NYSERDA

Harlem Block Party: Entire Block of 135th Street Slated for Green Retrofits

Mon

Nov

Some blocks get all the history. West 135th Street in Harlem, between 7th Avenue and Lenox, was one of the proudest blocks in the neighborhood during Harlem's glory years. In 1910, the St. Philip's Episcopal Church -- the wealthiest of uptown's black churches during that period -- bought the block of homes on 135th Street, with the intention of renting them to parishioners. At the time, the row of stately townhomes were the first buildings that far uptown to belong to an African American landlord. The block was later the home (and one of the main subjects) of the famed photographer James Van Der Zee. These days, the block is notably worse for wear, but headed for another encounter with New York City history.

Check-Plus: Upstate Montessori School Earns Energy-Efficiency Honors

Tue

Oct

by David Roth

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Relative to less-clunkily named programs such as LEED and Energy Star, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority -- or NYSERDA, if you're into (relative) brevity -- doesn't get a lot of attention. And yet NYSERDA's recent awarding of its 17th High Performance Building plaque, to the Woodland Hill Montessori School in the Albany suburb of Rensselaer, casts a spotlight on NYSERDA's very deserving incentive programs. Yes, it's kind of a dim spotlight -- no offense to Montessori schools in upstate towns, but CNN isn't breaking into its regular programming to deliver this news -- but the efficiency achievements at Woodland Hill and some continued good work on the part of NYSERDA both deserve a look.

Fortune Academy Complex Breaks Ground, Seeks LEED Gold at 625 West 140th Street

Tue

May

by Stephen Del Percio

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The Fortune Academy Complex is a $42 million, 110-unit affordable housing development that recently broke ground at 625 West 140th Street in West Harlem. The 110,000-square-foot building will also feature public community space, as well as a job training and counseling center for residents. Jonathan Rose Companies is co-developing the project with the Fortune Society of New York, which operates the adjacent historic Castle, a transitional housing facility for the homeless and recently released from prison. Green design features include a green roof, graywater system, and south-facing, building-integrated photovoltaic panels. FSC-certified wood products have been specified throughout; other green features are LEED-standard and include low-VOC paints and sealants, locally-sourced structural materials, and efficient plumbing, lighting, and HVAC systems. The project is seeking a LEED Gold rating from USGBC and is participating in various NYSERDA programs. The Fortune Academy was designed by New York City-based Curtis + Ginsburg Architects; construction should be completed sometime in mid-2010.

Monroe County to Construct LEED Silver Crime Lab in Rochester

Mon

Mar

by Stephen Del Percio

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The Monroe County Public Safety Lab is certainly one of the more esoteric LEED projects we've stumbled across recently. The four-story, 45,000-square-foot crime lab is will be located in downtown Rochester, rising from what is currently a parking lot. The lab- which is currently cramped into a 19,000-square-foot building that dates from 1963- serves law enforcement agencies in the City of Rochester and eight surrounding counties; 67 percent of its work comes from Rochester itself, which is contributing $1 million to the project. The lab performs DNA analysis of crime scene investigations and stores significant data on computers that are causing the space crunch at the existing lab. Green features at the $30 million facility will add around $700,000 to construction costs and include a white roof, recycled-content and locally sourced structural building materials, a graywater irrigation system, and reserved parking for hybrid vehicles and bicycles. Pike Company has been lined up to perform construction management and LEED consulting services for $139,000.

Barton Group Headquarters: LEED Platinum 105 in Glens Falls

Thu

Feb

by Stephen Del Percio

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The Barton Group's corporate headquarters in Glens Falls, New York is only the seventh building in New York State to earn a LEED Platinum rating from USGBC (and just the 105th in the entire country). The project scope contemplated the renovation of Six Warren Street, a three-story, 16,000-square-foot brick building in downtown Glens Falls that dates from 1865. Design-builder Bette & Cring completed the project in August of 2007 and Barton earned formal certification back in January. The project should boost the building's energy efficiency to 49 percent over New York State building code requirements and will source 100 percent of its electricity needs from wind power sources.

Red Tail Ridge: New York's First Green Winery Building

Fri

Feb

by Stephen Del Percio

0 comments

The Red Tail Ridge Winery in upstate Penn Yan is about to break ground on what would be the first LEED-certified winery building in New York State. The winery is located in the Finger Lakes region and owned by husband and wife Mike Schnelle and Nancy Irelan. The couple opened the winery back in 2007 after moving east from California and is committed to sustainable wine-making and harvesting practices; for example, vineyards include strategically located diversion and drainage ditches that direct stormwater runoff to an irrigation pond. Red Tail Ridge is working with NYSERDA in connection with its new wine-making building, which should break ground this spring and will seek an unspecified level of LEED certification. Green features will include a geothermal system, natural daylighting, efficient lighting, and locally-sourced and recycled-content building materials. The building was designed by Rochester-based Edge Architecture; the project team also includes Sustainable Performance Consulting, Inc. Schnelle and Irelan hope to have the new building completed and open in time for next fall's harvest.

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