A recent addition to the Midtown Manhattan skyline represents a new standard in green architecture in New York City. Completed in 2006, the Hearst...

A recent addition to the Midtown Manhattan skyline represents a new standard in green architecture in New York City. Completed in 2006, the Hearst Tower, home of Hearst Publishing, was designed to achieve a degree of energy efficiency 26 percent higher than that of standard office buildings. The building’s innovations earned it the city’s first Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Hearst Tower’s striking “diagrid” frame, which incorporates a system of steel and glass triangles, floods the interior with natural light while using approximately 2000 tons less steel than a conventional frame. Most of the steel (90 percent) used in the 46-story, 80,000 m2 (856,000-square-ft) building is recycled.

Other energy-saving design features in the Hearst Tower boost the efficiency of the building’s heating and cooling systems. Windows are coated to reduce solar radiation, and heating and air conditioning equipment cools and ventilates using only outside air for three-quarters of the year. In addition, embedded polyethylene tubes within the atrium’s limestone floor circulates water for both cooling and heating. Unique to the building’s design, a 10-story waterfall called the “Icefall” chills the atrium. The Icefall’s water supply comes from rainwater collected at the roof and drawn into a 53,000-L (14,000-gal) basement reclamation tank. This water is also used to irrigate the building’s plants.

Natural light is enhanced by the placement of few internal walls and only low partitions. Sensors turn off lights in empty rooms and control the amount of artificial light provided based on the natural light being received.

Finally, building health is protected by several interior features. Low-vapor paints and low-toxicity sealants coat surfaces, while furniture and carpet make use of low-toxicity recycled content and materials obtained from sustainable forests.