Green building
'Boring Crap' That Can Make Affordable Housing Greener
It's becoming easier and easier to gin up enthusiasm for high-end green buildings: the glass-and-steel confections bedecked with solar panels and topped with pricey shrubs. But what if you can't pay for cutting-edge technology? Can housing for the masses be eco-friendly too?
At a Thursday morning conference organized by the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation called "Breaking the Green Ceiling," a panel of experts tried to explain that it could--but only if government fronts the cash, and designers stop thinking about the high-end design tweaks. read more »
Recession or Not, Green Building to Keep Growing
The Wall Street crash and nose-diving gas prices have taken the air out of some environmental initiatives lately—federal climate change legislation, for example, and a few big renewable energy projects.
But in New York City, by at least one metric, environmentalism is going strong: Driven by growing demand for eco-friendly living and working space, developers are forging full steam ahead on plans to obtain green certification for both commercial and residential projects.
Nationally, the amount of square footage certified under the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (LEED) has grown 62 percent this year to date over where it stood at the end of 2007. read more »
New York Has 10 Olympic Pools' Worth of Green Roofs
From the Journal's breakdown of what a green roof is and how to get one: "The amount of green roofing in New York more than doubled to 123,074 square feet from 2004 to 2007, according to surveys by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities-North America Inc. That is an area roughly equal to about 10 Olympic-size swimming pools."
In The Shadow of Atlantic Yards
Affordable, environmentally friendly apartments are about to go up on a former brownfield site near the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.
You think you know what we are talking about?
No, not Atlantic Yards, but rather the more modest Atlantic Terrace (above), developed by the nonprofit Fifth Avenue Committee in conjunction with MAP Development and Line Development. Back in November 2003, when the team first won the right to develop the site at Atlantic and South Portland Avenue, the 10-story, 80-unit cooperative was supposed to include solar panels to provide some of the energy for the residents. One month later, Forest City Ratner unveiled its plans for 30- to 50-story towers across the street to the south. read more »
