Monday LEEDoff: Handel Architects’ Millennium Tower Residences in Battery Park City
Stephen Del Percio
The 35-story Millennium Tower in Battery Park City (”BPC”), developed by Millennium Partners and completed last year, was one of the first residential high-rises to earn a LEED Gold rating in New York City (The Solaire & The Helena). The unassuming brick-and-aluminum-clad condominium building, designed by Handel Architects with Steven Winter Associates serving as green consultants, incorporates an honest commitment to cleaner water and air and lower energy costs. gbNYC recently discussed the building in the aftermath of its installation of the first microturbines in the city pursuant to the new rule which was enacted by Mayor Bloomberg last December.
The 428,000-square-foot building’s energy needs have been reduced by 25 percent, primarily through the use of rooftop photovoltaic cells estimated to generate 27.1 kW of electricity. The tower’s water needs have been cut by 33 percent thanks to a rooftop garden that captures rainwater re-used for irrigation, as well as a 2500-gallon wastewater treatment facility. Inside, the finishes are low-VOC, and the units’ air filtration systems remove 85 percent of airborne particles.
BPC has long advocated green construction, attracting developers assured that the premium they pay for sustainable features will subsequently lure the kind of buyer willing to pay a higher price. Green elements constituted ten percent of the Millennium’s $180 million price tag, but all 234 units sold long before construction was completed, fetching between $900,000 and $2 million.
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