green architecture

Developer Charles Fridman filed plans last week for a 26-story hotel at the corner of Varick and Watt Streets that would incorporate a malleable, thin-film solar panel glazing to the building's exterior. The glazing, which has been dubbed "amorphous thin film glass," would generate an estimated 80 to 100 kilowatts of electricity, which should translate into $40,000.00 to $50,000.00 in energy savings annually. Mr. Fridman has retained Anthony Morali of MStudio as the project's architect; MStudio plans on incorporating a number of other unspecified green design features into the project, though it's unclear at this point whether 100 Varick Street will pursue any third-party certification.

Lambertville, New Jersey-based Hone + Associates Architects recently saw its LEED Gold-hopeful Oldwick Animal Hospital open in Tewksbury Township, New Jersey. Hone is no stranger to green design; it designed the Willow School in Gladstone, which was the first LEED-certified private school in the country and only the second LEED building in the state of New Jersey. The 4200-square-foot, 2-story Oldwick Animal Hospital would be the first small veterinary hospital in the country to earn LEED certification from USGBC. Veterinarians Janisse Cailles and her husband, Glenn Likus, will be resident at the hospital and retained a veterinarian architect to create the building’s floor plan, before turning to Hone specifically for its green design expertise. After considering a solar system which Ms. Cailles says the township "wasn’t wild about," the couple installed a closed loop geothermal heating and cooling system, "even though it cost more to install." Other green features include LEED-standard low-VOC paints and sealants, FSC-certified wood products, a graywater system, and locally sourced materials.

Designed by Syracuse-based Ashley McGraw Architects' Advanced Building Studio, the Liberty Central School District's new Media Center in Liberty, New York could become the state's first net zero energy school district building after it breaks ground this summer. The 4000-square-foot Media Center should open in time for the 2010 school year; many of the project's green design strategies are those which critics of the recent NAIOP study (which we wrote about extensively over at GRELJ) decried as lacking in the study's methodoloy, which concluded that 30 to 50 percent reductions in energy consumption over ASHRAE 90.1-2004 were not practicable for most owners given current technologies and corresponding payback periods. For example, Ashley McGraw implemented a comprehensive site orientation and daylighting strategy, designing the structure's shape and windows to provide sufficient natural north light to the project's interiors, as well as low-level south- and west-facing windows which will reduce both solar heat gain and corresponding cooling loads.

In preparation for its 50th anniversary, architecture and interior design firm MKDA recently completed a move into new green office space at 902 Broadway in the Flatiron District; the firm had previously been located at 11 East 26th Street for nearly 20 years. The office build out was executed pursuant to the LEED system, though it's unclear whether MKDA is seeking a formal rating from USGBC. The offices are replete with FSC-certified zebra wood and GREENGUARD-certified upholstery; other green features include extensive natural daylighting and occupancy sensors in each office. Locally sourced building materials include Acme workstation partitions (which are manufactured in Brooklyn.) The firm designed its main design studio to be like a loft; the space includes a white concrete slab ceiling with pendant light fixtures and gray Interface carpet tiles. The lobby (as you can see in the images below) echoes a similar design intent with white stone flooring and walls but also invites visitors into the space with red seating.