New York City Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center
Breathes Easy and Saves Energy – Thanks To DRl’s Enthalpy Wheels
Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center comprises of state-of-the-art, modern, interdisciplinary research unit right in the center of the medical school environment. The Institute has taken special care to ensure the well being of building occupants by providing them a reliable environment while saving highly on energy costs of the building.
The research center is dedicated to translational research in fields including cancer biology, pathology, dermatology, radiation oncology, and biochemistry, the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center encompasses 13 stories of wet lab space equipped with the latest instruments and technologies, plus shared conference and seminar spaces.
Many engineers and designers are hesitant to use rotary heat exchangers in animal lab applications due to cross contamination concerns and odor re-entrainment into the outdoor air supply. DRI utilizes a 3Å molecular sieve desiccant that selectively accepts water vapor (2.8Å) and rejects all other odor causing gases since those gases are larger than 3Å in diameter and will not physically fit into the desiccant’s pore structure.
In addition, DRI’s rotors utilize a purge section which cleans out the flute structure as it rotates from the return air to the outdoor air plenum using outdoor air to push the contaminated air back to the return plenum, thus controlling cross contamination. The proper rotor selection with 3Å desiccant and purge sector prevented unwanted odors from crossing over to the supply air stream and causing odor issues within the occupied spaces.
According to Federico La-Femina, the director of facilities for Research Center, “There has been no odor complaints from building occupants and the energy saved by the enthalpy wheels has been tremendous. Both DRI wheels are delivering over 70,000 CFM of outside air to the space.”
The 12’ diameter DRI wheels have been in operation since 2006. After five years of operation, the wheel media looks as good as it did on the day it arrived. Coincidentally, one of DRI’s largest competitors that also utilizes 3Å desiccant, had two rotors the same size in the same application on a wing opposite the DRI rotors and they have already been removed. According to Federico LaFemina, “Their rotor media had to be removed as it delaminated and became clogged preventing outdoor air from entering the building. Before the media was removed, you could take a MagLite flashlight and push it straight through the media, like a hot knife through butter.”
If you are designing a new animal lab or chemistry lab with fume hood exhaust, it is worth considering to use a DRI 3Å molecular sieve rotor with purge to save the most first costs and operating costs all while providing acceptable indoor air quality just like the NY City Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center
- Formal name of project: Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center
- Location: New York, New York
- Gross square footage: 235,000 sq.ft.
- Completion Date: May 2006
- Total construction cost: $140,000,000
- Owner: New York University School of Medicine
- Architect: Mitchell | Giurgola Architects, LLP
- AHU Manufacturer: Climate Craft
