Green Building
ML: 303 East 33rd Street- Sales Begin at Murray Hill’s First Green Condos
Developed by Toll Brothers and The Kibel Companies, sales have opened at 303 East 33rd Street, which is touting itself as Murray Hill’s first green residential project. The 12-story tower will feature 128 units and seek an unspecified level of LEED certification. Perkins Eastman is the architect; studios to three-bedrooms range from 500 to 3000 square feet and from $635,000 to $4.5 million. LEED-standard green design features will include bamboo flooring and cabinetry, EnergyStar appliances and efficient water fixtures, while residents with hybrid cars will receive a parking discount. Demolition materials were recycled into the project’s structural components and low-VOC paints and carpets will be installed throughout. The tower will also bicycle storage place and a 5000-square-foot terrace with a pool and green roof.
Popularity: 15% [?]
29Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center Seeks to Green Exhibition Space in Long Island City
The P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City is an affiliate of MoMA and offers exhibition space for some of the most experimental modern art in the world, featuring over 50 different exhibitions annually, as well as various musical and performance programming. P.S.1 was founded in 1971 as the Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc., which installed art exhibitions in various abandoned and otherwise underutilized spaces across the city. After finding a permanent home in a former Long Island City school building in 1976, P.S.1 became an affiliate of MoMA back in 2000. It recently commissioned Danish energy consultants Leif Hansen to create a green, energy-efficient renovation plan. Engineer and Leif Hansen executive Flemming Kristensen called it a “unique challenge” to evaluate ways to conserve energy within the museum environment. “You have to redesign the lighting so that it will not damage the artwork,” he said. “It’s a bit like reinventing the light bulb.”
Popularity: 16% [?]
25Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
An Open Letter to USGBC Requesting Data on Certified Wood
As you may know, the USGBC recently accepted public comments on proposed amendments to its certified wood credit. The purpose of the effort is to establish “a clear set of metrics, proposed as the USGBC Forest Certification System Benchmark, that any forest certification system must meet in order to be recognized within LEED.” Only Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood products are currently eligible under LEED. Earlier this year, Toronto-based construction consultant and gbNYC reader Leslie Marshall led a research team and evaluated various green building rating systems. His team’s report, “Certified Wood and the Impact of LEED,” looked closely at the Canadian market and attempted to quantify most aspects of stakeholder experiences with specific rating systems, including LEED. Recently, Mr. Leslie wrote a letter to USGBC requesting that it release certain data related to the credit in order to assist the timber industry in assessing the merits of the proposed amendments; to date, the letter (reprinted below the jump) has gone unanswered.
Popularity: 15% [?]
25Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Center for Lifelong Learning Hopes to Become First LEED Platinum School in Garden State
Designed by USA Architects of Somerville, New Jersey, the 90,000-square-foot Center for Lifelong Learning will accomodate 175 autistic and disabled children aged 3 to 21 and is aiming for the first LEED Platinum rating of any school in the state of New Jersey. The $23 million project just recently broke ground in Sayreville and should be ready in September of 2009. The school will offer 24 classrooms, as well as physical therapy, gymnasium, and aquatics space, which will also be used by Sayreville’s Brain Injured Children’s Swim program.
Popularity: 12% [?]
24Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Hedge Fund Dabroes Management Inks 5-Year Lease at 1095 Sixth Avenue
We’ve written about 1095 Sixth Avenue previously; the tower, owned by the Blackstone Group, sits across 42nd Street from LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower and is undergoing a two-year, $408.9 million renovation. Designed by Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects and Gensler, the entire shell of what was once the Verizon Building is being replaced, effectively creating an entirely new structure; the tower’s marble exterior is being replaced with an energy-efficient glass curtain wall. Unlike the Bank of America project, and despite its green features, 1095 Sixth Avenue is not seeking a LEED rating. Tishman Construction is the construction manager on the project. While it’s hard to draw any real conclusions from the deal, it’s notable that Dabroes Management, a hedge fund, just signed a five-year lease for 12,200 square feet on 1095 Sixth Avenue’s 24th floor. Asking rents for the prebuilt space were $135 per square foot.
Popularity: 19% [?]
23Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Saratoga County’s Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library Earns LEED Certification
The Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library, just to the northeast of Schenectady, recently earned formal LEED certification from USGBC. The 55,000-square-foot project was designed by architects Woodard Connor Gillies & Seleman of Albany and opened to the public back in December of 2006. NYSERDA served as a technical advisor on the project, which participated in the New York Energy $mart New Construction Program, and reviewed the proposed energy-saving features of the building proposed by the design team, which included high-efficiency windows, additional insulation, efficient lighting with occupancy control, efficient HVAC systems, and a digitally controlled building management system.
Popularity: 14% [?]
23Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Minerva Place: Green Affordable Condos in White Plains
We noted recently that Community Housing Innovations (”CHI”) has broken ground on the $4.5 million, affordable, green Minerva Place Condominiums in White Plains, but wanted to formally present you with a few more details about the project. Minerva Place is one of the first low-rise new developments in Westchester County to satisfy the New York Energy $mart Multifamily Performance Program guidelines. The project includes a 350-foot-deep geothermal heating and cooling system, as well as efficient insulation and construction techniques that CHI anticipates will save residents up to 30 percent on energy costs. Minerva’s energy-efficient features are being subsidized by a $55,000 grant from NYSERDA. The project was designed by Warshauer Mellusi Warshauer Architects and includes 11 two-bedroom (priced at $265,000) and 3 one-bedroom units ($225,000), each with hardwood floors and granite kitchen countertops. To qualify, families must have incomes between $73,000 and $91,000.
