Green Building Products

American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge New York City Earns LEED Gold

Fri

Apr

The American Cancer Society of New York and New Jersey announced earlier this week that its Hope Lodge New York City, Jerome L. Greene Family Center has earned LEED Gold certification from USGBC. Located at 132 West 32nd Street adjacent to Penn Station, the project was part of the much larger, 459-unit Epic rental apartment building, co-developed by the Durst Organization and Franciscan friars of the adjacent Holy Name parish on West 31st Street. The Hope Lodge was designed by New Haven-based CAMA, Inc.; SLCE Architects and FXFOWLE were architects for the building superstructure. (Note that The Epic was seeking a LEED Silver rating from USGBC, but it's unclear whether the project actually earned formal certification).

William Pedersen Designs Green Dog House Inspired by One Jackson Square

Tue

Nov

by Stephen Del Percio

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You may recall One Jackson Square , a 36-unit, 11-story condominium project under construction in the West Village that will seek an unspecified level of LEED certification from USGBC. The project, co-developed by Hines and RFR, was designed by KPF principal William Pedersen and sits on an irregularly-shaped 10,697 square foot floor plate on the stretch of Greenwich Avenue between West 13th and 14th Streets. Recently, Mr. Pederson participated in a charity auction for the Animal Medical Center by designing a dog house inspired by his architecture at One Jackson Square.

Notwithstanding the condo’s luxury finishes, Pedersen’s design concept was to take a simple box and mimic some of the architectural features of the LEED-hopeful project. The 20-square-foot kennel features a green roof, the same Baltic birch plywood that will ultimately grace the One Jackson Square lobby, and was constructed using the same digital carving process as the real thing.

SoHo Partnership Enters Supply Agreement for Biodegradable Trash Bags

Thu

Jul

by Stephen Del Percio

1 comment

The SoHo Partnership is a non-profit organization that hires homeless and jobless people through the BRC Human Services Corporation, another New York City-based organization that provides rehab and treatment programs for the homeless. The program cleans a 30-block area daily, removing over 15,000 pounds of trash, and also plants and maintains trees and other greenery and administers various recycling programs. Yesterday, the organization announced that it has entered into a supply agreement to purchase Perf Go Green's biodegradable trash bags for use in its operations. The Perf Go Green bags debuted earlier this year at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, and are manufactured from recycled plastics. The film that's applied to the bags is biodegradable, and causes the bags to break down when disposed of in soil.

Geo Wash Franchise Partners with Zipcar, to Make Gotham Debut at Chelsea Piers

Tue

Jun

by Stephen Del Percio

1 comment

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. The Geo Wash cart (see image) is manned by one worker and completes a wash in 30 minutes. It includes 100 percent biodegradable cleaning supplies, two water storage devices, a hose and pistol nozzle, a low pressure electronic pump, and its own power supply. Geo Wash carts are already operating in over 30 countries and are designed to operate wherever cars are parked; Martilotta and his partners have also leased space in a parking lot at a mall on Long Island. The Manhattan incarnation of the franchise will team with Zipcar and eventually offer a Geo Wash at each Zipcar Manhattan parking garage.

Kimball Office Showroom Earns LEED-CI Certified Rating at 215 Park Avenue

Wed

Jun

by Stephen Del Percio

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Kimball Office has received New York City's latest LEED for Commercial Interiors ("LEED-CI") rating, copping the Certified designation from USGBC. Its 12,000-square-foot showroom at 215 Park Avenue South was designed in cooperation with TVS Interiors. The showroom officially opened back in January and features a number of sustainable design features ranging from 75 percent recycled construction debris to low-VOC, local, and recycled-content materials, low-flow plumbing, and energy-efficient appliances. The space is also furnished with GREENGUARD-certified Kimball Office seating and systems furniture. The design of the showroom promotes natural light with an open floor plan, glass walls, and high ceilings.

The State of Sustainable Building: Ten Notable Green Quotables

Thu

Jan

by Stephen Del Percio

2 comments

Chapter 1 of the 2007 Building Design + Construction Green Buildings White Paper, “AEC Industry Continues to Embrace Green Building, But Is It Still Only a Niche?,” includes three pages of quotes from industry stakeholders regarding, among other things, their attitudes towards the role of A/E/C professionals in green building, prevailing green market conditions, defining and choosing green products, and the regulatory aspects of green building. We present ten of the most compelling quotes below to frame a glimpse of where green building stands at the start of 2008 (at least according to the BD+C survey that was completed by 631 recipients of its print publication and forms the basis of the White Paper). You can check out all of the quotes beginning on page 14 of the White Paper.

“If we are truly being green, we should renovate and not build new.” Scott Thomas, partner, Zagrodnik + Thomas Architects, San Diego, CA.

“The ‘green’ movement is becoming an opportunity for a few people to make a lot of money on the backs of those who have always designed with the environment and the good of the end users in mind.” James Howard, LWPB Architects, Norman, OK.

“Owners are the drivers. If they ask up front for green design and are willing to pay a little more for the design and construction, they can get it. Few owners ask and are often too tight-fisted to consider it.” Randall Boyd, architect, Fuqua & Partners Architects, Huntsville, AL.

“LEED certification is time-consuming, cumbersome, very bureaucratic, and not conducive to new work or commissions.” Quentin Dart Parker, Archwork.com, Pacific Palisades, CA.

“Most clients that are educated about the benefits of building green don’t have any reservations about building to LEED requirements- even if the building isn’t registered or certified [with USGBC]. It just makes sense financially.” Amy Pearce, project manager, Bovis Lend Lease, Houston, TX.

“Green building advocates argue that green design adds only up to three percent to the cost of construction. While this may be correct with regard to institutional-quality buildings, on our commercial projects- such as speculative office buildings and light industrial structures- the premium is significantly more.” Rob Thrun, vice president of architecture and engineering, Al Neyer, Inc., Cincinnati, OH.

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Good Work . But if the...
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morgan says
I couldn't help not noticing that the amount of money this...
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Please email me information on investment oppotunities. Thanks...
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It's good public relations for TD Bank to go Green & I'm...
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