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Raising the Roof:

A Proposal for the Construction of a Photovoltaic Glass Canopy

NatalieDeana Badillo, Gorkem Donmez, Katrina Fraser, and Joseph Portelli

Introduction

Currently, the roof of the Marshak Building of The City College of New York has plans

for renovations and additions including but not limited to outdoor seating, a basketball court, and

greenspace. These new additions will add design and function to the unused space atop the

Marshak building’s second-floor roof, however, these spaces will be exposed to the elements.

This space would be unusable to students and faculty given the dangers and inconveniences

brought on by inclement weather or extreme heat during certain times of the year. Addressing

this problem of rain, snow, or extreme heat exposure on these student/faculty spaces, Maroon 4

Inc. presents the GlassPass. The GlassPass is a canopy made of photovoltaic glass, or semi

transparent glass that has internal diodes that react similarly to solar panels. This overhead glass

coverage of both the renovated Marshak Hall Plaza space once completed and pedestrian bridge

connecting the Marshak building to the North Academic Center would greatly benefit students

and faculty alike by increasing comfort and ease by decreasing the impact of weather on these

spaces.

Plan of Action

The GlassPass is an overhead canopy that would provide coverage over these outdoor

spaces, extending over the walkway between the Marshak building and the North Academic

Center, without compromising use or aesthetics. This outdoor canopy is not made of simply

normal glass but rather photovoltaic glass. Similar to photovoltaic cell technology found in solar
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panels, photovoltaic glass uses diodes to convert the sunlight energy into electrical energy that

can be harnessed to provide environmentally friendly and cost-efficient electricity. The entire

canopy would be composed of panels of photovoltaic glass, enabling full use of both the

semi-transparent and energy producing quality of the glass. The semi-transparency would

provide sun-coverage without compromising the view and thus lead to a bright, but overall

cooler and more comfortable atmosphere underneath the canopy especially in the summer

months. The canopy not only includes sun coverage, but it would protect students against the

elements when inclement weather like snow or rain occurs as they cross from the Marshak to the

NAC and vice versa.

Figure 1a: GlassPass right view 1b: left view

The large area that this canopy would cover, the Marshak roof and walkway between

Marshak and the NAC, receives substantial amounts of direct sunlight throughout the year due to

little tree cover over this space. This constant exposure to light would enable the production of

large amounts of energy that can be used in the Marshak building to decrease utility costs as well
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as sustaining the canopy and the environment under it. This self sustaining aspect would be most

greatly demonstrated in the use of the electricity harnessed from the cells to provide power for

Marshak laboratory spaces. This same quality can be utilized for projects in the future like

investing in fans that would be integrated into the canopy covering the Marshak student space

providing ventilation and cooling to this area for athletics and greenery.

Maroon 4 and an abundance of students are eager to see a dream become a reality at The

City College of New York. Since the completion of the Marshak building of science in 1971, the

entrance of the building has been an eyesore to the public and an embarrassment to the school's

history and it's unique architectural design. The one-story roof of the entrance of the Marshak

building is like a man-made desert that collects nothing but sunlight and it is a waste of valuable

space (35,000-40,000 square feet). The GlassPass will collect all the useful sunlight and turn it

into valuable energy. If there is any excess energy, it can can be sold it to other homes or

buildings through Con Edison. In the long run, The City College of New York would make a

profit out of the GlassPass, enabling the creation of a higher budget plan for its departments.

Figure 2: X-ray view of GlassPass

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Without such overhead coverage, students are much less likely to utilize the rooftop and

walkway during certain weather conditions including the rainy days of spring, the snowfall

during winter, and the hotter and sunnier days of summer into the fall. New York’s variable

weather conditions and four seasons would thus reduce the utilization of a pathway between two

major buildings on campus as well as reduce activity at a student space on the Marshak roof that

The City College of New York invested so much into renovating.

As for the plans for the project itself, the construction of the glass canopy will break

ground once the renovation of the Marshak Hall Plaza is at a point where both projects can work

hand in hand to save time, as per the phrase “time is money.” Once the renovation of the

Marshak Hall Plaza is at a certain point, the construction of the glass canopy will commence and

these details are outlined below, broken down into steps in order to help predict the time of

completion of the project and to avoid any crucial mistakes.

Rough Breakdown of Construction Timeline

Step 1: Place and mount steel beams according to the blueprints (2-3 weeks)

Step 2: Connect beams with steel trusses to reduce weight (2-3 weeks)

Step 3: Install Powder coated insulated Aluminum Profiles to hold the photovoltaic glass

(3-4 weeks)

Step 4: Electrical work (1-2 weeks)

The best construction period for the project is from spring to the end of fall because

construction during the cold weather of winter comes at a high cost while simultaneously being

risky. The construction of the canopy itself will be contracted out to Onyx Solar Glass Company

which specializes in making canopies, roofs, and skylights with photovoltaic glass. Onyx would
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take care of the organizing and sourcing of the materials before the project were to begin. Onyx

Solar also usually works with a manufacturer, Wasco Products, that will be responsible for

obtaining and pricing all material needed for this project. The steel framing and the photovoltaic

panel pricing is documented in the figures found in the cost section of this proposal. As a group,

Maroon 4, would be responsible for connecting the Director of Facilities Management and

Campus Planning & Design at CCNY, Ashford Charleus, to Onyx Solar in order to set up formal

project dates to begin and end as well as to schedule meetings regarding the handling of logistics

and budgeting of the project as a whole. This coordination between the company that installs

these photovoltaic canopies and the Director at CCNY enables the seamless integration of such a

project into an already ongoing one at CCNY that serves to benefit from this idea and design.

Cost and Benefits

In order to make a budget for this project, one needs to understand the materials and

costs. For the glass canopy, our group chose to use photovoltaic glass (PV glass). It provides

more power than solar panels while also having the aesthetic value of glass. Essentially, it

generates power while still being a source of natural lighting. As a plus, it has ultraviolet and

infrared filters integrated into their construction. PV glass also has an excellent payback rate of

two years. This means that after two years of use, the cost of the glass is paid back through the

energy it generates. Typically solar panels have a payback rate of seven years. This shortened

payback time is largely in part to its internal rate of return or IRR. IRR is a standard used to

calculate the amount of profit an investment can make. Solar farms have an IRR of 10%, but
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photovoltaic glass has an IRR of 65%. The IRR is so high because it only costs $0.017 per

kilowatt hour, unlike solar panels which cost $0.120 per kilowatt hour.

Of course, the significantly higher performance incurs a larger price tag. Photovoltaic

glass costs $19 per square foot, whereas tempered glass usually only costs about $12 per square

foot. When using our larger estimation of 40,000 square feet, the cost of photovoltaic glass is

$760,000. Tempered glass would only cost $480,000, bringing the price difference to $280,000.

However, when using tempered glass, solar panels must be added as well to generate power for

the Marshak building to mimic PV glass’s energy producing quality. This would cost an

additiomnal $104,000 and would decrease the overall transparency of the roof. After measuring

the pros and cons of pricing, aesthetics, and return, it only makes sense to choose the

photovoltaic glass.

Using photovoltaic glass, the cost of the glass is, at the maximum estimate of square

footage, $760,000. The costs of the steel element for the framework was given as an estimate by

Tim Morin from Wasco Products. Wasco Products is the manufacturer that Onyx Solar Glass,

the company that would provide the PV glass, uses for all of its projects. Morin cited the

construction most likely costing around $440,000 and the construction work costing about

$120,000. This brings the total budget for this project to $1,320,000. Taking into account the

budget of the Marshak plaza renovation is $18,000,000, this is incredibly affordable. Especially

considering the energy generative properties of the photovoltaic glass, this renovation would

actually save The City College of New York money in the long term. Even though this may seem

like a lot of money to pay upfront for a future of savings, it makes much more sense than a

project like the Marshak Plaza Renovation which has no practical purpose.
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Team Biographies

