Green Design: 7 World Trade Center

1. Green Design: 7 World Trade Center Carley Zimmerman

2. The History of the Building • 7World Trade Center, a building in New York City, is located across from the World Trade Center in Manhattan. • The name 7World Trade Center has referred to two buildings: the original structure, developed in 1984 and the current structure. • The original building was destroyed on September 11, 2001 and replaced with the new 7World Trade Center, which opened in 2006. • Both buildings were developed by Larry Silverstein who holds a ground lease for the site.

3. Beginning of Construction • The new 7 World Trade Center construction began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. • It is 52 stories tall and situated above a power substation. Built on a smaller footprint than the original to allow Greenwich Street to be restored from TriBeCa through the World Trade Center site and south to Battery Park, the new building is bounded by Greenwich, Vesey, Washington, and Barclay streets. • A small park across Greenwich street occupies space that was part of the original building's footprint. • The current 7 World Trade Center's design placed emphasis on safety, with a reinforced concrete core, wider stairways, and thicker fireproofing of steel columns, and incorporates numerous environmentally friendly features.

4. Design • The structural design of 7 World Trade Center included features to allow a larger building than originally planned to be constructed. • The new 7 World Trade Center has 52stories and is 750ft tall.The building has 42 floors of leasable space, starting at the 11th floor, and a total of 1,700,000sqft of office space. • The first ten floors house an electrical substation, which provides power to much of Lower Manhattan.

5. Green Design • Nearly 30 percent of structural steel used in the building consists of recycled steel. • Rainwater is collected and used for irrigation of the park and to cool the building. • Along with other sustainable design features, the building is designed to allow in plenty of natural light; power is metered to tenants to encourage them to conserve energy, the heating steam is reused to generate some power for the building, and recycled materials are used for insulation and interior materials. • The lobby's radiant stone floors will generate heat in the winter and absorb heat in the summer. • Employees will ride escalators past a three-story sculptured waterfall that also humidifies and chills the lobby. Their windows are made from coated glass from Belgium that will keep out the solar radiation that causes heat while letting in light. • With internal walls kept to a minimum, even those who don't have perimeter offices will get to share the sunshine.

6. Personal Statement • This project is very important because it symbolizes innovation through large-scale green design and it is a symbol of the American people. I admire the designers of this project because they are choosing to develop a center of work and culture while also dedicating their work to those who fell in 9/11. I think green design is very important and the more it is developed and made common, the better our world will be. Less pollution and more beautiful spaces can only help us and not only are they becoming more aesthetically pleasing, but they are also very helpful to ourselves and our environment.