Hudson Yards Eastern Rail Yards, NY

Project Details

Hudson Yards is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States and the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center in the 1930’s.

The overall Hudson Yards project site development is planned over two phases – Eastern Rail Yards (bordered by 30th St, 10th Ave, 33rd St, and 11th Ave - complete) and the Western Rail Yards (extending westward to 12th Ave - in process). The site includes five towers, a retail podium, a culture shed with expandable covered outdoor space, and excellent access to new and existing park space and transportation options. The Shed utilizes a unique semi-transparent, movable shed structure creating additional conditioned performance, gallery and market space on the open plaza.

Our Solution: Energy & Sustainability Consulting

SOCOTEC has provided comprehensive sustainability and energy services from Schematic Design through completion at both the master planning level and across all building projects for this six-year phased development. Our building envelope team has also delivered consulting and monitoring services from Schematic Design for 15 Hudson Yards and 55 Hudson Yards.

Our team collaborated with several project teams to achieve a LEED for Neighborhood Development Silver rating as well as Gold and Platinum ratings for all buildings in either LEED for New Construction or Core & Shell.

We performed campus cogen modeling, whole building energy modeling, individual tenant modeling, THERM, and CFD analyses for certain project spaces, such as atriums and spas, as well as for special geometries (e.g. inclined curtain walls).

A 13 MW district tri-generation system (electricity, heat, cool) offers grid resiliency and efficiency for the buildings. SOCOTEC modeled the hourly demand of each building and ran parametrics to help the designers and cogen manager optimize the generation of electricity, heat and chilled water. The heat vs. chilled water generation was of special interest, to maximize cogen utilization.

Site-wide stormwater collection and reuse (cooling tower makeup & irrigation) is implemented for at least a 40% reduction in overall stormwater outflow. A site measurement and verification program partnership with NYU CUSP monitors emissions, energy use, water use, and circulation throughout the site - the first “quantified community”.

Energy cost savings are anticipated to exceed 20% for each project building, and internal water savings are expected to reach 30-35%. Provision of accessible civic and public space was critical, as demonstrated through the project’s central plaza, connections to the High Line and adjacent streets, and vegetated rooftop terraces. All parking is below grade with a car sharing and vehicle sharing program integrated, as well as extensive bicycle parking.

Additional project features contributing to the LEED ND certification range from walkable street design, tree-lined streetscapes, and inclusion of a farmer’s market, to the use of recycled content materials and energy-efficient site lighting and traffic signaling in the project infrastructure.