green roof

The $15 million Media Arts Lab at the Jacob Burns Film Center is on track for one of Westchester County’s first LEED Gold ratings from USGBC. Designed by Mount Kisco-based Kaeyer, Garment & Davidson Architects & Engineers, the 27,000-square-foot Media Arts Lab will provide hands-on education for both the public and fellows, expanding on the numerous classroom offerings at the Film Center.

The project broke ground approximately 18 months ago and includes a number of green design features, including a geothermal heating and cooling system, radiant heating, natural daylighting, a green roof, and recycled-content structural materials. The Jacob Burns Film Center has operated since 2001, screens both independent and international films, and hosts industry guest speakers, including directors, actors, and authors.

The Media Arts Lab is located across the street from Metro North and is just a block down from the Film Center itself.

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The Wild Project is a green space for the arts located at 195 East Third Street between Avenues A and B. Architect Gita Nandan of Brooklyn-based Thread Collective transformed an existing one-story garage (which was formerly home to The Bottle Factory) into an 89-seat theater that features a 1500-square-foot green roof. The renovation took place back in June of 2007 and Nandan's design attempts to preserve the character of the garage's industrial past by retaining its exposed brick walls and wood joists. In addition to the roof, green design features include bamboo-clad seat platforms, extensive use of daylighting from transparent doors and large picture windows, solar panels, and efficient HVAC and water systems.

Just in time for the holidays, and as a nice complement to the efficient LED lights that will grace this year’s Christmas tree, Tishman Speyer has installed 363 solar panels on the roof of 45 Rockefeller Plaza. Last week, at the same press conference announcing both of these initiatives, Tishman, which has owned the complex since 2000, also announced that it’s in the process of installing an ice storage plant to provide air conditioning for the entire Rockefeller Center, as well as an 18,000-square-foot green roof on top of Radio City Music Hall. The 70kW solar panel installation is now the largest privately-owned source of solar power generation in Manhattan, and the ice plant will produce ice overnight from forty-seven tanks powered by Tishman-purchased wind energy.

At a press conference, Mayor Bloomberg praised Tishman’s initiatives, noting that “[w]hen we developed PlaNYC, we hoped that public leadership would inspire private-sector creativity and investment in a greener, greater New York and I want to commend [Tishman Speyer] for stepping up and meeting that challenge.” Tishman’s green efforts aren’t just limited to its work at Rockefeller Center; it also served as the development manager at LEED Gold Court Square Two in Long Island City and has over four million square feet of office space under development in the U.S. for which it intends to seek LEED certification.