Successful ‘blower door’ test verifies superior envelope performance for official ‘Passive House’ designation.
Superior design, construction, inspections and teamwork were critical to achieving milestone.
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2022 / Trinity Financial announced today that comprehensive testing of the building envelope at its 425 Grand Concourse project in the Bronx has confirmed nearly airtight conditions as a result of the building’s design, construction, and rigorous inspection protocols.
Engineers from Steven Winter Associates, Inc. conducted a series of “whole building infiltration” tests in February and March – commonly referred to as a “blower door test.” The results confirmed that the building envelope and all interior spaces – residential and non-residential – delivered performance at half the maximum ceiling levels allowable to achieve certification by Phius.
Buildings certified by Phius are recognized for creating a very low carbon footprint. This is achieved through design, construction, and the deployment of building systems that preserve or recapture nearly all unused energy to provide heating and cooling.
“This successful whole building infiltration test is a huge accomplishment and an important milestone – both for 425 Grand Concourse and the advancement of low-carbon building technology,” said Thomas Brown, Trinity Financial Vice President and Senior Development Manager overseeing Trinity’s New York operations. “Some remarkable teamwork went into the development of this building, and we’re looking forward to an official ribbon cutting very soon.”
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The mixed-use 425 Grand Concourse development includes a 26-story apartment building with a total of 277 permanently affordable apartments suitable for households ranging from one to seven persons.
The building provides high-quality resident amenities such as an outdoor recreation deck at the 25th floor, two resident lounges, fitness room, laundry rooms, bike storage, and a landscaped roof terrace at the 3rd floor. In addition, the non-residential components of the development will consist of a neighborhood supermarket, a community health center, a cultural center and a 30,000 square foot educational facility for a community college serving the South Bronx.
Two blower door tests are required to determine whether a building’s target airtightness has been achieved. These were conducted by Steven Winter Associates Inc. under two conditions: a “taped” condition where air ducts are sealed to make sure that just the building envelope gets tested; and an “un-taped” condition without duct sealing closely resembling actual conditions under which the building operates.
“Our test results in taped condition were more than twice as tight as required, and in the un-taped condition still 30 percent tighter than required,” said Christoph Stump, Vice President for Design & Construction at Trinity Financial. “Those are phenomenal test results that speak to well thought-out detailing by the designers (Dattner Architects), a very high level of quality control by the contractor (Monadnock Construction), and rigid inspection protocols by the inspection agency (DeSimone Consulting Engineers).”
The 425 Grand Concourse project team also conducted extensive research and development using an actual façade mock-up at the very beginning of construction. This allowed design and construction team members to finetune detailing, air barrier materials and application methods.
“We are thrilled and not at all surprised to hear of the success of the airtightness test at 425 Grand Concourse,” said Katrin Klingenberg, Phius Co-Founder and Executive Director. “The Phius standards made it possible for the Trinity team to build an affordable high-rise with all the passive benefits at close to no additional cost.”
About Trinity Financial, Inc.
Trinity Financial is a community-driven, diverse real estate development firm with a proven-track record of redeveloping complex urban sites from New York to Greater Boston. The work spans half a dozen residential and commercial specialties, from multi-family housing to transit-oriented development. Over the past 30 years Trinity has developed more than $3 billion in innovative development, delivering high quality, sustainable, multi-family housing, ranging from affordable to luxury – all with a commitment to people and place. For more information about Trinity Financial, please visit www.trinityfinancial.com.
SOURCE: Trinity Financial
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