Rubin Hall at New York University

In 2024, New York University completed a large-scale retrofit of what is now Rubin Hall, its first-year students’ residence. The adaptive reuse of the 100-year-old Grosvenor House Hotel represented a meaningful approach to addressing embodied carbon, but the effort didn’t stop there. Rubin Hall is currently the world’s largest Passive House retrofit following the EnerPHit standard. 

It was transformed from an uninsulated red brick and terracotta building—with single-pane windows and a fossil gas boiler with steam radiators—into an energy-efficient facility designed to enhance occupant well-being while operating largely fossil-fuel-free. The most crucial element was the transition from gas heating for the building’s space and water to an efficient all-electric heat pump system, which replaced fossil fuel-based radiators and boilers, effectively eliminating Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions. Insulated interior walls achieve high levels of heat and energy retention, while occupancy sensors limit heating and cooling when rooms are empty. 

The building will have a projected 56 percent reduction in energy use compared to a typical renovation and a 54 percent reduction in projected water use while eventually eliminating on-site fossil fuel use entirely.