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Iconic NYC
church
drills deep
for climate
control

Produced by Victor Martins and Written by Emma Gregg

Acentury and a half ago, Archbishop The geothermal plant, the largest of its kind in New
Hughes of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral York City, was designed by three firms: Landmark
stood before worshipers and proposed Facilities Group; Murphy, Burnham & Buttrick, and
“for the glory of Almighty God” that a PW Grosser. In the early stages, it involved drilling
grander church be built “worthy of our increasing 10 wells, up to 2,200 feet deep, along the north and
numbers” in an area of near-wilderness that has south sides of the cathedral.
since become downtown Manhattan. LANE Associates and its team have orchestrated
The cornerstone was laid in 1858, and the new the complex heat recovery system and building
St. Patrick’s Cathedral was completed in 1879. It management systems (BMS), a task complicated
has long since been recognized as a religious and by the expansive cathedral ceilings and robust
cultural landmark. As of spring 2017, it will also construction of these historic buildings that make
be a technological forerunner, thanks in part to heating and cooling challenging, even with the latest
the good work of LANE Associates Inc. of systems.

The firm, for four decades the HVAC contractor of “This was a very exciting project,” says Michael
choice for the iconic cathedral and 76,000-square- Star, president of LANE Associates. “There are very
foot campus, is finishing the installation of a few geothermal plants in Manhattan. With such a
campus-wide geothermal heating and cooling progressive technology in such a preserved and
system that will regulate temperatures both in the iconic architecture, we are proud to be part of it.”
cathedral and its adjoining structures.

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Michael Star, President of LANE Associates Its own history

With a helping LANE Associates specializes in designing and
hand from maintaining HVAC and BMS systems. Since
1944, it has provided energy services for
LANE Associates Inc., hospitals, commercial buildings, retail chains,
an iconic Manhattan hotels, and, of course, churches, doing so
across the New York metropolitan area, as
church embraces well as in Long Island, Westchester, Rockland
geothermal Counties and New Jersey.
technology. In 2016 alone, the contractor finished installing
an HVAC system for the historic Longacre
Theatre, a Broadway theatre located in midtown
Manhattan owned by the Shubert Organization,
and a design-build project for Century 21
Department Store, which included a chiller,
fan coil units, piping, ductwork, wiring and
controls. In both projects, it was essential that
the upgraded system integrate seamlessly with
stylized interiors.
LANE Associates has contracted with St.
Patrick’s Cathedral since the 1970s, performing
preventive maintenance, repairs and emergency
services. When LANE Associates was awarded
the opportunity to work on the project in 2012,
Star says the company was thrilled to be at the
intersection of history and innovation.
Besides overseeing the installation of the heat
pump, heat exchangers, air handlers and fan
coils that are responsible for extracting and
redirecting the heat, LANE Associates also
replaced every chilled and hot water pipe.
“Working in a building like this, we had to
coordinate many trades, but our ability to
collaborate with the entire team involved really
helped the finished project, and, in turn, the
cathedral,” Star says.

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Turning a city landmark green BMKR, LLP

After partnering with St. Patrick’s Cathedral for P: (631) 234-4200 F: (631) 234-4272 E: [email protected]
so long, Star says the firm was well briefed on
its quirks and daily operations, including masses. THE ACCOUNTING HELP YOU
“It’s a high profile and operating cathedral in the NEED TO BUILD PROFITABILITY
Archdiocese of New York, so we always have to
prepare and make provisions with special events, WE UNDERSTAND YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS
VIPs, tourists and visitors,” says President WITHIN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Michael Star. “On top of that you have 140 year
old construction with extremely thick concrete BMKR IS LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR SUCCESS
walls and limited pathways.”
Star and his team understood that the priority
was to maintain the aesthetic of the American
neo-Gothic style church—technology was not to
distract from the stained glass windows, mosaics
and lace-like carvings along the walls and ceiling.
“All of our work had to be as hidden as possible,”
he says.
LANE Associates was also employing new
technology in the cathedral. Unlike traditional
geothermal plants that expel excess heat,
St. Patrick’s geothermal plant is capable of
simultaneous heating and cooling, as well as
heat recovery.
“These components mean that we can capture
heat being removed in one part of the building,
and repurpose it elsewhere, instead of rejecting
it into the environment,” Star says.
The keystone of the technology, known as a
dedicated heat recovery chiller, will allow the
cathedral to save on energy costs and help the
central plant generate 2.9 billion BTUs per hour
of air conditioning and 3.2 million BTUs per hour
of heating.
“We believe in doing our part to better the
environment,” Star says. “It’s something LANE
Associates has always been conscious of, and
we try to reduce as much electrical and fuel
consumption as we can in the buildings that we
work in.”

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Combining controls with mechanical

When LANE Associates joined in the work in 2012, it had the additional
task of helping St. Patrick’s design team understand the components they
would need to maintain the controls for the complicated system.
Collaborating with their controls distributor, Universal Supply Group, Lane
Associates designed a network of panels, controls, sensors, switches
and relays that will collect data throughout the cathedral campus to
automatically adapt the mechanical systems.

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“It’s one of the things about LANE “We’re trusted with maintaining the comfort and environment of a building’s
that we’re so proud of. We’re both a occupants. If systems aren’t working properly it can really have a negative
mechanical contractor and a controls impact because a core component of any business is making sure their
contractor, so we know how to marry teams and processes are comfortable,” Star says.
the controls components with the However, St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s geothermal plant represents more than
mechanical systems,” Star says, renewed comfort for worshipers and visitors.
allowing LANE Associates to deliver Predating parts of New York City’s history, the cathedral is symbolic of
more customized and consistent change and growth as much as history. State-of-the-art sustainable energy
service on every project, from technology continues that legacy. •
centuries-old cathedrals to national
retail chains.

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www.laneassociatesinc.com

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