Rating Systems

Bates Masi Architects received an early holiday present a couple of weeks ago when the East Hampton Town Architectural Review Board approved the firm’s controversial design for a two-story office building at 132 North Main Street in East Hampton. We wrote about the project last month and expressed our optimism that it would proceed as planned, given its anticipated LEED certification and distinctive modern design. The Board was particularly moved by Bates Masi’s choice of materials, noting the building’s weathered cedar shingles and textured wood surfaces.

The $15 million Media Arts Lab at the Jacob Burns Film Center is on track for one of Westchester County’s first LEED Gold ratings from USGBC. Designed by Mount Kisco-based Kaeyer, Garment & Davidson Architects & Engineers, the 27,000-square-foot Media Arts Lab will provide hands-on education for both the public and fellows, expanding on the numerous classroom offerings at the Film Center. The project broke ground approximately 18 months ago and includes a number of green design features, including a geothermal heating and cooling system, radiant heating, natural daylighting, a green roof, and recycled-content structural materials.

An interesting battle is brewing on Long Island over the place of modern green architecture on Main Street. Over 500 people have signed a petition to protest what would be an extremely modern, green, and LEED-certified office building in East Hampton. The two-story, rectangular structure would include office space for its co-developers- architect Paul Masi and his firm, Bates Masi Architects, and attorney Jonathan Tarbet. The front of the 4673-square-foot building- designed by Mr. Masi- features large glass windows with the rest of the façade on the sides clad with cedar shingles.

Developers Jonathan Rose of the Rose Companies and Gerard Lettire closed a couple of weeks ago on financing for the Tapestry, a 184-unit, affordable housing project 245 East 124th Street (at Second Avenue) in Harlem. The 12-story rental development will seek a LEED Silver rating from USGBC, meet the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, and participate in NYSERDA’s Multifamily Performance Program. Rose broke ground on the $65 million project yesterday and assembled financing from a dizzying number of sources- Enterprise tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, loans, and other grants. Mr. Rose told the New York Times last week that, even in the midst of the credit crunch, financing is still out there for developers who “have a good track record, and financial strength, and the project has to be well thought-out.”

Buffalo State College’s Burchfield Penney Art Center (”BPAC”) is touting itself as New York State’s first green art museum. The $33 million project- which was designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates Architects- is aiming for LEED Silver certification from USGBC and is participating in NYSERDA’s New York Energy Smart New Construction program. Climate control, air flow, and energy consumption are obviously key considerations for spaces that preserve art, so the project presented Gwathmey with more green design challenges than a typical LEED project.