Lehrer McGovern completes MetLife window replacements

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 6, 1993

Lehrer McGovern Bovis, Inc. (LMB), an international construction management and consulting company, recently completed the installation of 58,416 windows in Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, two apartment communities in lower Manhattan owned and operated by MetropolitanLife Insurance Company.

The improvement program for 11,254 occupied apartments is the world's largest window replacement project.

The monumental project, completed in 15 months, was on time and under budget.

One of the most important aspects of the project was tenant communications. Working closely with MetLife, LMB developed an ambitious tenant-communication program that included notification and scheduling of entries into apartments. Tenants were notified one week prior and 24 hours prior to each apartment entry.

At a tenant meeting, the new window design was presented and its operation was explained. A display model was also available for tenants to test.

Prior to replacement, the windows in Stuyvesant Town and Pefer Cooper Village were the original steel casements, first installed in the mid 1940's. They provided poor thermal and noise insulation and were difficult to maintain.

The new windows, developed by consultant Gordon H. Smith Corp., are double-parted and thermally broken, with 3/16-inch glass on the outside and 1/8-inch glass on the inside with a 7/16-inch argon-filled space for insulation.

They contain passive ventilators and trickle vents that permit an exchange of all the air in the room in two hours without creating a draft or an appreciable difference in temperature.

Due to the lack of storage space, the manufacturer, U.S. EFCO Corp. of Monet, Missouri, trucked the windows directly to installation each day. More than 200 windows were installed in 48 apartments each day.

The windows are equipped with a locking device and are easy to clean. They are also designed to accommodate air conditioners, which tenants may install once the complex is rewired, a project that is currently underway. Window fans may also be installed.