Builders of the NYC Public Health Laboratory project promise the $425 million facility will be one of the most energy efficient and sustainable in New York.
Construction phase one began last month with the demolition of three old buildings. The new NYC Public Health Laboratory will be adjacent to the Harlem Hosital complex on 137th street and was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with research, staff wellness and energy resiliency and sustainability in mind.
Skanska Building USA is leading the construction work.
The 10-story, 240,000 square-foot building is designed meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) version 4 Silver energy efficiency standards. The U.S. Green Building Council oversees LEED certification, with Version 4 the latest standards in limiting energy and water usage, among other goals.
The New York City Economic Development Corp. and Department of Mental Health and Hygiene collaborated on securing $25 million in Citywide Administrative services funds to spend on energy efficiency and sustainability technologies.
“New York City has one of the finest public health laboratories in the world, and it’s about time their space reflects the caliber of the work they do,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “NYC Health + Hospitals is proud to be neighbors and ongoing collaborative partners in public health.”
Some of the energy conservation measures in the new Public Health Laboratory will be ultra-efficient laboratory equipment, solar photovoltaic panels and chilled beams. It will also have a cogeneration plant to provide significant energy and cost savings.
The new Public Health Laboratory participated in the City’s 80x50 program, which is committed to achieving an 80 percent carbon emissions reduction by the year 2050.
The construction is expected to be completed by 2026. Considered by many as the world's first municipal bacteriological laboratory, the Public Health lab has occupied 11 floors of a building across the street from Bellevue Hospital.
Buildings generate nearly 70 percent of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the municipal government statistics. The Mayor’s office and other entities are pushing and requiring numerous green building initiatives to cut down those commercial and industrial site emissions.
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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).
