New Haven, CT – Altieri provided comprehensive MEPF, IT, and security engineering design services for 87 Trumbull Street at Yale University, completed in 2023.
The new 37,000 gsf academic building, designed by Schwartz/Silver Architects, houses the Department of Economics and Tobin Center for Economic Policy. The $60 million project connects the facility to three existing adjacent buildings through glass bridges, corridors, and doorways, providing new opportunities for collaboration while supporting Yale’s architectural heritage with the integration of old and new.
The building is the university’s first all-electric facility. The team implemented a water-cooled variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system which utilizes the campus chilled water return loop as its heat sink. By repurposing waste heat from this return loop, the design avoided the expense of a geothermal well field while improving HVAC efficiency compared to an air-cooled system. This approach enabled the building to achieve Yale’s low Energy Use Intensity (EUI) target. The project earned LEED Gold certification and supports the university’s long-term sustainability goals of net-zero emissions by 2035 and zero actual carbon emissions by 2050.
Altieri collaborated closely with Yale’s engineering and facilities teams to integrate this new heating and cooling strategy into the campus infrastructure, optimizing layouts and operational sequences to maximize energy savings. “It was exciting to propose an innovative system to Yale, and work with them to integrate a completely new heating/cooling concept into their campus system. We worked closely with their engineering and facilities teams to ensure success of the concept and collaboratively optimized operational layouts and sequences to ensure maximum energy savings,” said Aaron Martin, Altieri’s principal in charge for the project.
The building has been recognized for its innovation and design excellence. A 2025 SCUP/AIA Special Citation for Excellence in Architecture for a New Building cited “a careful, elegant intervention that creates an accessible, cohesive complex while enhancing the site’s historic context…;” and a 2024 AIA New England Honor Award noted, “Beautifully nestled within a small footprint between two historic educational buildings, the 87 Trumbull Street project seamlessly blends contemporary architecture with reinterpreted historic details…. creating a cohesive aesthetic that respects the scale and context of the Hillhouse Avenue Historic District. It stands as a testament to the harmonious coexistence of the old and the new in a historically significant setting.”
The project team also included TYLin, structural engineer; Nitsch Engineering, civil engineer; Towers | Golde, landscape architect; Dimeo, construction manager; Sladen Feinstein, lighting; Acentech, AV/Acoustics; and VvS Architects & Consultants, sustainability.
