United States Postal Service

When the Postal Service decided to build a new main post office for the New Jersey municipality of Park Ridge, they decided to build a new facility that truly embodied some of the new Postal energy initiatives they had developed.  These initiatives were indeed ambitious – exceeding ASHRAE 90.1 by a whopping 30%.  The CTS Group was engaged by the Postal Service to design a new building that, while contemporary in nature, exuded a high level of design and a sense of permanence that was befitting of this attractive New Jersey suburban community.

Relevant Project Data:

- The facility is approximately 5,000 SF. 

 - The exterior envelope consists of metal roofing over a lightweight steel framing system, a cavity wall system with a cement brick veneer and insulated metal stud backup, as well as a metal wall panel system.

Sustainable Design Notes:

- The building was designed to meet Postal Energy Standards, exceeding ASHRAE 90.1 2004 by over 30%.

- The lighting load averaged approximately 0.92 watts/sf.  Occupancy sensors and programmable lighting controls control all lighting.

- The roof composite U-value is 0.0278, the wall composite U-value is 0.037.

- HVAC equipment includes high-efficiency indoor/condensing units with combined SEERs ranging from 16.8 to 19.3.  Two-stage high-efficiency gas furnaces rated at 94% AFUE were also employed.