Most Recent #1
New York’s Green Museum Roster Includes Rochester Butterfly Garden
The April 2008 issue of eco-structure profiles the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden at Rochester, New York’s Strong National Museum of Play, a hands-on interactive learning institution geared towards both children and adults. Dancing Wings was part of Strong’s recent $37 million expansion effort and includes a number of sustainable design features, including a 4000-square-foot, 50-foot diameter tensile-fabric membrane roof designed and installed by Amherst, New York-based specialty contractor Birdair, Inc. The PTFE-coated roof allows up to 40 percent of natural light to penetrate into the habitat below, where over 800 butterflies are free to roam. It also assists the museum in achieving cost savings from decreased interior lighting requirements, minimizes the museum’s heat island effect, and contributed minimally to the project’s overall construction waste
Stephen Del Percio | May 9th, 2008 | Continued
Most Recent #2
The MTA: What Are You Going to Do, Walk?
The MTA, the people who brought you “The Next Brooklyn-bound L Train Will Arrive in Two Minutes” announcements only a decade or two after such systems became standard in the Old Country are not letting the Euros beat us in recycling, either. From Paris to Shanghai, most major transit systems in the past 10 years have installed separate bins for paper, glass, plastic, and even organic vs. non-organic waste. A few weeks ago, large stickers appeared on every single one of the black bomb-resistant garbage cans lining the platforms. “Can it for a Greener Planet!” they read. Could it be Apparently the stickers, the number or printing cost of which the MTA did not disclose, were a public service reminder – that they already recycle.
Alex Padalka | May 8th, 2008 | Continued
Most Recent #3
20 Times Square: Green Tower at Bus Terminal Close to Securing Anchor Tenant
20 Times Square, the planned 42-story LEED (for Core and Shell) Gold tower that Vornado and Ruben will co-develop above the north wing of the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 8th Avenue, is close to securing an anchor tenant. Law firm Paul Weiss is in preliminary negotiations with Vornado for 500,000 square feet of space across the building’s middle floors- over a third of the building’s 1.3 million square feet- at what’s rumored to be $95 per square foot. The potential deal is obviously significant in terms of moving the speculative 20 Times Square project forward, but also highlights SJP Properties’ inability to similarly secure an anchor tenant for its speculative 11 Times Square project across the street.
Stephen Del Percio | May 8th, 2008 | Continued
Most Recent #4
Green Building Initiative Joins Chase for High-Performance Building Standard
Almost a year ago, USGBC announced that it was developing a new building standard in cooperation with ASHRAE and IESNA. Standard 189P for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings remained open for public comment through the end of last July. Though modeled on it, 189P is not the same thing as LEED. It’s intended to contain a series of performance-related criteria- including targets for energy and water efficiency- that buildings must satisfy in order for municipalities to issue a certificate of occupancy for new buildings or major renovation projects. The Green Building Initiative has announced that, it too, is in the process of developing a similar standard based on its Green Globes tool.
Stephen Del Percio | May 7th, 2008 | Continued
Most Recent #5
Governor Paterson Looks to Turn New York State Greener
Governor Paterson recently signed an Executive Order that created the New York State Green Procurement and Agency Sustainability Program, a plan to, among other things, leverage the state’s buying power to boost environmentally-friendly products and services. The Governor said that it is “critically important that the State of New York take the lead as a steward of our environment.” Two new efforts detailed in the Order include the purchase of 100% recycled paper for daily use and in printed publications, and the separation of recyclable materials in all offices.
Meredith Taylor | May 6th, 2008 | Continued