Natalie Badillo is a freshman at Macaulay Honors College at City College studying

biomedical engineering with no intent on becoming a biomedical engineer. Her intended career

path is to become a physician utilizing the engineering mindset to bring a unique perspective and

thought process to the medical field. She is currently working as a research intern at City

College’s Neural Engineering group under Dr. Bikson and in the Advanced Science Research

Center’s Structural Biology lab under Dr. Garfinkle. Natalie’s interests and other pursuits include

studio art, speedcubing, playing the electric harp, and working in theatre production crew.

Gorkem Donmez is a freshman student who is studying at The City College of New York

and majoring in civil engineering. He has always had a deep interest in skyscrapers, bridges, and

tunnels. When he was just a child he would create models of different types of building, bridges,

and vehicles. He is currently working with GBS Advanced Construction to have a better

foundation of how buildings and homes are structured and built. With his civil engineering

degree, he hopes to fulfill his dreams. Gorkem is an outdoorsy guy who loves fishing, kayaking,

exploring, and taking risks.

Katrina Fraser is a mechanical engineering major at The City College of New York under

the Grove School of Engineering Honors Program with a minor in theater. With her degree, she

wants to work on Broadway in stage management and technical design. Currently, Katrina is

assistant stage managing ​Clybourne Park​, the last show of the semester at CCNY. She went to

Clarkstown High School South in New York. She is roommates and friends with Sophie-Davis

students and proofreads too many medical papers because of them. Katrina enjoys Harry Potter,

Marvel, comfortable sweaters, and her phone.

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Joseph Portelli is an aspiring Chemical Engineer with deep interests in sustainable energy

and medicine. He is a freshman at The City College of New York through the Macaulay Honors

College. He is currently a part of the IBM Watson Case Competition and is hoping to get

involved in lab research in the future. Joseph is also an avid movie-goer, enjoys reading, and

loves long walks on the beach.

Conclusion

What the GlassPass offers is a beautiful, cost-effective, environment-friendly solution to

the simple problem of the lack of overhead coverage around the campus. With the use of

photovoltaic glass, The City College of New York is living up to the standards set by this

university years ago when it pledged to admit students based on merit alone. To deny the merits

of PV glass is to deny one of City College’s most important tenets. By implementing the most

innovative of technologies, a statement is being made that City College will not fall behind as an

engineering school. It is a statement that will pay for itself after two years, and that will continue

to provide revenue in the future. This excess of funds can be applied to maintaining the roof and

further implementing new technology on the campus that will reduce our energy consumption

and increase the amount of money being saved. Beyond the obvious financial gain, there is the

fact that we are reducing the overall carbon footprint of our university. The standard we set with

our GlassPass will encourage other CUNY schools to follow suit, contributing to a greener

planet in a time where that couldn’t be more necessary. The design of the Glass Pass is fit for

the highest of universities and would demonstrate to all of those entering the campus that City

College’s gothic architecture is able to coexist with the adapting modern style present on the rest

of the campus. The overhead coverage will create a greater sense of community, allowing
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students to congregate in an outdoor space regardless of weather. The City College of New York

is an amazing school with an amazing engineering program. It is time for the design of the

campus to show that.

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References

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Internal Rate of Return. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2018, from

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Matasci, Sara. (2018, February 18). ​How Much Do Solar Panels Cost in the U.S. in 2018?

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Renovation​ Retrieved from https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/facilities/marshak-plaza-renovation

Onyx Solar. (2014, February 25). ​Photovoltaic Glass at 4.9 USD/SQF​ Retrieved from

https://onyxgreenbuilding.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/photovoltaic-glass-at-4-9-usdsqf-39em2/

Onyx Solar. (2018). ​Technical Specifications​ Retrieved from

https://www.onyxsolar.com/product-services/technical-specifications