Rockefeller Center

The Rockefeller Center project’s objectives were three-fold: compliance with NYC’s Local Law 87 Energy Audits and Retro-commissioning of Base Building Systems, compliance with LEED-EBOM v3 requirements related to energy audits and retro-commissioning, and compliance with NYSERDA’s FlexTech Program requirements to cost share the effort.

Each building is connected to a district chilled water system while also having individual cooling and heating systems. AKF performed extensive temporary submetering throughout the site to identify where atypical and district loads were consumed. AKF identified a number of low-cost operational improvements, including:

• Repair insulation for piping and ductwork
• Repair damaged coils and replace dirty filters
• Repair air handling unit damper actuation
• Repair chilled water / steam control valve to prevent overcooling / overheating
• Recalibrate temperature sensors to prevent overcooling / overheating
• Remove blockage from the airways path to reduce fan SP
• Re-attach SP sensor to fan to allow for variable volume control

AKF also investigated a number of ECMs for the facility, including the following:

• Retrofit existing electric chiller with VFDs
• Retrofit existing steam chiller with PLC controller
• Replace nonfunctional chiller with new electric part-load chiller
• Institute new controls strategies for water temperature resets
• Trim chilled water pump impellers
• Replace existing plate and frame heat exchangers with high approach temperatures
• Recalibrate minimum OA requirements at AHUs and H&V units
• Semi- and full-replacement options for interior and exterior lighting fixtures