Cushman & Wakefield team gains LEED Gold for Heron Tower; 154,023 s/f office Property owned by Takenaka

Manhattan, NY According to Cushman & Wakefield, the firm has achieved LEED Gold status for Heron Tower, a 27-story 154,023 s/f office property, which is currently under its management. This is part of a strategic initiative between Cushman & Wakefield’s Asset Services and Sustainability Services divisions to help investor clients to LEED certify their assets and promote sustainability. Asset Services’ property management team consisting of Joseph McCausland, property manager, and Tai Jance, chief engineer, led the implementation of updates for the Heron Tower to achieve LEED Gold certification. This is the first U.S. LEED project to acquire certification undertaken by owner Takenaka. “Takenaka’s target at Heron Tower was LEED Silver, and we are beyond pleased to have exceeded the expectation,” McCausland said. “The building team worked hard to find sustainability savings and areas of improvement, and our vendors and general contractors demonstrated their ability to meet the strict requirements set forth by the USGBC.”

Over a two-year period, building management replaced and upgraded hundreds of the interior and perimeter AC units with an additional 200 set to be phased in over 2018 and 2019 for a complete building retrofit. A select number of plumbing fixtures were replaced with low flow features to meet the pre-requisite, and the balance of fixtures and faucets were replaced during a three-month performance period for further reductions. 

The installation of a state-of-the-art Building Management System (BMS)  played a sizable role in helping the building’s conversion to LEED Gold as it did not have one before the summer of 2017. The BMS allowed for night setback and scheduling of AC units for sizable energy savings. Variable frequency drives were also installed on the condenser water pumps and cooling towers to aid the rise of Heron Tower’s ENERGY STAR Score.

Heron Tower is a 27-story 154,023 s/f boutique office building located in the Plaza District at 70 East 55th Street. The property offers tenants full floor identity options, concierge and doorman services, tenant controlled HVAC, direct electric, and a state-of-the-art telecom including Ethernet with T1 back-up, and as such has been nominated for BOMA NY’s Operating Office Building of the Year. Completed in 1987, Heron Tower offers tenants an exclusive club-like atmosphere and is surrounded by restaurants, 5-star hotels, and retail.