The Museum of Arts and Design at 2 Columbus Circle is a 54,000-sf, 10-story cultural landmark in the heart of Manhattan, known for showcasing contemporary craft, design, and the applied arts. As building systems aged and New York City climate requirements—including Local Law 97—came into force, the museum pursued a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, shift away from fossil fuels, and improve comfort for visitors, staff, and collections.

ELECSYS is providing full mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering services to convert the existing chiller- and steam-based heating plant to an all-electric, heat-pump-driven system. The existing plant relies on rooftop air-cooled chillers for chilled water and Con Edison high-pressure steam for heating.

The electrification approach removes the existing chillers, disconnects the steam service, and replaces the plant with nine 35-ton simultaneous heating-and-cooling air-source heat pumps designed to provide year-round thermal comfort and support deep carbon reductions. Building on the client’s conceptual design, ELECSYS is developing detailed mechanical and electrical layouts, demolition and permitting packages, construction documents, and as-built drawings for the new heat-pump plant and associated distribution systems.

Mechanically, the design includes a four-pipe configuration with new chilled-water and hot-water pumps equipped with variable-frequency drives. To support lower hot-water supply temperatures, ELECSYS is redesigning and resizing heating coils for the museum’s air handling units and upgrading control valves to maintain stable conditions for sensitive collections.

Electrically, ELECSYS is designing new distribution to support the electrified plant and leading NYC Department of Buildings permitting, including self-certification drawings and responses to plan-review comments.