One Bryant Park

One Bryant Park:  The Bank of America Tower is a 1,200 foot tall skyscraper in the Midtown district of Manhattan in New York City. It is located on Sixth Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Street, opposite Bryant Park.  The one billion dollar project was designed by Cook+Fox Architects to be one of the most efficient and ecologically friendly buildings in the world. In June 2010, the Bank of America Tower was the recipient of the 2010 Best Tall Building Americas award by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

Energy Efficient Windows: The design of the building makes it environmentally friendly, using technologies such as floor-to-ceiling insulating glass to contain heat and maximize natural light, and an automatic daylight dimming system.

Greywater Site: The tower also features a greywater system, which captures rainwater for reuse. Bank of America states that the building is made largely of recycled and recyclable materials.

Recycled Air:  Air entering the building is filtered, as is common, but the air exhausted is cleaned as well.  Bank of America Tower is the first skyscraper designed to attain a Platinum LEED Certification.

Green Materials:  The Bank of America tower is constructed using a concrete manufactured with slag, a byproduct of blast furnaces. The mixture used in the tower concrete is 55% cement and 45% slag. The use of slag cement reduces damage to the environment by decreasing the amount of cement needed for the building, which in turn lowers the amount of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas produced through the normal cement manufacturing process. Each ton of regular cement produced creates about one ton of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Climate Control:  Temperature control and the production of some of its energy are accomplished in an environmentally friendly manner for the tower. Insulating glass reduces thermal loss, lowering energy consumption and increasing transparency. Carbon dioxide sensors signal increased fresh air ventilation when elevated levels of carbon dioxide are detected in the building.

Conditioned air for the occupants is provided by multiple air column units located in the tenant space that deliver 62 degree air into a raised access floor plenum. The underfloor air system provides users with the ability to control their own space temperature as well as improving the ventilation effectiveness. When building churn occurs, workstation moves can be performed easier with lower cost and less product waste.

Water Conservation: Conservation features in the tower include waterless urinals, which are estimated to save 8,000,000 gallons of water per year and reduce CO₂ emissions by 144,000 pounds per year.