Global architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has installed the Aircuity ventilation optimization platform in its new headquarters at 7 World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City. SOM selected the Aircuity platform for its ability to optimize ventilation and deliver a healthier and more productive indoor environment, along with Aircuity’s continuous indoor air quality (IAQ) analytics that provided key health and safety insight when moving into the space during the pandemic.
“SOM is one of the foremost architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world, and their selection process for their corporate headquarters focused on cutting-edge technologies that deliver the best energy efficiency, health and productivity benefits,” said Dan Diehl, CEO at Aircuity. “Aircuity is proud to be selected by a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas.”
When SOM set out to design its new headquarters, it focused on the environment while also prioritizing employee health and safety. SOM is pursuing IWBI’s WELL Certification and worked with Aircuity Channel Partner, SRS Enterprises. This helped SOM incorporate Aircuity’s industry-leading technology and earn required points in one of WELL’s largest categories, the Air Concept. This enables the firm to optimize ventilation and provide a healthy, productive environment for occupants while reducing carbon emissions
As part of the WELL Building Certification, Aircuity is measuring, controlling, and reporting on CO2, particles, dewpoint, and TVOCs using science-based healthy building parameters. SOM is attempting to earn WELL points for displaying air quality data for building occupants, using Aircuity’s API to pull points into specially designed WELL dashboards displayed in the lobby.
The Aircuity data was also used to carefully track CO2 levels in response to changing occupancy conditions, work schedules, and conference room reservations as SOM brought people back into the office this past fall.
“The data has helped us better understand the precise impacts of changing occupancy patterns on each space within our office,” said Charles Harris, Associate Architect with SOM. “For example, we were able to correlate changing CO2 levels in our conference rooms to the room reservations for a specific day. Going forward, we look forward to using this knowledge to design workspaces with the healthiest possible indoor air quality.”
SOM will continue to closely monitor IAQ data from the Aircuity platform, while also benefiting from its sustainable, optimized ventilation. Click here to read the full case study on the SOM project.
