A proposed Best Western hotel in East Elmhurst could become the first green hotel in Queens. The project, to be located at 112th Place and Astoria Boulevard, adjacent to the Grand Central Parkway, LaGuardia Airport, and the Mets’ new CitiField, will pursue an unspecified level of LEED certification, according to architect Gerald Caliendo (though note Mr. Caliendo’s quote about “bronze” certification in the context of recent posts here at gbNYC regarding the importance of accurately describing green projects and qualifications from a legal perspective). Community Board 3 granted the six-story, 100-unit project a zoning waiver at a recent meeting, despite local residents’ concerns about increased traffic. Details on specific green features are not available yet.
October 6th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "Queens"
White Coffee Corp. Earns LEED Rating for Long Island City HQ
The Daily News is reporting that White Coffee Corp.- a third-generation, family-owned coffee business based in Queens- has earned an unspecified level (and type) of LEED certification for its headquarters building at 18-35 38 Street in Long Island City, across the street from the Steinway Piano factory. Details about the project are slim, but did include the installation of energy-efficient lighting throughout the company’s space, as well as a reorganization of truck delivery routes to conserve fuel. White is also now recycling the chaff (protective casing) of its coffee beans in cooperation with a Queens-based contractor. The company was founded back in 1939 and has 120 employees, offering over 300 varieties of organic and fair trade-certified types of coffees.
September 30th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center Seeks to Green Exhibition Space in Long Island City
The P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City is an affiliate of MoMA and offers exhibition space for some of the most experimental modern art in the world, featuring over 50 different exhibitions annually, as well as various musical and performance programming. P.S.1 was founded in 1971 as the Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc., which installed art exhibitions in various abandoned and otherwise underutilized spaces across the city. After finding a permanent home in a former Long Island City school building in 1976, P.S.1 became an affiliate of MoMA back in 2000. It recently commissioned Danish energy consultants Leif Hansen to create a green, energy-efficient renovation plan. Engineer and Leif Hansen executive Flemming Kristensen called it a “unique challenge” to evaluate ways to conserve energy within the museum environment. “You have to redesign the lighting so that it will not damage the artwork,” he said. “It’s a bit like reinventing the light bulb.”
September 25th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Queens Botanical Garden Visitor’s Center Earns NYC’s First LEED Platinum Rating
The Queens Botanical Garden Visitor’s Center officially received its LEED Platinum rating today from USGBC. The Center is the first building in New York City to earn Platinum under LEED for New Construction and features a number of innovative green design features, which we’ve profiled here at gbNYC previously. The 16,000-square-foot Center opened to the public back in September and was designed by New York City-based BKSK Architects.
June 19th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Perkins + Will to Design $1B LEED Silver Police Academy in Queens
Earlier this week, the Department of Design and Construction and the New York City Police Department selected Perkins + Will to design the NYPD’s new $1 billion Police Academy, which will be located in College Point, Queens. The project will seek at least a LEED Silver rating from USGBC and will consolidate the NYPD’s existing Academy in Manhattan and other facilities in the Bronx and Brooklyn across a 35-acre site that currently serves as the city’s largest auto impound. The new Academy will feature a firing range, 450,000-square-foot physical training area, 250 classrooms, and a 100,000-square-foot “tactical village” that will include mock street scenes, subway cars, and a bodega.
May 23rd, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
British Airways to Launch LEED at JFK with Terminal 7 Rehab
British Airways announced yesterday that it will spend $30 million over the next 18 months to refurbish its Terminal 7 out at JFK International Airport. The project is slated to break ground in June and BA plans to pursue first LEED rating to date for any facility at JFK. Specific details on green design features aren’t available yet, but the new terminal will maximize natural daylight and presumably incorporate other LEED-standard credits. The New York Observer suggests that “modernist furniture, clean lines and general sleekness seemed to be the prevailing theme” for Terminal 7 at yesterday’s unveiling.
May 22nd, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | Continued
Green Retrofits Pending for Long Island City’s Standard Motors Building
The 300,000-square-foot, six-story Standard Motors Building at 37-18 Northern Boulevard in Long Island City will soon be transformed into a $40.6 million mixed-use, commercial loft development that will also offer ground-floor retail space. Purchased by a JPMorgan Chase-backed pension fund, the project has been in the works for some time. Standard Motors Products, which has outsourced much of its manufacturing operations from the site, wanted to sell the building for the highest possible price, but also lease back 60,000 square feet and retain control over the incoming tenants. The project will also implement a number of green retrofit initiatives.
April 15th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
DEP Promises to Clean Up Contaminated Newtown Creek on Queens/Brooklyn Border
Greenpoint residents met last week with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (”DEP”) to beg for a full-scale overhaul of Newtown Creek, an offshoot of the East River that divides Brooklyn and Queens. New York’s largest wastewater treatment plant is located on the grimy creek’s bank, and in the summer, the stench from the plant wafts for miles. The Queens Ledger reported that DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd hopes to make a series of environmental upgrades in order to bring the plant into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act, including covering all areas where sewage is exposed to the air and building new chlorination tanks.
February 4th, 2008 | Meredith Taylor | 0 comments | Continued
Solar Power Legislation, Green Cemeteries, and Sustainable Products Workshop
Albany Times Union calls for legislators to adopt “compromise plan” from Senator James Wright (R-Watertown) for utility redemption of excess green power generated by solar systems
Construction Specifications Institute New York Chapter to offer Process of Selecting and Specifying Sustainable Products workshop at Annie Moore’s Bar & Restaurant in Midtown on January 9 at 6:30PM
Green cemeteries [...]
Citigroup’s Court Square Two: Long Island City, Queens
I briefly mentioned CitiGroup’s Court Square Two project in Queens’ Long Island City back in May (after its construction manager Turner was honored along with USGBC at Solar One’s Green Building Gala) but want to pass along more details about the 14-story, 528,000 square foot building designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (with development manager Tishman [...]
August 3rd, 2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued