Month: August 2010

Editor’s Note: What do you think of the new order to e-Oculus? Please send me your feedback at eoculus@aiany.org.

– Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

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Event: Active Living Research and NYC Active Design Summit
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.28.10
Speakers: Jim Sallis, Ph.D. — Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University, & Program Director, Active Living Research; Karen Lee, MD — NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH); Jon Orcutt — NYC Department of Transportation (DOT); Shampa Chanda — NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD); Alexandros Washburn, AIA — NYC Department of City Planning (DCP); Adena Long — NYC Department of Parks; Andrew Rundle, Dr.PH — Physical Activity Epidemiologist, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Joyce Lee, AIA, LEED AP — NYC Office of Management and Budget; David Burney, FAIA — Commissioner, NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC); Lourdes Hernández-Cordero, Dr.PH — Clinical Sociomedical Sciences Researcher, Mailman School, Columbia; Mindy Fullilove, MD — Clinical Psychiatry/Public Health Researcher, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Mailman School, Columbia; Kevin Nadal, Ph.D. — Multicultural Psychology Researcher, City University of New York
Organizers: Active Living Research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; AIANY

Courtesy of NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

After five Fit City conferences and the Active Design Guidelines (ADG) publication, researchers nationwide are exploring the relation of urban design to epidemic “diseases of energy” that are reaching the point where institutional status seems appropriate. The recent half-day summit drew attention to policy and infrastructural expressions of the city’s commitment to active design and these efforts’ basis in research. What began with common sense, good intentions, and foundation grants is now a movement picking up steam in New York and beyond.

While not a public meeting, the Active Living Research (ALR) Summit included one announcement of potential public interest: DDC Commissioner David Burney, FAIA, citing the overwhelming response to the ADG, proposed a new Center for Active Design, a nonprofit organization that would launch in spring 2012, when current funding for the ADG team expire. Burney and other officials highlighted current and projected efforts to reshape civic space to foster healthier living. Along with pedestrian-plaza reclamations and bike lanes, various agencies are conducting behind-the-scenes activities such as “food desert” mapping to guide City Planning zoning-incentive decisions (the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health program, or FRESH). Volunteers partnering with the Parks Department have built mountain biking and bicycle motocross facilities at long-neglected Highbridge Park; when the High Bridge reopens in 2012 or 2013, linking Manhattan and Bronx bike paths, Washington Heights may become the city’s center for extreme sports.

The city is also laying groundwork for a public/private partnership on bike sharing. Asked about the French experience with Vélib rentals, DOT’s Jon Orcutt noted that the system’s widely publicized problems generate useful feedback about ways to fine-tune details of pricing and vandal-deterring design. Aware of the mixed results in Paris but also the positive effects in multiple cities, NYC is weighing potential vendors carefully before setting an announcement date.

In briefer talks, ALR’s participants presented epidemiologic and sociological findings on a cluster of interrelated topics: walkability studies, ethnic-group correlations with views of physical activity as a cultural norm, and an “intervention block” reversing blight from the 1980s crack-cocaine trade.

Bill Millard is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in OCULUS, Icon, Content, The Architect’s Newspaper, and other publications.

Event: New York City Streets: Top-Down, Bottom-Up
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.28.10
Speakers: Janette Sadik-Khan — Commissioner, NYC Department of Transportation; Elizabeth Berger — President, Alliance for Downtown New York; Tim Tompkins — President, Times Square Alliance; Noah Budnick — Deputy Director, Transportation Alternatives; Joan Byron — Director, Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative, Pratt Center for Community Development; Thomas Yu — Co-Chair, Chinatown Working Group
Respondents: Rob Eisenstat, AIA — Assistant Chief Architect, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Tom Wright — Executive Vice President, Regional Plan Association; Randall Morton, AIA — Partner, Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Moderator: Walter Hook — Executive Director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Organizer: Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in collaboration with AIANY

“Cool Water” by Molly Dilworth in Times Square.

Courtesy NYC Department of Transportation

People love public spaces, but balancing them with the demands of NYC’s streets is challenging. Thanks to the work of the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and other organizations, the streets are becoming greener and more conducive to lingering.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan discussed pilot projects, including new urban plazas in Herald Square and Madison Square and closing Broadway through Times Square. Though these projects greatly improve the streetscape, they are not expensive. “You can do a lot with a paint can and brush,” she said, and, in some cases, simply providing seating makes all the difference. Tim Tompkins of the Times Square Alliance agreed. Last summer, after the new pedestrian plaza opened, he ordered cheap lawn chairs to offer a moment of respite within chaos. That move drew even lifelong New Yorkers to the tourist mecca.

In Lower Manhattan, Elizabeth Berger sought big ideas. Twelve design firms were invited by the Downtown Alliance to re-imagine the area dubbed “Greenwich South,” though smaller-scale efforts such as the transformation of Water Street into an active pedestrian thoroughfare may be realistically achieved within a few years. Joan Byron of Pratt’s Center for Community Development advocates the removal of the Sheridan Expressway to reconnect the Hunts Point neighborhood with the Bronx and make room for mixed-income housing.

Developer Thomas Yu discussed Chinatown’s love/hate relationship with its infamous buses. Though he believes that they provide an “economic lifeline,” they also create noise and pollution that is unpleasant for pedestrians navigating Chinatown’s already crowded streets. Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives suggested that NYC’s general speed limit be lowered to 20 mph, a speed at which pedestrians have a 40% higher chance of surviving a collision than the current 30 mph limit.

As a result of the ideas and advocacy from these interrelated organizations, the streets of NYC are becoming more pedestrian-friendly. However, these varied strategies prove that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for such a diverse city.

Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a freelance architectural writer and a contributing editor to e-Oculus.

Event: Integration Series 101: Bridging the Roles of Architect and Engineer: 101 Fundamentals of ASHRAE 90.1
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.28.10
Speakers: Michael Waite, PE, CEM, LEED AP — Senior Building Technology Engineer, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger; Fiona Cousins, PE, LEED AP — Principal, Arup
Moderator: Ilana Judah, Intl. Assoc. AIA, OAQ, LEED AP — Director of Sustainability, FXFOWLE Architects
Organizers: AIANY COTE Committee; ASHRAE NY Sustainability Committee

Many designers hesitate to dig too deeply into engineering standards and codes — ASHRAE 90.1, for instance. But as moderator Ilana Judah, Intl. Assoc. AIA, said, “It’s something we could certainly engage with more as architects, in order to ask better questions of our engineers, and to form a more integrated design process.” Furthermore, if technical issues aren’t considered early on, it could lead to costly redesigns down the road.

What is ASHRAE 90.1? This standard determines minimum energy-efficiency guidelines for all buildings (except for residences shorter than four-stories). Many jurisdictions — New York included — have adopted the standard as code. It is developed triennially by a commission of architects, engineers, and product manufacturers, and all proposed updates are subjected to public review.

The standard was born of the 1973 oil crisis, with the first version released in January 1975. Michael Waite, PE, CEM, LEED AP, noted the speediness of its creation: “This is a total of 15 months between the onset of a crisis and the development of a brand new energy efficiency standard — it shows that if you really put your mind to it and the put the effort behind it, you can do big things.” Interestingly, Fiona Cousins, PE, LEED AP, noted that ASHRAE 90.1 was developed in the 1970s to minimize energy costs, not necessarily consumption, which puts the standard at a slight philosophical distance from today’s conception of sustainability. But however it’s measured, given that renewable sources account for only 7% of current-day energy production, energy efficiency remains vitally important.

ASHRAE 90.1 is divided into sections according to building systems: the building envelope, HVAC, and lighting, for example. The way the standard works, most sections have “prescriptive,” “trade-off,” and “performance rated” or “simulation” methods for determining compliance. The prescriptive method (the simplest) lists baseline energy performance criteria for a particular system or assembly — if all areas meet the criteria, the building is compliant. The trade-off method allows diminished performance in one area, as long as it is offset by increased performance in another. For more complex building designs, simulations and computer modeling can be used to determine compliance.

In the future, ASHRAE 90.1 will become more and more stringent — the 2010 edition aims to increase efficiency by 30% over the 2004 standard. The new edition’s scope will expand as well, addressing building operations and maintenance, on-site renewable energy sources, and industrial processes — which will create new challenges for architects.

Carl Yost is the marketing and publicity coordinator for Gabellini Sheppard Associates. He has written for Forbes.com, Architectural Record, and The Architect’s Newspaper, among other publications.