USGBC News
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
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
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
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
Green Hotel From Peter Moore Associates Set for Bowery
A new 63-room boutique hotel is slated for construction between Houston and Prince Streets across from the New Museum of Contemporary Art at 250 Bowery. The tower is tentatively scheduled to open in early 2009 after renderings were revealed close to three years ago. Designed and developed by Peter Moore Associates, the hotel will feature a number of green design elements ranging from a green roof and geothermal heating and cooling system to efficient plumbing systems and various renewable and recycled construction materials. The project is expected to seek a LEED Platinum rating. The Bowery hotel would join another planned green downtown boutique- the stalled Greenhouse 26, designed by Arpad Baksa.
Popularity: 18% [?]
10Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Time Warner Center Cops National Building of the Year Honors
Related’s Time Warner Center, which won BOMA’s regional competition for commercial office buildings greater than 1 million square feet back in the spring, has been named The Office Building of the Year (”TOBY”) for 2008-2009 by the Building Owners and Managers Association International in the 1 million-square-foot or greater category. The tower earned the honor at BOMA’s annual conference a couple of weeks ago in Denver and joins 13 other awardees in a number of building types. The international honor comes after the Time Warner Center won at both the local and regional level.
Popularity: 17% [?]
7Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
ML: Skanska USA to Seek Empire State Building’s First Platinum Rating
Skanska USA, the U.S. division of Swedish construction giant Skanska AB, is retrofitting the 32nd floor of the Empire State Building in pursuit of a LEED for Commercial Interiors Platinum rating from USGBC. Ranked by Engineering News-Record as America’s number 1 green contractor for 2007, Skanska USA’s area general manager Steve Pressler explained the firm’s philosophy behind the move in a press release, noting that Skanska’s “push for Platinum LEED certification not only aligns with our core business philosophies, but demonstrates to our current and existing clients our commitment to the green movement.” The construction giant signed a deal for a 15-year lease on the tower’s 32nd floor and will take 24,400 square feet upon moving from its current headquarters at 136 Madison Avenue.
Popularity: 16% [?]
7Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
New York City’s First Green Billboard Set for Times Square
Times Square is about to receive New York City’s first green-powered electronic billboard. Tokyo-based Ricoh Company, Ltd. will install a 47 by 126 foot sign on the Reuters Building (3 Times Square, at the northwestern corner of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue) that will draw power from 45 solar panels and 4 wind turbines. In what should be an interesting twist, if the photovoltaics do not receive sufficient sunlight or winds are not strong enough to drive the turbines, the sign will simply not illuminate. According to Ricoh, the installation should account for a reduction of 18 tons in carbon dioxide per year.
Popularity: 40% [?]
3Jul2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
ML: COFRA Group, Perkins+Will Complete –CI Gold Office at 277 Park
Perkins+Will recently completed a 30,000-square-foot fit-out of Switzerland-based investment conglomerate COFRA Group’s offices on the 29th floor of 277 Park Avenue in Midtown. The project is seeking a LEED Gold rating from USGBC under the Commercial Interiors system and includes numerous green design features, ranging from locally-sourced wood paneling and water-efficient fixtures to recycled-content glass partitions designed to increase the penetration of natural light. The space also features LED lighting and recycled denim insulation.
Popularity: 18% [?]
23Jun2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Queens Botanical Garden Visitor’s Center Earns NYC’s First LEED Platinum Rating
The Queens Botanical Garden Visitor’s Center officially received its LEED Platinum rating today from USGBC. The Center is the first building in New York City to earn Platinum under LEED for New Construction and features a number of innovative green design features, which we’ve profiled here at gbNYC previously. The 16,000-square-foot Center opened to the public back in September and was designed by New York City-based BKSK Architects.
Popularity: 19% [?]
19Jun2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Kimball Office Showroom Earns LEED-CI Certified Rating at 215 Park Avenue
Kimball Office has received New York City’s latest LEED for Commercial Interiors (”LEED-CI”) rating, copping the Certified designation from USGBC. Its 12,000-square-foot showroom at 215 Park Avenue South was designed in cooperation with TVS Interiors. The showroom officially opened back in January and features a number of sustainable design features ranging from 75 percent recycled construction debris to low-VOC, local, and recycled-content materials, low-flow plumbing, and energy-efficient appliances.
Popularity: 18% [?]
18Jun2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued-
Sponsors
-
Green Building Photo Pool
www.flickr.com 
More pics or contribute -
NYC Blogs
