JPMorgan Chase Headquarters, 270 Park Avenue, New York, NY

A drive for sustainability prompted JPMorgan Chase to a complete modernization of its 50-story, 1.3 million sf corporate headquarters, which was constructed in 1961 and is one of Midtown’s most impressive mid-century modern buildings.

This renovation was one of the largest, most ambitious, and most sustainable renovations in the world.

Syska, who originally designed the building’s MEP systems in 1961 and performed upgrades in 1986 and 2010, was hired to lead the engineering design services for MEP and fire protection systems for the lower 20 floors of the building.

The central challenges and accomplishments included:

• Maintained continual operations of a world-class trading floor during a seven phase renovation
• Designed to provide 2,000 extra rentable square feet per floor
• Delivered $4M in savings through CFD modeling and HVAC value engineering
• Cut renovation schedule by three months

From the construction materials to new plumbing, lighting, climate management systems and landscaping, the building’s features were designed to reduce environmental impact and enhance occupant comfort. Other sustainable features included:

• Daylighting system to reduce energy consumption
• Enhanced outside air control and monitoring to maintain minimum outdoor airflow rates under all operating conditions
• Filmed windows to reduce heat gain and cooling costs
• Green roof to reduce the heat island effect
• Rainwater collection from the rooftops and outside plaza drains; greywater is filtered through a 54,000-gallon tank for non-potable plumbing fixtures and landscaping

As a result, the high-performance building earned a LEED Platinum rating from USGBC in 2012.