The Solaire at 20 River Terrace in Battery Park City opened in 2003 as the first “green” high-rise multifamily building in Manhattan (won LEED: Gold NC and Platinum EB). Designed by Cesar Pelli Architects, 27 stories tall with 293 units, it explored several innovative efficiency features including a landscaped roof garden, integrated solar panels and water treatment.
For Solaire, Ms. Thomas analyzed insulated wall systems with optimized insulation, brick tie configurations, window sills and glazing types, the use of efficient lighting (CFL at the time) and a master switch among others. Ms. Thomas utilized DOE-2 (unix-based software by DOE) and THERM (an LBNL software) to run the analyses.