First Green High-Rise Apartment Building Goes Up in NYC

Albanese Development Corporation is building the first green residential high-rise in the U.S. The 27-story, 250 apartment building will go up later this year in Battery Park City, on the lower tip of Manhattan. The $95 million 337,000-square-foot apartment building is the first of six green high-rises slated for the area by the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA). Albanese expects to complete the building in late 2002. BPCA has already sent out requests for proposals for the next two developments.

The building is being designed to conform to BPCA’s green guidelines that cover energy efficiency, indoor air quality, resource conservation, and maintenance. BPCA created its own guidelines that govern high-rise residential buildings, filling a gap in current certification systems. The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification system covers commercial buildings and is working on residential homes. The developers intend to qualify for tax credits under NY State’s new green building legislation and hope to have the building certified under the LEED rating system.

Five percent of its electricity will be generated from PV cells integrated into the exterior walls; the designers are researching whether fuel cells and ground-source heat pumps can also supplement conventional energy sources. Glazing systems, lighting and mechanical systems are being reviewed for energy performance using DOE-2 energy analysis. Building materials will be free of formaldehyde and VOC’s, and will emphasize materials containing high recycled content or rapidly renewable resources. Stormwater collection and graywater recycling will conserve water. A building management and monitoring system will control and track air quality and energy performance.

The NY State Legislature created BPCA in 1968 to oversee the development of a 92-acre (37 ha) site over what was once the Hudson River. About a third of the site is preserved as open space; most of the site is being developed as commercial, residential, and institutional buildings.

The building is already raising awareness of green design in NYC’s design community. Another developer is using some of the green strategies for a nearby project.

Battery Park City Authority: http://www.batteryparkcity.org
Albanese Development Corp: http://www.albanesedev.com