gbNYC has noted two green projects on the Hoboken side of the Hudson previously; we pointed you to SJP Properties’ Waterfront Corporate Center III and Bijou Properties’ Dean Marchetto-designed, 180-unit condo project on 14th Street, both of which are seeking LEED ratings from USGBC. Green efforts in Hoboken aren’t limited to these projects alone, though; Bijou is also developing the Garden Street Lofts at 14th and Bloomfield Streets, which were also designed by Marchetto and are seeking a LEED Silver rating. Meanwhile, Mayor David Roberts recently announced a tax credit plan for residential owners that install solar panels and is quick to point out Hoboken’s taxi fleet that features seven hybrids.
August 13th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "green business"
Chautauqua Wind Energy to Capture Green Power Upstate
Calling itself in the “small wind” business as opposed to large-scale, utility-grade wind farms, Chautauqua Wind Energy plans to move into the fledgling market for smaller scale, residential wind turbines beginning this fall. Based in Chautauqua County, New York, the green energy company will focus on installing and servicing 5 to 10 kilowatt wind turbines. The company will act as a dealer and carry turbines from different manufacturers, including Bergey, Windterra, and Helix Wind. Chautauqua will also act as a consultant to determine the optimal installation for each of its customers. Chautauqua County is apparently a prime spot for wind energy. Boasting nearly constant Class 3 winds (15 miles per hour), the area is home to some of the windiest areas in New York State, which is actually the 15th windiest state in the union.
August 12th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
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
ML: Anheuser-Busch Warehouse, Hunts Point, South Bronx
Anheuser-Busch broke ground last September on a 167,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility on Hunts Point in the South Bronx. The $40 million, project is seeking an unspecified level of LEED certification and should open up sometime in October. The warehouse will sit on the site of a former brownfield and is supported by a pile foundation system; soils at the site are extremely unstable and the piles are necessary to brace the heavy traffic from Anheuser-Busch’s local fleet of 70 freight trucks. Specific green features also include a graywater irrigation system and native landscaping across the warehouse’s 13.5 acres.
June 30th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
New School to Prepare Students for New York City Green Business Sector
In the fall of 2008, the New School will begin offering a multi-disciplinary program in Environmental Studies. Students may choose to take either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies, and each brings its own level of specialization. The new program will be administered by the New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center, which is currently the main area of environmental studies at the university. It will focus on New York City as its laboratory, with a special emphasis on urban ecosystems and sustainable design.
June 27th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Geo Wash Franchise Partners with Zipcar, to Make Gotham Debut at Chelsea Piers
By the end of next month, Manhattan will boast New York City’s first Geo Wash franchise at the Chelsea Piers parking garage. Marc Martilotta- one of three partners in the fledgling operation- saw Geo Wash during a trip to Costa Rica last year and bought the rights to a New York state franchise back in September. Geo Wash requires less than one quarter of a gallon of water to wash a car; conventional car washes can use upwards of ninety gallons.
June 24th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | ContinuedHL23 Litigation, Freedom Tower Up for Grabs, & No Rentals at Toren
gbNYC selects green news items of note that were reported across the New York City area during the week of June 15, 2008, including ongoing litigation in connection with Neil Denari’s HL23 condominium project in Chelsea, the Port Authority listening to bids from the private sector for the Freedom Tower, and Brooklyn’s Toren shooting down rumors that the condo project will turn rental, pointing to its LEED Gold application as a major drawing card for potential purchasers.
June 22nd, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Head of Green Building Finance Consortium Offers Critique of Recent CoStar Study
Back in March, CoStar released a well-disseminated study purporting to evaluate the financial performance of EnergyStar- and LEED-certified commercial office buildings. The results of the study were highly touted with respect to LEED as CoStar found that such buildings sold at a 64 percent ($171 per square foot) premium and rented at a 36 percent ($11.33 per square foot) premium over non-certified buildings. Last week, Scott Muldavin, Executive Director of the Green Building Finance Consortium, released a report critiquing the CoStar study. Mr. Muldavin suggested a number of reasons why euphoria over the staggering green premiums ought to be tempered.
June 9th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Green Power Developer Sets Pace for New York Venture Capital in 2007
In this week’s issue of Crain’s, a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers identifies six-year-old Everpower Renewables Corp., a Manhattan-based developer of utility-grade wind power projects, as the recipient of $55 million from Good Energies, Inc. during the fourth quarter of 2007. In fact, Everpower raised the most money of any company in New York last year. While the overall amount of venture capital flowing into New York decreased from 2006 ($2 billion to $1.7 billion), David Silverman, managing director of PwC’s New York venture capital group, told Crain’s that the New York market “continues to look healthy.”
January 24th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
(Still N.J.) Nets Shooting to Wash Fans in Green
Leaving aside a foul-baiting flop here and a feigned hit-by-pitch there, sports as they are played are fairly straightforward. It’s when the front offices come into play that it’s time to turn the spam filter on. And so it is with the New Jersey Nets’ new “Shoot To Be Green” initiative. As one of many uninspiring old Nets billboard slogans proclaimed, “You can’t fake a fast break.” Greenwashing a franchise, however, is another story.
January 16th, 2008 | David Roth | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Top 10 News Stories in Green Real Estate from 2007
In an article that was published yesterday, Andrew Burr of the CoStar Group listed his top 10 “most influential” green news items of 2007. We wrote about many of these important stories here at gbNYC last year, so we present Mr. Burr’s list below with links to our supporting posts. Two items in particular jump [...]
January 4th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | Continued