SUNY Cortland’s Glass Tower Hall dormitory building recently received LEED certification from USGBC. The $12.6 million project was completed back in August of 2005 and is the school’s newest residence hall, housing upper-class and transfer students.The 194-bed dorm includes a bicycle room that’s large enough to store a bike for every student, as well as charging stations for hybrid automobiles. Standard LEED features include efficient HVAC systems, windows, and insulation. The design team, which included Ashley McGraw Architects and Burt Hill Kosar Rittlement Associates, also specified a number of sustainable features for the project’s landscaping, including narrow sidewalks, efficient lighting, and native shrubbery.
August 4th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "alternative transportation"
Cabbies Concerned Over Bloomberg Bid to Turn Fleet Hybrid
Early last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city has struck a deal with several major automobile manufacturers to guarantee a monthly supply of hybrids to New York City’s taxi drivers, securing 200 Altima hybrids from Nissan, 50 Malibus from Chevy, and 50 Ford Escapes. The purpose of the deal is to place New York cabbies at the front of the line for the hybrids, which are currently in high demand all over the country. 1300 of New York’s taxis have already gone hybrid, saving drivers precious fuel money and, of course, reducing the city’s carbon emissions. The 300 figure was crafted to exceed the 210 per month that the Taxi and Limousine Commission estimates are necessary to satisfy new fuel efficiency standards for the taxicab fleet (25 miles per gallon beginning in October). Still, the plan is being met with some resistance.
July 21st, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Alterations to Times Tower, More Bike Shares, & Southampton Green Building Code
gbNYC selects green news items of note that were reported across the New York City area during the week of July 6, 2008, including alterations to the Times Tower in light of yet another climber, with which Renzo Piano is “okay,” the potential for an increased number of local, European-style bike share programs, groundbreaking at Serviam Gardens in the Bronx, and a push towards green building codes in Southampton on Long Island.
July 13th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
NYC: America’s 20th Greenest City?
Popular Science ranks the country’s 50 Greenest Cities in its latest issue and New York comes in at a respectable #20, despite being beaten out by Boston and Chicago. The magazine used raw data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Geographic Society’s Green Guide, which collected government statics and survey data across 30 different sustainability categories. Pop Sci then distributed these statistics across four broad categories: electricity, transportation, green living, and recycling and green perspective. Cities earned points for items such as their number of LEED-certified buildings, how much energy they draw from renewable sources, how many commuters use public transportation or carpool, and how much land they devote to public green space.
February 12th, 2008 | Meredith Taylor | 0 comments | Continued
Deadline Approaching on Congestion Pricing Recommendation
Back in April of last year, Mayor Bloomberg proposed implementing congestion pricing in Manhattan as part of his PlaNYC initiative. As the day for a recommendation to Governor Spitzer draws near, it seems an opportune time to check in on how the process is going. The Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, a 17-member state authority appointed in July, is charged with evaluating the Mayor’s plan and four other alternative plans. On January 10, the commission released an interim report examining each of the five proposals and outlining their pros and cons.
January 25th, 2008 | Meredith Taylor | 0 comments | Continued