Popularity: 14% [?]
22Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
ML: The Ericsson Barn at Milo Vineyards, Milo, New York (Video)
The Ericsson Barn at Milo Vineyards is a 5000-square-foot, four-bedroom home that’s currently for sale in the town of Milo in western New York State, just to the southwest of Rochester. The barn itself was actually salvaged from nearby Watertown in 2007 and was originally built in the 1800s. The project is the brainchild of Tom Johnson, a Parsons-trained designer who completed a similar renovation for himself back in 2005, spending $175,000 to relocate a 150-year-old barn from Canada and refurbish it on a separate plot in Milo. The Ericsson Barn is listed for sale at $1.25 million and was renovated pursuant to LEED specifications, though it’s unclear whether the project ever registered for or is seeking formal certification from USGBC. Johnson recycled the original siding of the barn into flooring and also installed a radiant sub-floor heating system.
Popularity: 12% [?]
22Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
More Green Building Legislation May be Imminent for Garden State
Earlier this week, Hudson County Assemblyman Ruben Ramos of Hoboken sponsored two green building bills as New Jersey’s fall legislative session opened up in Trenton. The first, A1626, would require affordable housing to implement green design features, though the bill as proposed does not mandate any particular formal certification or include specifics on how the legislation would be enforced. The second, A2065, would provide low-interest loans available to developers who construct or renovate a building that qualifies as a “high-performance green building,” which is defined in the bill as “a building having at least 15,000 square feet in total floor area that is designed and constructed in a manner that achieves at least a [S]ilver rating according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System as adopted by the United States Green Building Council.” Ramos was also a co-sponsor of last year’s Green Building Tax Credit Act (S1077, which is apparently still pending before the legislature); that bill would provide developers with up to $20 million in annual tax credits which they’d be able to apply to their state corporate, income, sewer, and water taxes.
Popularity: 16% [?]
18Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | Continued
Green LITES: NYSDOT Introduces Sustainable Transportation Design Program
Earlier this week, the New York State Department of Transporation (”NYSDOT”) unveiled its Green Leadership In Transportation and Environmental Sustainability (”Green LITES”) design program. While NYSDOT has utilized sustainable elements in its transportation designs previously, Green LITES is an attempt to standardize the entire process and place New York State at the head of the pack when it comes to sustainable transportation design; the program, which is based on LEED, is the first in the country of its kind. “This effort is only the latest example of New York setting the standard for environmental sensitivity in transportation planning,” said Federal Highway Administrator Thomas J. Madison. “They don’t just set the gold standard, they set the green standard.” NYSDOT will review all designs submitted after September 25 under the Green LITES program, prior to the project going out to bid.
Popularity: 14% [?]
17Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
First Green Schools Guide-Certified School Opens Doors at 213 East 63rd Street
After taking effect earlier this year, the New York City Green Schools Guide and Rating System (“GSG”) now applies to all new school construction, modernization, and renovation projects in the five boroughs. The GSG and Rating System is based on LEED, but also incorporates elements from the Collaborative for High Performing Schools Rating System (developed by Washington, Massachusetts, and New York States) and the School Construction Authority’s Best Practices. It’s intended to complement Local Law 86 (which mandates LEED Silver for most public projects in New York City). Designed by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, the first school certified under the program opened for the academic year back on September 2 at 213 East 63rd Street.
Popularity: 15% [?]
16Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
The NoMad: NYC’s First Hotel Conversion to Seek LEED Rating
According to Crain’s, Michael Rawson, the head of GFI Hotel Co., is close to announcing plans for The NoMad, a 160-room renovation of a 12-story Beaux-Arts-style building on Broadway between 28th and 29th Streets just north of Madison Square Park (hence the moniker). Notwithstanding several new local hospitality developments that will seek LEED ratings, the project would be the first hotel conversion in New York City to pursue LEED certification, though specific green features have yet to be revealed. The project will feature 11 suites whose interiors will be designed by Jacques Garcia and also include a roof garden and restaurant. Mr. Rawson, who has worked closely with hotelier Andre Balazs on other projects including The Mercer, plans on opening the hotel in the fall of 2009.
Popularity: 14% [?]
16Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
ML: Historic Installation for BBG-BBGM -CI Silver Space at Empire State Building
We wrote earlier this summer about Brennan Beer Gorman Architects / Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Interiors’ (”BBG-BBGM”) new headquarters space on the 25th floor of the Empire State Building, which will seek the tower’s first LEED for Commercial Interiors rating. Recently, the 32,000-square-foot project’s general contractor Aragon Construction installed BBG-BBGM’s HVAC system on the building’s first setback on the southwest corner. The two 9500-pound chillers will run independently from the rest of the Empire State Building and were designed to save BBG-BBGM 15 percent on energy consumption over ASHRAE standards. The installation was actually the first in the history of the building and suggests some of the intricacies of both green construction contracts and leasing provisions, including whether the landlord or tenant should be responsible for the installation of such equipment and how any associated savings that are realized might be shared between the two sides.
Popularity: 15% [?]
15Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued-
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