Kips Bay Court is an eight-building apartment complex in Manhattan, managed by Beam Living on behalf of owners Blackstone. Beam Living was looking to eliminate ConEd steam to reduce energy and operating costs. They chose Ecosystem to replace the existing system with low-pressure steam boilers to provide heat and hot water to the entire complex. The goal in this project was to reuse existing steam piping to minimize disruption to tenants as well as retail and parking amenities.
Because this boiler room project was one of several initiatives in Kips Bay Court, meticulous planning accommodated both current and future projects, including an emergency generator, exhaust fan, and campus beautification. Its location within an active parking garage required a high level of coordination to smoothly manage impact to operations.
As the project was about to get underway, a new tower was planned for the complex, and the project was redesigned to include service to this building. As a result, the boiler room location had to move, and chimneys and piping had to be rerouted through the parking garage and a restaurant on site. Ultimately, the new design added space to both the garage and the restaurant’s storage mezzanine.
In addition to disconnection from ConEd steam, the new boilers run on low-pressure steam, ensuring that full-time operators are not necessary. With direct digital control (DDC), operators can monitor the boilers on the localized building management system (BMS).
Natural-gas low-pressure steam boilers
High-pressure to low-pressure steam conversion
Building management system (BMS)
