James Geddes Development, New York Retrofit

418 Fabius St is a multifamily building constructed in the 1950s that is part of Syracuse Housing Authority’s SHA’s James Geddes Development. This housing development is located on the West Side of Syracuse, NY, and comprises a total of 477 dwelling units housing 853 residents, and an estimated 265,000 square feet of construction spread across 35 buildings: 4 high-rise towers and 31 two-story rowhouses. The building selected for this pilot project, 418 Fabius St, is one of the high-rises, spanning seven-stories with a full basement below grade. The building has 52 dwelling units and a community space across 38,840 square feet of gross area, with an “X”-shaped footprint and four wings radiating from a central core.

The proposed scope applies a new overclad façade with Hydronic Shell’s heating, cooling, and ventilation system. The Hydronic Shell is a complete central HVAC distribution system that is integrated into prefabricated modular façade panels that are assembled quickly, cost-effectively, and non-invasively around the exterior of a multifamily building. It dramatically reduces energy consumption and carbon emissions, improves indoor air quality and comfort, reduces operating expenses, and revitalizes the building appearance with minimal disruption to building tenants.

The goal of the project is to demonstrate this novel technology and develop a model that is replicable across the rest of the James Geddes Development, SHA’s 2,500-dwelling unit portfolio as part of SHA’s overall long-term strategic sustainability goals, and other similar public housing developments across the Northeast.