handlers serving 48 stories moving 1 million CFM across four separate mechanical floors would need updating. Current filtration was being handled by MERV 15 filter arrays. Although the existing air filtration was good, Rockefeller Group wanted truly world class level IAQ.
Gil-Bar and HealthWay designed a retrofit solution with HealthWay Inline air purification modules featuring DFS. Disinfecting Filtration System (DFS) is our proprietary electronically enhanced filtration technology. A total of 660 HealthWay inline modules were installed. Existing filter racks were removed and HealthWay 1000/2000 modular arrays were put in place. Filter array assembly was done on-site with each AHU typically using six HealthWay 2000 modules and four HealthWay 1000 modules for complete air intake coverage.
1271 Avenue of the Americas is the largest building in New York leveraging HealthWay DFS technology. DFS is able to capture a high percentage of particulates while not impeding airflow. Traditionally a higher filtration level (higher MERV rating) would mean restrictive airflow which would require more fan power. HealthWay’s DFS technology uses electronically enhanced filtration to attract and capture ultrafine particles without the penalty of traditional MERV filtration.
Results
Particulate Removal – Third party single-pass testing by Air Systems was performed on a sample AHU (AHU-10S-19). Air Systems found that with HealthWay DFS technology in place 99.93% of 0.3 micron particles were removed in a single pass efficiency test.
Pressure Drop – Differential pressure readings were taken to measure how easily air flowed through the filters. The lower the air pressure drop, the easier the air flow and less demand on the fan motor. A drastic change in pressure drop was found as compared to the previous MERV 15 filters. HealthWay DFS filters yielded a 0.205” wc pressure drop compared to the .550” wc pressure drop of the MERV 15 filter.
Life Cycle Cost – Rockefeller Group reports they were able to reduce fan energy use by 60% with the HealthWay 1000/2000 inline modular arrays in place.
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