feature photo

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

feature photo

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

feature photo

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

feature photo

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

feature photo

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

  • Most Recent Articles
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Other Recent Articles

post thumbnail

Monday LEEDoff: Bank Inks Sublease at –EB Tower in Midtown

In addition to its 250 West 55th Street project that will aim for LEED Gold, Boston Properties is currently pursuing LEED for Existing Buildings (”LEED-EB”) certification for two of its Manhattan office buildings –Times Square Tower (1 Times Square) and 599 Lexington Avenue (between East 52nd and 53rd Streets). Designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, Boston Properties built the 47-story 599 Lexington back in 1986. Last week, the real estate investment bank Savills Granite (formerly Granite Partners) subleased 18,000 square feet on 599 Lexington’s 36th floor, requiring additional office space after a recent merger with London-based property manager Savills.

5May2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Brooklyn Named to List of Top 10 Green Roof Cities

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (”GRHC”) recently released the results of its 2007 Green Roof Survey, which collects data on the size, composition, and location of green roofs in North America. The survey, which GRHC has been conducting annually since 2004, placed Brooklyn at number 4 on the list of the top 10 green roof cities, with 102,908 square feet of green roofs implemented in 2007. Chicago came in first for the fourth year in a row with 517,633 square feet. GRHC points to Chicago’s policies that support the creation of green roofs, such as F.A.R. bonuses and tax increment financing, as the reason for their repeated superior ranking. The survey also found that green roofs grew thirty percent in overall square footage in 2007. The full top ten list can be found after the jump.

25Apr2008 | Meredith Taylor | 3 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Green Depot Manhattan to Open at Bowery Landmark

Brooklyn-based green building materials and products supplier Green Depot announced yesterday that it will begin construction on a 3,000-square-foot Manhattan showroom at 222 Bowery, between Price and Spring Streets. Designed by architects Studio Mapos, the project should get underway on May 1 and will seek a LEED (presumably under Commercial Interiors) Gold or Platinum rating. The Queen Anne-style 222 Bowery was landmarked in 1998 and is currently a six-story loft co-op.

24Apr2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

British Telecom Inks Two-Floor Sublease at Times Tower

According to Crain’s, British Telecommunications has inked a 15-year lease for 63,000 square feet of space at the New York Times Tower on Eighth Avenue at $95 per square foot. British Telecom is subleasing space on the 45th and 46th floors from investment firm ClearBridge Advisors, though the latter never occupied the space that British Telecom will take over. ClearBridge will remain in its existing space on the 47th through 50th floors. The deal follows a number of reports over the past month that financial services firms across the city have been shedding space that’s now unnecessary given the market downturn.

23Apr2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Morristown Celebrates Earth Day by Honoring First Green Globes-Rated Building in New Jersey

On Tuesday, the Green Building Initiative honored Earth Day by awarding its first Green Globes rating to a project in the Garden State. The Point at Morristown is a six-story, 24,000-square-foot mixed-use office and retail tower developed by Needle Point Homes, a Central New Jersey-based builder of custom home projects. According to Steve Needle, the firm chose Green Globes “because of its ability to assist us in meeting our goals to reduce our impact on the environment and the surrounding community, while being user-friendly and affordable.”

23Apr2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

AIA Names Queens Botanical Garden’s Platinum Visitor’s Center a Top 10 Green Project

The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment (”COTE”) announced today that BKSK Architects’ Visitor’s Center at the Queens Botanical Garden, which was designed to achieve New York City’s first LEED Platinum rating, has been named to COTE’s 2008 list of Top Ten Green Projects. The release of COTE’s compilation was (presumably) timed to coincide with today’s Earth Day celebrations, and the Visitor’s Center is without question deserving of the accolade. gbNYC, in fact, named the project #1 on our 2007 list of top New York City green buildings. The Visitor’s Center was selected from over 100 entries; the other nine winners include Kieran Timerlake Associates’ Yale University Sculpture Building and Gallery.

22Apr2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Monday LEEDoff: AOL Opens New HQ at 770 Broadway

Last week, AOL officially opened its new corporate headquarters at 770 Broadway, relocating from its former base in Dulles, Virginia. The building, which dates from 1903 and was designed by Daniel Burnham (the Flatiron Building), occupies the entire block between East 8th and 9th Streets and is currently pursuing a LEED for Existing Buildings (”LEED-EB”) rating. AOL’s new space was designed by Mancini Duffy, and it too will seek LEED certification, presumably under the Commercial Interiors system, though specific details on those efforts are unavailable. Landmarked and owned by Vornado Realty Trust, 770 Broadway is the former site of the Wanamaker Department Store. The tower currently offers 165,000 square feet of retail space; tenants include Ann Taylor Loft, Kmart, and Bank of America. AOL’s lease is for 152,000 square feet over two floors at the 15-story tower until 2022.

21Apr2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

City Selects Gowanus Green; LEED for AOL HQ & New York Theater Workshop

gbNYC selects green news items of note that were reported across the New York City area during the week of April 12, 2008, including a number of affordable LEED projects on the way in the Bronx in addition to the Morrisania Homes, the City’s selection of Gowanus Green for a LEED-ND development along the Gowanus Canal, and potential LEED-certified spaces for AOL at 770 Broadway and the New York Theater Workshop at 72 East 4th Street.

20Apr2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
  • Sponsors

    gbNYC is a member of the Blogads New York City Blog Network

  • Contributors

  • Green Building Photo Pool

    www.flickr.com
    photos in greenbuildingsNYC More pics or contribute
  • NYC Blogs

    Headlines from the Green Blogosphere
    Socially Responsible Investing
    Add this box to your site
    Add your feed to this box