All Posts Tagged With: "New York"

NDR Group recently completed construction on Garito Manor at Union Square. The 102-unit, $30 million facility will accommodate seniors over the age of 62 with lower incomes. While funding for the project came from many sources, NYSERDA provided a $399,000 grant for the project’s green features, which include five geothermal wells, energy efficient lighting, windows, and insulation, and locally-sourced materials. Perkins Eastman Architects designed the project with construction management services from Andon Construction Company. Garito Manor is seeking an unspecified level of LEED certification; for monthly rents ranging from $2200-$2800 residents will enjoy two daily meals, 24-hour security and concierge, housekeeping, and transportation services.

New York House magazine’s first annual Best in Green Building Competition has been ongoing here in 2008 in no small part due to the efforts of gbNYC’s Paul McGinniss, who also served on the panel of judges that whittled the competition’s entries down to 12 back in September. To be eligible, homes had to be single-family and located in one of the magazine’s upstate editorial coverage areas and built between 2000 and 2006. The judges used criteria from the USGBC’s LEED for Homes system during their review, but a LEED application was not a prerequisite in order to qualify. According to the judges- including McGinniss- energy efficiency emerged as the most important criterion, and the winning home- the 1600-square-foot Porte-Cottom House in Canaan (Columbia County, just southeast of Albany) owns an Energy Star label.

The Harp, which would be the first green commercial office building to open in Long Island’s Nassau County, broke ground back on September 22. Developed by Foremost Real Estate, the project is aiming for a LEED Gold rating and should be ready for a January 2010 occupancy. The 3-story, 54,000-square-foot tower along Great Neck’s “Miracle Mile” was designed by Guilor Architects and will include a number of green design features, including efficient water and lighting fixtures, air flow measurement devices, and extensive daylighting thanks to the building’s all-glass curtain wall. Majestic Property Affiliates, which is the Harp’s exclusive leasing agent, will also offer each of the 18,000-square-foot, loft-style office floors for sale prior to opening lease negotiations.

The Southampton Town Board heard proposals earlier this week to amend a new law that will require all new pool heaters to be solar-powered. The law is facing opposition from the Northeastern Pool & Spa Association and the Long Island Pool & Spa Association (”LIPSA”), industry groups that represent pool equipment manufacturers and dealers. Although it would be the first such law on Long Island, a handful of municipalities nationwide have already adopted similar laws. John Tortorella, one of the largest swimming pool contractors in Southampton, praised the concept as “a good idea,” but also cautioned that “all hell will break loose” if the law is enacted as currently drafted, requiring customers to incur thousands of dollars in additional plumbing and infrastructure costs. LIPSA argued before the Board that solar-powered pool heaters require more room to install than electric or gas heaters, and could require some pool owners to remove decks and trees in order to comply with the legislation.

In 2005, the 800-square-foot OPEN House was conceived and constructed by 75 students at Old Westbury, Long Island’s New York Institute of Technology. Made from wood, the house debuted at the 2005 Solar Decathlon and took home fifth place as a fully operational showcase for solar and hydrogen fuel cell technology. In 2007, it was re-entered in the Decathlon with a few upgrades, including an array of 35 solar panels and a rooftop pool for heating and cooling, which was designed to simulate the heating and cooling principles of a geothermal system. The prototype included a performance dashboard displaying the home’s energy consumption in real-time. The Town of Hempstead recently purchased the OPEN House from NYIT for $75,000.00 as the centerpiece of a new alternative energy office park on Long Beach.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based design firm KlingStubbins, in cooperation with Croxton Collaborative Architects, has achieved a LEED Gold rating from USGBC for the Johnson Hall of Science at St. Lawrence University; the project is the sixth for which KlingStubbins has earned LEED certification during 2008. The 122,000-square-f0ot building will house the biology and chemistry departments and is St. Lawrence’s first phase of a project which will also call for the construction of an additional 120,000 square feet. The school’s four existing science buildings will be renovated over the next three phases to create additional academic space for physics, math, geology, and computer science. Johnson Hall scored 41 LEED points, is oriented on a north/south axis, and is separated into two interconnected wings in order to provide maximum daylight to interior program spaces.