L+M Development partners and the Jonathan Rose Companies are planning a 751,000 square foot net-zero energy building for East Harlem in New York City.
The complex is named Sendero Verde and will take up most of the block bordered by 111th and 112th streets on the north and south and Madison and Park avenues on the east and west. The structure, which will mixed use and include 665 apartments for low income tenants, will be the nation’s largest “passive house,” according to DNA Info. A passive house, the story says, is one that uses 70 percent less energy than standard buildings.
The building will house three tiers of low income house. It will have space for a nonprofit, a YMCA, a supermarket, a restaurant, a charter school and for the relocation of community gardens now occupying the land on which the structure will stand, the story says.
Harlem is not the only place making low energy use architectural news. Work is ongoing at two projects at the Tempe campus of Arizona State University, according to The State Press. The Student Pavilion is slated to be completed in August. Work began last June on the Biodesign C building. It is slated to be completed in June 2018. Two of the five green bonds the school has issued are for the projects currently underway.
The Student Pavilion, according to the story, will aim to be net-zero energy, zero waste and 90 percent project diversion. The latter means that the goal is to reuse or recycle 90 percent of the waste the project generates. The aim is to achieve the high level – Platinum – of LEED certification.
Still further west, Builder Online reports that the Hanover Olympic apartment complex in Los Angeles will feature wide use of solar power. The story says that the building, which is being developed by the Hanover Company of Houston, will feature 20 units powered by 10 solar panels each. The story says that each unit will have access to 4,700 kWh of electricity annually. This will be enough to send some energy back to the utility to earn a credit on the tenant’s energy bill. There are 263 units in the structure.
In addition to the solar power, the units aim to proactively conserve energy:
Ranging from 539 square feet to 1,342 square feet, the studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom eco-green units are equipped with GE Energy Star appliances, dual-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads and fixtures, and LED lighting, as well as high-performance argon gas-insulated windows. Nest thermostats and mounted iPad mini energy trackers provide a visual reference of how much energy each unit’s solar panels are generating versus how much energy the apartment is consuming.
These features enable tenants to save an average of 15 percent on their electric bills, the story says.