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Going for the 'green' in NYC

By Justin Rocket Silverman | amNew York Staff Writer

6:05 PM EST, February 9, 2007

The largest icemaker in Manhattan is being built across the street from Bryant Park.

No, the 300 tons of ice it will make and store won't be used for cocktail parties. The icemaker is part of an innovative cooling system that will keep the 55-story Bank of America Tower chilled all summer, using only a fraction of the energy of traditional air conditioners.

This is just one feature in what is slated to become the most environmentally sustainable skyscraper in the nation when it opens in spring 2008 on the northwest corner of 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue.

As New York struggles to reduce its carbon footprint, the city has become a showcase for "green building" technology, with both Seven World Trade Center and the Hearst Tower qualifying for gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

But even the greenest buildings in the city won't match the technology being installed in the bank tower, which is aiming for platinum certification.

Instead of overheat vents, the builders are employing an under-floor ventilation system, in which air will literally rise from the ground.

Carbon dioxide monitors will automatically inject fresh air into the structure if the offices become too stuffy. Nearly all of the wastewater produced by the building will be recycled, and used for things like watering the rooftop gardens.

"The biggest challenge is that everything is new," said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for The Durst Organization, which is building the tower in conjunction with Bank of America. "The easiest way to build is to do exactly what you have done in the past. Here everything is an innovation, nothing has been done before."

While the tower won't be the first platinum-certified high-rise in the country, at 1,200 feet tall and with 2.1 million square feet of floor space, it certainly will be the largest. (There are about 30 platinum-certified buildings nationwide.)

If successful, the $1.3 billion tower could launch a wave of platinum-rated buildings in the city. Research in the past decade shows a clear increase in productivity and fewer sick days among workers in green buildings, giving corporations a tangible, profit-driven incentive to go green.

"This will be the landmark building that marked the tipping point in the market, where green stopped being called alternative, and became instead the preferred commercial standard," said Charles Lockwood, an environmental and real estate consultant.

Lockwood predicted that green technology would soon be seen as essential to a 21st-century building as air conditioning was in the last century.

Boston and Washington D.C. already mandate green features in most new construction. New York City¹s Local Law 86 establishes green standards for energy and water use in publicly funded buildings, but stop short of requiring them in private construction done without public funds.

Still, Debra Taylor of the Department of Buildings said that more private builders are taking the green initiative on their own, both to save money on energy costs and to improve worker performance. Though these buildings initially cost more to construct, proponents argue that the energy-saving features save money in the long run.

"There are still people who are concerned about cost, but cost is proving to be less and less of a concern," Taylor said. "The learning curve is being surmounted."

(jsilverman@am-ny.com)

Tower's 'green' features:

- Floor-to-ceiling windows let in the maximum amount of natural light. - Insulating window glass and double-wall technology retains heat during the winter, and keeps it out during the summer. -Each floor has its own temperature controls for more efficient cooling. -Under-floor ventilation keeps air circulating better than traditional vents. -Carbon dioxide monitors allow injections of fresh air as needed. -Air filters remove 95 percent of particles, making the interior air cleaner than air outside. -Gray-water recycling system reduces burden on city sewers by reusing waste and rainwater within the building. -Rooftop gardens cool building and reduce "heat island" effect that makes all of Manhattan hotter in the summer. -About half the building is made from recycled materials

The tower by the numbers:

2.1 million square feet 1,200 feet tall including glass spire $1.3B: development and construction cost 80%: amount of space The Bank of America will occupy in the tower $100+: price per square foot paid by tenants such as Akin Gump law firm and Elie Tahari fashion company.

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Going for the 'green' in NYC

Related topic galleries: Bank of America Corp., Manhattan (New York City), New York, Banking

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