Join us for our Annual Fall Green Buildings Open-House!

September 18, 2013

GreenHomeNYC INVITES YOU TO OUR

ANNUAL FALL GREEN BUILDINGS OPEN-HOUSE!!!

The tours are an opportunity to visit a varied collection of buildings and green sites to learn about the energy efficient and sustainable building methods directly from building professionals such as the architect, engineer, developer or owner. You’ll experience firsthand the inner workings and design details, as well as the challenges and accomplishments that were faced by the professionals involved with these projects.   This year’s tours will feature:  Living Building design, passive homes, wind turbines, geo-thermal pumps, solar PV transport hubs, e-waste recycling plants, affordable housing retrofits, and more!  

Date:  Saturday, October 5th 2013

Time: Between 10AM and 3PM

Tours Typically Last About One Hour Unless Otherwise Noted

Cost:  Varies per tour

October Tour Map

Click on the below building profiles to register

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Bright’N Green – A Net Zero Energy Multi-family Building

Times: 10:00am and 2:00pm

This 15,000 square foot building by Scarano Architect PLLC will house six net-zero energy, residential units in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.  The building is a Living Building Challenge candidate and LEED Platinum design, featuring onsite renewable energy production through solar PV and wind turbines for electricity, geothermal air conditioning and heating, and an evacuated tube solar thermal system for domestic hot water.  Additionally, there is a 50,000-gallon rainwater collection system to provide for non-potable water needs and the apartments have composting toilets.  This tour will be offered at two different times, 10AM and 2PM.  Please note that a portion of this tour fee will be donated to the Red Cross Sandy Relief Fund.   Stillwell Terminal Train Shed – Greening the City’s Public Transit System Time: 12:00pm The Stillwell Terminal Train Shed is one of the largest building integrated photovoltaic arrays in the world, and was designed to meet the rigorous and detailed maintenance and operations requirements of New York City Transit, including security, durability, life-cycle, maintenance and operations requirements. The 80,000-square foot shed spans 24 platforms and 8 tracks at this busy terminal station, while providing approximately 250,000 kilowatt hours per year of clean electricity.  A light catcher in every sense of the word, each of the shed’s 2,730 identical panels admits a small amount of light to the platform, connecting passengers to the sky and the world around them.  Guests will hear directly from the architect and PM of this “first of its kind” project.   Lower East Side Ecology Center – Ewaste Recycling Center Time: 10:00am The electronic waste (e-waste) recycling program run by the Ecology Center is a unique and innovative community-based program that allows residents to dispose of unwanted or broken electronics in an environmentally responsible way. The program started in 2003 and offers free collection events in neighborhoods throughout the city, accepting computers, monitors and peripherals (printers, keyboards and mice) as well as TV’s and cell phones. This tour will take guests behind the scenes of the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s electronic waste recycling center. The drop-off center can accommodate nearly 260,000 pounds of e-waste and accepts deliveries from homes, small businesses, and nonprofits from all over the metro area. Guests are welcome to bring unwanted electronics.   Westbest – A Sustainable Home to the Arts Time: 12:00pm Westbeth is a 13-building complex that formerly hosted the Bell Laboratories from 1868-1966. The complex now includes 384 live-work spaces for artists of all discplines and their families, as well the home of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation and The New School for Drama. In 2011 the building underwent a massive renovation through the Weatherization Assistance Program—including lighting and ventilation upgrades, converting from #6 to #2 oil, and converting from steam heating to hydronic hot water heating with new, higher efficiency boilers and controls—resulting in a 40% reduction in weather adjusted fuel use and nearly $250,000 in annual fuel costs. This tour will also feature a discussion of the building’s future resiliency plan as a result of heavy flooding damage from Hurricane Sandy last year.   NRDC New York Office Building – A LEED Platinum Commercial Interiors Build-out Time: 2:00pm NRDC’s offices have been at the forefront of green building design since they began renovations on their New York Headquarters in 1988.  From its initial design with Croxton Colloborative, the NY Office building was meant to be a demonstration of NRDC’s environmental principles in practice. Through extensive daylighting strategies, high efficiency fixtures and equipment, thermal paned windows, occupancy sensors, and ongoing energy assessments of the space, NRDC has dramatically reduced their energy use compared to a typical commercial office.  Since then they have continued to be on the leading edge of high-efficiency, cost-effective building design, including their recent 8th floor build out in New York which boasts LEED Platinum certification – the highest Commercial Interiors certification to date.   MIMA Tower & Clinton Community Garden – A Very Green Westside Story Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm Back by popular demand, this two-for-one tour will include both the LEED Gold certified MiMA Tower and the nearby Clinton Community Garden. MiMA is a 63-story tower featuring 50 floors of luxury rentals, 151 premium tower residences and a new 669-room Yotel.  The MiMA residential property’s LEED Gold certification reflects Related’s industry-leading commitment to sustainability.   The Clinton Community Garden is a 15,000 square foot community garden, including a public front garden with a lawn and flower beds and a back garden area with 108 individual plots. The garden was the first community garden in New York City to be granted permanent parkland status in 1984. Our tour guide will be Andy Padian, who has been a member of the garden for 23 years.   The Solaire, Liberty Lux and Liberty Green – Luxury Meets Sustainability in Battery Park City Time: 1:00 -3:00pm Situated on the banks of the Hudson River in lower Manhattan, this LEED Gold certified building offers its residents convenient access to public transportation, on-demand hybrid rental cars, bicycle parking and electric vehicle charging. The Solaire cut its energy demand by 35% over code requirements using automatic dimming fluorescent lights, high-performance windows, and extensive daylighting, while west-facing photovoltaic panels integrated into the building façade supply 5% of the building’s energy needs. Rooftop gardens of native shrubs, perennials and bamboo cover 75 percent of the roof, helping to lower heating and cooling loads. The building also features a recycled wastewater system that provides non-potable water for its cooling tower, low-flow toilets and for irrigating landscaping, reducing potable water demand by 50%.   The Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green are the finishing touches on one of the largest green residential developments in the world. The buildings include an array of green features that earned them LEED Gold certification, including solar PV systems, a combined heat and power unit, a blackwater recycling system that cleans, filters, and reuses wastewater for use in the cooling towers, and a green roof featuring native plantings that are irrigated by water collected through a stormwater retention system.  Energy efficiency features include an automated daylight dimming system, public areas controlled by lighting occupancy sensors, and master switches in apartments to allow complete shut-off when leaving home.