Lilker Assoc. provides eco-friendly building concepts for $120 million project

Lilker Associates, Consulting Engineers, is leading the effort to seek LEED (green) certification for Fordham Place, the new Bronx mixed-use development project at 400 East Fordham Rd., across from Fordham University's Rose Hill campus and near the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Gardens. The Manhattan-based engineering firm is responsible for all aspects of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems for the $120 million project. The six-story building, which for years was partially occupied by a Sears store, is being refurbished and retrofitted by Acadia Trust of White Plains, N.Y., P/A Associates (Manhattan), and Atlanta-based Greenberg Farrow Architecture, Inc. The new development will accommodate retail and office-space tenants, including a scaled-back Sears and new tenants Walgreen and Best Buy. At full build-out, Fordham Place will encompass 280,000 s/f of class A office and retail space on 14 floors. "From a sustainable design perspective, some of the ways the team found to target LEED credits were optimizing energy performance with thermal energy ice storage 'off-peak' cooling systems and a highly efficient, low thermal-value building envelope to reduce overall air conditioning and heating energy requirements; installing management systems for measurement and verification to evaluate and calibrate the building's energy performance over time; and existing building contaminants removal," said Steve Hammer, a principal at Lilker Associates. Other green design initiatives that have been targeted include innovative wastewater technologies and water use reduction that will lighten the burden on municipal water supply and wastewater systems while reducing up-front and overall operating costs, and base building ventilation designed into the core and shell to increase ventilated air by 30% beyond code requirements, thereby improving indoor air quality.