After the gantry lifts the units—each about 40 ft long and 8 ft wide—onto platforms atop pairs of carts, four-man crews push them along the tracks. A crane then removes them from the roof.

“Once they’re moving, it goes pretty smoothly without mechanical power,” Johnson says. The new high-efficiency units return along the same path.

Crews can only lift units that are above sections of the center closed for renovation. The team recently finished the first phase, replacing seven units.

After the bulk of utility and base roof replacement, crews will begin installing the green roof. The system is designed to retain about 3.4-million gallons of storm water and provide thermal benefits to the structure, Fowle says.

“We really see the roof as a fifth facade because there will be a lot of people looking down on it” in the future from skyscrapers, he says.

Fowle says the Javits is expected to boast the second-largest green roof in the U.S. upon completion.

Transparent Effort

The other focus is an inside job: replacing the thousands of curtainwall panels and skylights, upgrading building systems and rehabilitating interior infrastructure. The fixes include replacing curtainwall where leakage has corroded the mullion system and interior structural frame that supports the 15-story Crystal Palace, and reinforcing skylights for snow and wind loads.

The most visible improvement will be a new face, shedding the dark mirrored exterior for translucent glass, stainless steel spandrels and a light interior frame paint scheme that together will produce a bright, transparent effect.

“The new curtainwall will dramatically change the look of the building,” Lampen says.

The dark exterior was not part of the original design and blends badly with the original color scheme, creating a “very oppressive” look, Fowle says. “We were determined to lighten everything visually in the building,” he adds.

The poor economy helped spur the center to install a brand-new, high-performance curtainwall and skylights, allowing much more natural daylight to penetrate interior spaces like the 45,000-sq-ft Galleria, the River Pavilion overlooking the Hudson River and even below-grade exhibition areas. The effort also entails transforming the entry plaza landscaping.

The second of nine interior phases is scheduled for completion in April. By then, work should be complete on the River Pavilion and half of the Galleria’s corridor and expo space.

Johnson says the waves of work will culminate in 2013, when the final interior phase, the Crystal Palace refurbishment and the green roof are scheduled to all finish at roughly the same time.