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Your Luxury Amenities May Be Trying to Kill You
Apparently, even if your floors are bamboo and your finishes low-VOC, that luxury condo may be giving you cancer anyway. The cause is that ubiquitous must-have mostly used for holding take-out containers: the granite countertop. “It’s not that all granite is dangerous,” a radon-detection technician was quoted in the New York Times. “But I’ve seen a few that might heat up your Cheerios a little.” Granite, particularly the varieties imported from Brazil and Namibia, can release both radon and radiation, according to reports and analysis by the Department of Health. The radiation/radon claim is fervently denied by the Marble Institute of America, which claims it’s “ludicrous” and perpetuated by competing materials manufacturers and makes of radon-detecting technologies. They have released their own study to refute marble’s danger.
Popularity: 4% [?]
25Jul2008 | Alex Padalka | 0 comments | Continued
Port Authority Releases Renderings for Proposed LEED Gold 20 Times Square
At a meeting held earlier today, the Port Authority unveiled renderings from three firms for 20 Times Square, the 1.3 million-square foot, 42-story LEED (for Core and Shell) Gold tower that Vornado Realty Trust and Ruben Cos. plan to co-develop above the north wing of the agency’s Bus Terminal on 8th Avenue. From left to right in the image, Pelli Clarke Pelli (The Visionaire), Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners (Tower 3 at the World Trade Center along Greenwich Street), and KPF (Court Square Two, One Jackson Square, and the Beer Belly Building) present three very different visions for the tower, ranging from Pelli’s artistic curtain wall and KPF’s glass box that evokes the Lever House (and Boston Properties’ “redux” on West 55th Street) to Rogers’ series of stacked boxes that is easily the most ambitious of the three concepts.
Popularity: 6% [?]
24Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
New York City’s First Green Firehouse Under Construction in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park
Construction recently began on a $6.8 million, RKT&B-designed firehouse for Engine Company 201 at 5113 Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park. The three-story building features a glass facade and is taking the place of an older, 2-story firehouse structure that was recently razed. The project is one of the first in New York City to be constructed under the Department of Design and Construction’s (”DDC”) Design Excellence Program, which Mayor Bloomberg established back in 2004. Although the project is not seeking a LEED rating, green features do abound, ranging from dual-flush toilets and low-flow water fixtures to a water drain heat recovery system. Occupancy sensors and an 85 percent-efficient, conventional single boiler will contribute to maximize the firehouse’s energy efficiency.
Popularity: 6% [?]
24Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Design Competition Solicits LEED Platinum Proposals for Middle School at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park
The USGBC’s New York Chapter sponsors an annual Natural Talent Competition through its Emerging Green Builders of New York organization. This year, participants’ charge was to design a LEED Platinum-level arts center and middle school in DUMBO; concepts were required to also include a proposed revitalization of the areas adjacent to and including the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park’s Tobacco Warehouse, which was originally built in the 1870s as a tobacco customs inspection point along the Brooklyn waterfront. In addition to reaching a projected Platinum rating, entries had to incorporate principles from the New York City’s Green Schools Guide and the NY-CHPS High Performance Schools Guidelines. USGBC-NY will unveil the winners next Wednesday, July 30.
Popularity: 9% [?]
23Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Vivavi Teams With Sheldrake to Open Green Furniture Store at Riverhouse
Josh Dorfman and our friends at Vivavi have teamed with The Sheldrake Organization to open an Eco Pop-Up Store at the developer’s Riverhouse condo in Battery Park City. As you’ll recall, the project is aiming for a LEED Platinum rating and recently earned significant green press after Leonardo Di Caprio purchased an apartment in the 32-story, 264-unit tower. The store, which is a fully-furnished Unit 8D, adjacent to the Riverhouse sales center, is open to the public 7 days a week, and features pieces from 18 different green-minded designers, including Brave Space, Modern Bamboo, and Animavi, as well as a Team 7 dining room and office furnishings from Knu Furniture. Vivavi is calling the Pop-Up Store the first of its kind within a residential building in New York City, and it’s certainly the first to exclusively feature green living products.
Popularity: 9% [?]
23Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Brooklyn’s First Boutique Hotel Goes Green in Boerum Hill
Hersha Hospitality’s Nu Hotel, which opened earlier this month, is Brooklyn’s first boutique hotel. Located at 95 Smith Street, the 93-unit property is Hersha’s third hotel after the Duane Street Hotel in Tribeca and Philly’s Independent. Although it’s unclear whether the hotel will seek any LEED or other third-party green building certification, it does offer various eco-friendly features, ranging from organic bedding to custom furnishings crafted from sustainably harvested and FSC-certified teak wood, as well as cork flooring in each guest room. Hersha is also offering bike rentals and storage for guests that are serious about their carbon footprint.
Popularity: 10% [?]
22Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
7 WTC Tenant to Build 5-Star Green Resort in Bermuda
Scout Real Estate Capital, whose New York City offices are located on the 34th floor of Larry Silverstein’s LEED Gold-certified 7 World Trade Center, announced earlier this week that construction on a 5-star resort hotel in Bermuda’s Southampton Parish should commence in September after local officials approve the firm’s preliminary design plans. Scout has already commenced demolition of the Wyndham Beach Resort (which currently occupies the site) and is recycling reclaimed copper and concrete from the property. The firm intends to seek an unspecified LEED rating for the $300 million project, which should open up sometime in 2011, feature 150 guest rooms, and draw power from an on-site solar array.
Popularity: 9% [?]
22Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Upper West Side’s First Green Condo Complete on 72nd Street
We’ve written previously about the Harsen House; the 16-story, 22-unit project at 120 West 72nd Street broke ground in late 2006 and developer Anbau Enterprises sold the project out within a scant seven months. The building was designed by BKSK Architects (designers of the Queens Botanical Garden Visitor’s Center, which recently earned Gotham’s first LEED Platinum rating) with interiors by Andres Escobar. Green design elements include hot water radiant heat, FSC-certified oak floors, ducted kitchen hoods which ventilate air directly outdoors, and energy-efficient, floor to ceiling windows. Anbau recently announced that it has completed the 60,000-square-foot project after inking retail heavyweight Sleepy’s (The Mattress Professionals) to a long-term lease for the Harsen House’s 4000-square-foot ground-floor retail space.
Popularity: 11% [?]
21Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Cabbies Concerned Over Bloomberg Bid to Turn Fleet Hybrid
Early last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city has struck a deal with several major automobile manufacturers to guarantee a monthly supply of hybrids to New York City’s taxi drivers, securing 200 Altima hybrids from Nissan, 50 Malibus from Chevy, and 50 Ford Escapes. The purpose of the deal is to place New York cabbies at the front of the line for the hybrids, which are currently in high demand all over the country. 1300 of New York’s taxis have already gone hybrid, saving drivers precious fuel money and, of course, reducing the city’s carbon emissions. The 300 figure was crafted to exceed the 210 per month that the Taxi and Limousine Commission estimates are necessary to satisfy new fuel efficiency standards for the taxicab fleet (25 miles per gallon beginning in October). Still, the plan is being met with some resistance.
Popularity: 11% [?]
21Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
ML: New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s Center for Environmental & Scientific Education
The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s Center for Environmental and Scientific Education and William D. McDowell Observatory in Lyndhurst is just a stone’s throw away from the Sports Complex. The 10,000-square-foot structure housing the Center will be operated by Ramapo College as a study center for both astronomy and environmental education; the NJMC is seeking an unspecified level of LEED certification for the project. Designed by architect Fredric A. Rosen and built by general contractor Bernard Associates, the Center includes a number of classrooms, science labs, and a multipurpose room geared for use by both K-12 students and the general public, offering an environmental curriculum that will also emphasize the building’s sustainable features.
Popularity: 10% [?]
21Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Green Hotel in Brooklyn, Acclaim for MoMA’s Home Delivery, Merrill Out at Ground Zero, & Top 50 Blogs for Architecture Majors
gbNYC selects green news items of note that were reported across the New York City area during the week of July 13, 2008, including Brooklyn’s first green boutique hotel, the Nu Hotel, a review of MoMA’s much-anticipated Home Delivery exhibition of prefabricated houses, Merrill Lynch’s decision to stay put at the World Financial Center, and a decision from the ESDC on Columbia’s LEED-ND Manhattanville expansion plans.
Popularity: 11% [?]
20Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
NBBJ Earns Manhattan’s Ninth LEED-CI Rating at 2 Rector Street
Global architecture firm NBBJ recently earned a LEED Silver rating from USGBC for its new New York City offices at 2 Rector Street downtown. The space is the ninth in Manhattan to cop a LEED for Commercial Interiors rating, and joins a number of other design professional spaces that have earned the designation. Three of NBBJ’s five U.S. offices have now earned LEED certification; the firm’s offices downtown occupy 15,917 square feet across the 25th floor of the 80-year-old building. The firm spent over five months reconfiguring its space, and signed a 10-year lease that takes advantage of a number of tax incentives offered to businesses relocating to Lower Manhattan. NBBJ principal Timothy Johnson said that the firm “had to solve the puzzle of taking an 80-year-old building with older infrastructure and making it sustainable.”
Popularity: 13% [?]
18Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Newark’s Lincoln Coast Cultural District Set to Open New Jersey’s First Urban LEED Homes
The first mixed-use buildings in an urban location in the state of New Jersey to pursue a LEED rating are set to officially open next week in Newark. The Washington Street Townhomes, which are awaiting a formal LEED Gold rating from USGBC, will consist of six 3800-square-foot buildings, each featuring two residential units with commercial space on the first floor. The development is being spearheaded by the Lincoln Coast Cultural District, a community development corporation which is aiming to develop a comprehensive arts and cultural district in Newark’s Lincoln Park. The district will ultimately boast 11 LEED-certified buildings, as well as seek a LEED for Neighborhood Development (”LEED-ND”) rating.
Popularity: 13% [?]
17Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued-
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