The Bronx

Fox Point is a 48-unit affordable housing development in the Bronx that is pursuing a LEED Silver rating from USGBC. The project is being sponsored by Midtown-based non-profit Palladia and was designed by OCV Architects. The 55,000-square-foot building will offer two green roofs- on the fifth and seventh floors- and was scheduled to open up during the fourth quarter of 2008, though it’s unclear exactly where construction progress currently stands. OCV’s design strives to maximize both energy efficiency and natural daylighting; a microturbine installation should assist with the former.

The Building Studio Architects has earned New York City's first LEED for Homes ("LEED-H") certification for a private, single-family residence. The 3200-square-foot Rauch Residence is located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and was originally built back in 1939. The Building Studio's 1700-square-foot addition to the house included a number of LEED-standard green design features, including the installation of energy-efficient appliances, low-flow water fixtures, double flush toilets, and efficient landscape watering systems. The project has earned a LEED Silver certification from USGBC.

As part of Major League Baseball’s efforts to green this year’s All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium (which the American League won last night in 15 innings), the red carpet that covered 95,000 square feet of Sixth Avenue yesterday from 40th through 58th Streets during the All-Star Red Carpet Parade was manufactured by Bentley Prince Street from 100 percent recycled fiber content. Bentley, whose California manufacturing facility holds a LEED-EB rating from USGBC, used 100 percent renewable electricity to manufacture the carpet through its on-site solar array, coupled with the purchase of Green-e-certified RECs. According to Bentley, its carpet manufacturing process avoids the use of 300 pounds of petroleum-based fiber and 162,000 gallons of water. The company also bought 480,000 pounds of verified carbon emissions reduction credits from aggregators that include Native Energy, Blue Source, and 3 Degrees. Bentley will now recycle all 45,000 pounds of the carpet in connection with its ReEntry 2.0 reclamation program.

Serviam Gardens will be a 240-unit housing development for low - to middle-income senior citizens when it opens in the last quarter of 2009. Developed by Bronx-based affordable housing developer Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation, the $66 million project is set to break ground tomorrow and will rise in a vacant lot behind Mount Saint Ursula's convent and girls' high school in Bedford Park in the Bronx. OCV Architects designed the two-tower project, which will incorporate a number of unspecified green design features pursuant to Enterprise Green Communities Criteria; Enterprise provided low-income tax credit financing for the project. You may recall the same Fordham Bedford/OCV team from Jacob's Place, the 63-unit affordable rental building that opened earlier this year in the Fordham section of the Bronx.