41 Cooper Square | Morphosis

A month or two ago, I was in New York City and although it was pouring rain, I made it a point to see Morphosis’ new building for the Cooper Union. It was a hell of a building to walk around- I didn’t go in. I had a sculpture with me, I was soaking wet, I figured I wouldn’t drip all over the floor of this nice building. As it turns out, it’s not just a good looking building, but much, much more. Below are the facts about the building provided by Morphosis, their written description, which is worth reading, can be found on their info site, Morphopedia. Cheers.

41 Cooper Square is the first LEED-certified academic laboratory building in New York City. With a Platinum rating, the project’s advanced green building initiatives include:

• An operable building skin made of perforated stainless steel panels offset from a glass and aluminum window wall. The panels reduce the impact of heat radiation during the summer and insulate interior spaces during the winter.

• Radiant heating and cooling ceiling panels introduce innovative HVAC technology that will boost energy efficiency. This contributes to making the new building 40 percent more energy efficient than a standard building of its type.

A full-height atrium enables unique circulation for building occupants, improves the flow of air and provides increased interior day lighting.

• Seventy-five percent of the building’s regularly occupied spaces are lit by natural daylight.

• A green roof insulates the building, reduces city “heat island” effect, storm water runoff and pollutants; harvested water is reused.

•

A cogeneration plant provides additional power to the building, recovers waste heat and effectively cuts energy costs.

• Flexible state-of-the-art laboratories, studios and classrooms are specifically designed to accommodate pedagogical objectives, as well as current and future research activities.

This aggregation of progressive green building initiatives combines with the building’s social spaces and urban connectivity to support Cooper Union in advancing its legacy of innovative ideas, cross-disciplinary knowledge, and creative practices well into the future.