David Tanenbaum has more than 30 years of experience in mechanical building system design and construction. His clients include Fortune 500 companies in the financial, advertising, transportation services, residential, and hospitality sectors, and his portfolio ranges from smaller workplaces to large-scale headquarters. David is a trusted advisor to his clients and delivers best-in-class service.
1 Tell us about your role with Lilker in reconstructing Terminal 6 (T6) as JFK undergoes its multi-terminal redevelopment.
David Tanenbaum: As Principal-in-Charge, I’m the primary high-level point of contact between Lilker, JFK Millennium Partners (the client), and various design and construction team members headed by AECOM Hunt and Corgan Architects. I also collaborated extensively with our internal senior mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering team members as we developed the project design concepts and documents.
2 From a system design perspective, what plans are being considered for Terminal 6 to meet growing travel demands?
David Tanenbaum: For Terminal 6, the MEP systems design was based on ‘Future Design Day Flight Schedules.’ Airports use this to project the occupancy in a terminal by identifying the frequency of plane arrivals and take-offs. When designing for such a large footprint, it was a key consideration to create a 30-year design concept, building in the flexibility to handle the anticipated increase in capacity that JFK will undoubtedly experience.
3 What are the key elements to support a LEED Gold objective at Terminal 6 and its sustainability in years to come?
David Tanenbaum: To achieve LEED Gold status, we implemented four key elements:
- Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power System – This is connected to each of the three major incoming service rooms. Kennedy International Airport Cogeneration (KIAC) produces electricity, high-temperature hot water, and chilled water, but it runs primarily on fossil fuels. The roof-mounted PV system at T6 uses solar energy to reduce the power required from the central cogeneration plant, making it a preferred green alternative.
- Advanced Energy Metering – We provided extensive feedback and data for monitoring energy consumption from electrical power, hot water, and chilled water throughout the building.
- Demand Control Ventilation – The HVAC system is designed to control energy use without compromising indoor environmental air quality. This is accomplished by adjusting outdoor air for ventilation based on actual carbon dioxide concentration within the spaces.
- Storm Water Collection and Grey Water Reuse – In most facilities, bathrooms use potable water to flush toilets and urinals. The stormwater initiative collects a portion of the rainwater and stores it in a 75,000-gallon cistern beneath the building. This water is treated and repurposed as non-potable water to supply toilets and urinals. In addition, some of the non-potable water is used to irrigate the outdoor landscaping. The rainwater harvesting system significantly reduces the use of potable water.
4 How do you envision the impact of technology on future airport design, and how can it be used to connect the world from city to city, from airport to downtown, while prioritizing the airport as an anchor point of all transportation?
David Tanenbaum: Looking to the future, the growing need for electrification has the most significant technological impact on MEP design for airports. As time passes, many airports will seek to use clean, renewable-source electricity rather than fossil fuel-sourced energy to support most of the systems – including all the ground systems that service the aircraft. They will need a larger source of power to do this. At T6, we sized conduit banks for additional feeders to enable the terminal to provide additional power in the future. Our design allows the electrical system to be upgraded relatively easily in preparation for the future inevitable power requirements. This was a design consideration that we could implement at Terminal 6 that not all airport footprints and power distribution systems can accommodate, especially in existing facilities where upgrading them would be both challenging and costly.
5 What are some of your most notable projects completed at airports and transportation hubs in our area?
David Tanenbaum: All of the airport terminal-related work that our office has completed in the NYC metropolitan area is notable for us. This includes work at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark Airports, and some smaller regional airports. It is a point of pride to be able to impact the lives of everyone traveling through our home aviation hubs. Before joining Lilker, I was a senior HVAC Engineer for the original JFK Terminal 4 (International Air Terminal) and Newark Liberty’s Terminal C expansion. Lilker projects have included gate lounge upgrades for American Airlines at LaGuardia and JetBlue at JFK, the British Airways Lounge and duty-free shops at JFK Terminal 7, the Chase Sapphire Lounge at JFK Terminal 4, the Delta Sky Club in Terminal 4 and American Airlines flight operations support spaces at the new Terminal 1 at Newark Liberty.
By no means is our work limited to the NYC metropolitan region. We are proud of the recently completed Delta Sky Club at the new Salt Lake City Airport and are currently beginning an infrastructure study for a New England airport, anticipating a major systems upgrade.
