« previous: Woolworth's western facade fully seen for last time | next: video: Inside the credit crisis »
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Manhattan Green Buildings List
In the vernacular of New York City, real estate agents often describe apartments as "pre-war" or "post-war", indicating that they were built before or after World War II. It is a distinction that refers to the changes in popular need, design, and the construction techniques of those apartments. The former being larger, more ornate homes inside and out, while the latter are more plain vanilla housing, like the white brick buildings of the Upper East Side. They respectively reflect the opulence of 1920s America, and the need for affordable, mass-produced housing, for the booming population of GIs returning from the war. They are the results of social forces and technologies, working to iterate the basic need of shelter, in ways which were designed authentically to their times.
Today we see a similar shift evolving, in a way which may cause brokers to eventually describe the city's buildings as "pre-green" or "post-green". Rising awareness of factors such as global warming, rising fuel costs, and conservation, are reshaping the marketplace. The environmental concerns may range on a personal level, from the gases released from building materials, to deforestation on a more global level. Architects, builders, consumers, and governments are rethinking what they need, want, and how to have it; in ways which will greatly impact dwellings, urban planning and national agendas. Green developments are redefining design quality as responsible to the health of its inhabitants, and to that of the larger community too.
In New York City we are seeing development of the first wave of LEED certified apartment houses. My colleague Tony Oakley compiled a list recently of Manhattan green buildings, with the help of Corcoran's Susan Singer and our other agents, which they have kindly let me publish here. I've added a couple more, including the first LEED-H development in the Bronx; because of its significance as the first affordable housing to receive this designation. Some additional resources are noted as well. I've sold and shown in many of these. They are both green, and aesthetically, some of the best buildings in NYC. Anything residential in Manhattan that we've missed? Feel free to leave a comment and I'll update the list as we go; and please take a moment to answer today's poll.
Manhattan residential LEED certified
- 1400 Fifth Avenue
- Riverhouse— 1 Rockefeller Park
- Solaire (rental)— 20 River Terrace
- The Laurel— 400 E 67th Street
- The Lucida— 151 E 85th Street
- The Helena— 601 W 57th Street
- The Visionaire— 70 Little West Street
- One Jackson Square— 122 Greenwich Street
- The Kalahari— 40 West 116th Street
- Verdisian (rental)— 211 North End Avenue
Manhattan LEED registered
- Epic (rental)— 124 West 31st Street (anticipating Silver LEED certification)
- Harsen House— 120 W 72nd Street
- HL23— 515 W 23rd Street (anticipating Gold LEED certification)
- Superior Ink— 400 West 12th Street (anticipating Silver LEED certification)
- The Harrison— 205 West 76th Street (anticipating Silver LEED certification)
LEED-H
- Morrisania Homes (Bronx)
Green elements
- 28 Bedford Street—14kW photovoltaic system
- 228 East Third Street— 4 buildings: passive solar, water conservation system, green finishes
- 88 Laight Street— “SolaRail” photovoltic glass balcony railing that converts energy to electricity
- 40 Mercer Street— features energy efficient mechanicals, filtered air and roof landscaping
- 179 Rivington Street— photovoltaics, passive solar, net-metered, low VOC paints adhesives, low flow fixtures, dual flush toilets, radiant heating
- 101 Warren Street— pine forest green roof
- 140-142 West 4th Street— solar thermal system
- Tribeca Green— 325 North End Avenue
- 123 West 15th Street— natural gas power generation & geothermic climate control
Green web sites & resources
- U.S. Green Building Council
- NYC Department of Buildings Green Information and Guidelines
- Treehugger.com
- GreenHomeNYC
- GreenBuildingsNYC
related posts on comitini.com
Architect Norman Foster: Building on the green agenda
A green tale of urban renewal
The 'green city' topic index
Correction: 40 Mercer does not have LEED certification as previously reported, but "it was very close to being certified" according to Hines Interests, the developer. It does contain many green features. Epic, Superior Ink and The Kalahari were added to the list from reader's calls and comments.
reader comments:
The Kalahari in Harlem
Also here in Toronto it's green living becoming more and more popular. I think it's not an option for the future, it's a necessity. I am dealing houses for sale in Toronto and trying to be one of the leaders in green living propagation, especially aiming at the local community, check my website! In September there's even Green Building Festival taking place in Toronto...
Julie
Hi Julie: Green buildings seem to be growing in appeal over the past year or so. Right now our little survey is showing that about 70% of our readers believe that Green features are worth a premium. That is an increase of 20% over a poll we did about a year ago in this post . The questions were not asked in exactly the same way, but a year ago it looked like about 50% our readers thought it was worth more to buy Green.
Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more green buildings in NYC. As an incentive, the City of New York is sponsoring its third Green Building Competition. This year’s theme is integration. The competition is specifically seeking out projects and proposals that epitomize fully integrated, sustainable buildings that assimilate the surrounding community.
Thanks for highlighting the competition Susan, readers can get more info and see past winners here; and thanks for your input on the list!
I just read your blog on the increasing LEED trend with apartment housing. Given the different categories of LEED Certification (Existing Building (Green retrofitting), New Construction, Commercial Interior, Homes etc.), I was wondering if there is a study out there that shows which LEED category has the highest number of requests in Manhattan / all 5 boroughs...
Hi Teresa; I do not know of a study, and requests are tough to track as anything other than anecdotal information. As time goes on, the marketplace will give us the answer in sales statistics. I can say that the overwhelming majority of residential units in Manhattan are new construction. Property is always a complex balancing act as a purchase, and many factors (location, layouts, price, etc...) including LEED certification, will influence buyers. I'm not sure that we've reached the critical mass of inventory in every NYC neighborhood that would give buyers a real choice yet. As a percentage of the total inventory, Green units are just a fraction of it. I do think that savvy developers are beginning to take note that it adds value and distinction to their projects in an increasingly competitive marketplace.