The International Tailoring Company Building (ITCoB) in New York City is an iconic 13-floor, 156,000 sq. ft. building with around 180 apartment units. Originally built in 1925, the building was facing issues with aging infrastructure and tenant comfort.
The board learned about Ecosystem from the NYC Retrofit Accelerator and began discussions to develop a project to address these issues. Soon after, New York City passed the Climate Mobilization Act, including Local Law 97’s fines on GHG emissions. The design pivoted to focus on electrification of heating to be compliant with Local Law 97.
The building was originally operating on a two-pipe hydronic switchover system, creating drastically uneven comfort conditions ever shoulder season. Ecosystem is converting this system to enable significant heat recovery between apartments. The existing gas-fired absorption chillers that provided both heating and cooling are being replaced with a hybrid air-source heat pump (ASHP) and condensing boiler system, adding significant resiliency. The cooling tower is being replaced with an adiabatic dry cooler, which simplifies operations and maintenance by effectively eliminating legionella risks.
This project will modernize the building’s infrastructure and give residents full control over heating and cooling in their individual units. The project will also extend the life of the existing piping system by eliminating the need for chilled water, thus reducing the corrosive impact of pipe sweat. The ITCoB will achieve full Local Law 97 compliance through 2050, avoiding any potential fines and will increase the energy grade from a D to a high B. For more information on this project, click here.
Heat recovery
Air-source heat pump
Condensing boiler system
Adiabatic dry cooler
Hybrid water-cooled heat pumps
