Goldman Copeland celebrates 50 years of engineering excellence

New York — Playing a leading role in bringing New York City’s buildings into the 21st century, consulting engineering firm Goldman Copeland (GOCO) is celebrating its 50th anniversary on May 8 at the iconic Ziegfeld Ballroom, which they recently helped transform into one of New York City’s most spectacular event spaces.

Founded in 1968, the firm has always been focused on sustainability and preservation. GOCO has created innovative and state-of-the-art mechanical/electrical infrastructure upgrades for millions of square footages of New York City’s commercial office buildings, healthcare facilities, museums, theaters, houses of worship, and historic structures.

Some milestones include:

• Installing one of New York’s earliest thermal solar collectors on a residential building in the East Village in 1974.
• Upgrading Grand Central Terminal’s mechanical/electrical systems, over a 15-year period with some systems dating back to the original construction. Starting in 1988, the firm was the primary MEP consultant, creating a master plan and implementing essential improvements while ensuring minimal visual impact on the landmarked interior.
• Consulting on infrastructure upgrades and tenant improvements for New York City’s major real estate owners, including Vornado, ESRT and Feil.
• Managing NYC’s Energy Conservation Capital Program, the largest of its kind, from the late 1980s until the early 1990s.
• Transforming the vacant Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House building into The National Museum of the American Indian and office space. The museum design employed a “cocooning” approach to protect the original historic Beaux Arts interior and exterior.
• Installing New York’s first underfloor air conditioning system in Scholastic’s new out-of-the-ground 557 Broadway office building in 2010, which they are currently upgrading, alongside the original landmarked building on 555 Broadway.
• Designing an award-winning method of providing air-conditioning to the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church through the existing 1870s footrests, maintaining the integrity of the existing historic interior.
• Serving as the engineering experts for the City of New York to help determine the cause of the major 2007 steam pipe explosion at 41 St and Lexington Ave.
• Creating an under-floor air distribution system for the new Playwrights Horizon Theater, the first major New York City theater to have this draft-free and exceptionally quiet system.
• Designing MEP systems for The Sarkis & Siran Women’s and Children’s Pavilion, a new six-story environmentally friendly and energy efficient medical facility.
• Developing an innovative web-based geothermal pre-screening tool for the City of New York’s Design & Development Corporation (DDC) and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. This won the 2018 ACEC New York Engineering Excellence Award.
• Currently working with the Administration for Children’s Services to find and update facilities for the relocation of the Rikers Island teenagers.

GOCO has received many awards for its innovative and sustainable projects over the past 50 years. The firm won prestigious New York Landmarks Conservancy awards for Grand Central Terminal (1999), the FDNY Courtroom and Lobby (2001), and the Empire State Building Lobby (2010). Other recognitions include an Urban Rooftop Solar Greenhouse Award in 1981, an ASHRAE Energy Award for a chilled water interconnection at New York University Langone Medical Center in 1989, and an AIA NY Public Project of the Year Award in 2004. In 2006, Charles Copeland was named the AEE International Energy Engineer of the Year and in 2015 was awarded a patent for a control sequence to reduce winter peak utility steam demand.

As engineers working in the built environment, GOCO has continually played a major role in the vitality of New York City’s building infrastructure. Upgrading the energy efficiency of the city’s existing buildings is perhaps the firm’s most important legacy.

“I am so pleased to have a great team of committed principals, engineers, associates and support staff who have made the successes of the past five decades possible” said Charles Copeland, President of GOCO. “We look forward to continuing our high-quality work and involvement in the growth of New York City with an eye to the future of energy innovation and sustainability.”