Battery Park City is located on a reclaimed section of the lower west side of Manhattan. Part of the fill comes from the excavation of the original World Trade Center development. While geographically part of Manhattan, Battery Park City is controlled by New York State’s Battery Park City Authority (BPCA). The Authority has adopted Green Guidelines for the development of all buildings built in Battery Park City. These guidelines require each new building to supply 5% of the base building electrical load through renewable energy generated on site by BIPV systems as well as requiring a multitude of sustainable building practices.

3. Projects

3.1 The Solaire

The first project finished under the BPCA Green Guidelines was Site 18A; The Solaire. This project incorporates 4 BIPV systems, a 11 kWp BIPV faqade system, a 650 Wp glass/glass laminate canopy system and a 6.5 kWp south wall and 16.5 kWp west wall weather screen at the top of the building. The building’s developer, The Albanese Organization, used all available funds including NSYERDA funding from the PV on Buildings program Program Opportunity Notice (PON) 449-99 and the New York State Green Building Tax Credit as well as all available Federal Income Tax credits and Accelerated Depreciation. The Solaire is a United States Green Building Council (USGBC) — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certified building achieving Gold status.

The system design was inherited by altPOWER with trade claims thoroughly considered. The project owner, construction manager and architect expected and allowed for the following: installation of the custom non-listed BIPV 11 kWp faqade system using a pre-glazed cassette system installed by

Ornamental Ironworkers and later wired up by Electricians. This was a smooth and efficient installation with no trade discussions during construction. The 650 Wp entrance canopy was installed by a composite crew of Ornamental Ironworkers and Glaziers and later wired by Electricians, custom non-listed BIPV modules were used and no trade arguments occurred and overall the rather complicated system went in as expected. The Bulkhead West and South systems at the top of the building utilized standard UL listed PV modules that were tested to survive the high winds expected at the top of the building.

The modules were mounted to the wall using a custom ornamental aluminum mounting system.

These two systems were installed by Electricians, as was expected and planned in a trade agreement. However, this installation was troubled by sloppy work resulting in several PV modules breaking, an extremely slow installation and as a result a high expense.

The team identified the pros and cons of the various system installations and planned better for the next two buildings. The same team would have the fortunate opportunity to work together again on two subsequent projects: The Verdesian and the Visionaire.