On 21st Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Brooklyn-NYC, New York USA, there is a grey building that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the scene at first glance. Its stucco facade hits your eye differently than the brick apartment buildings and the old church that neighbor it. This building aforementioned is by no means abrasive like the latest, ultramodern additions to the South Slope (the neighborhood formerly known as Greenwood Heights), but it’s calm rectangles and asymmetrically patterned windows tell you that it’s something newer than its neighbors—it is, in fact, one of Brooklyn’s first green buildings. It is an Energy Star-honored building; its bamboo floors, energy-efficient heating system that adjusts with the outside temperature, recycled carpet, and recycled tire roof decking are just a few of this apartment’s green amenities.

However, this apartment building, bought in a dilapidated state and for small price, became a project that went a million dollars over budget and took years more than expected to complete. It’s not easy building green; it is not cheap, and in the U.S.A. as in many other countries, there are few standards to follow. Nonetheless, some architects have taken the initiative to pave the road for green architecture … and the road is a rocky one. While some argue that a building’s aesthetics are often compromised, or true environmental goals are seldom reached, the green consciousness is undoubtedly a growing one.

What exactly does it mean to build green? The rating system by which the U.S.A. rates a building’s design is currently called LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). A builder needs a certain number of points to get a LEED® rating; silver, gold, or platinum. One gains points by doing a number of things, such as buying local materials, using pre-built structures instead of tearing them down, using recycled materials, re-using sink water, and using water or solar energy for cooling or heating. Zero-energy buildings are buildings that actually create surplus energy.

LEED®’s framework may seem ideal at first glance, but the apparent downfalls of this program have some architects-by-day/ angry-internet-chatters-by-night writing messages such as “when did ‘not bad’ become the new ‘good’?” While some believe that any movement in the direction of saving precious environmental resources is a positive effort that deserves praise and support, it is certain that the current system for building green has some kinks that need to be worked out. The LEED® point system is one in which a builder is only awarded points, but no points can be taken away.

“What we see a lot is a building made completely of Dryvit or EIFS (exterior insulation finish system, or in layman’s terms, Styrofoam sprayed with synthetic stucco) that gets a point for having a bicycle rack.” says Christian Lynch of Lynch/Eisinger/Design in NYC.

LEED® is also a system that lacks flexibility in some respects. For instance, it does not allow for regional variation: some regions get less sun, making solar power inefficient, and many neighborhoods and cities are built on a slope which making ground water collection impractical, if not impossible. In some areas such as in southern Florida U.S.A., cities are built on coral, making hydro-power impossible. While the 21st Street green building in Brooklyn may have used recycled tires for its roof, finding more traditional products can prove an arduous task in some regions, making it more difficult to buy locally.

Lynch claims that unforeseen costs in building green can sway an investor’s initial interest, even though more localities are providing tax incentives. Additionally, costs can be a factor that results in aesthetic compromise.

“When you choose to build green, your soft costs go up,” explains Lynch.

Typically companies that choose to build green must hire additional consultants to aid the process. Having more people on board drives up the soft costs (the costs of the architects, structural engineers, etc); meanwhile, the construction costs don’t necessarily decrease and in some cases, increase. So with little U.S. government incentives (mostly tax exemptions), building green is an expensive process, that can leave less time and money for creative effort.

Perhaps the most famous green condominium building in New York City is The Solaire: In the Battery Park City neighborhood, in a mountain range of cement and steel, there is one mountain called Solaire, the first green condominium of its size and location. It is difficult to recognize Solaire as it looks so similar to its neighboring buildings, but the front strip of blue solar paneling, metallic like a stream of gasoline, helps. There is no doubt that this building deserves praise. It is 35% more energy efficient than is required. It does everything from reusing toilet water, to storing rain water, to sporting environmentally safe paint. Where the building falls short, arguably, is in its lack of conceptual and physical originality and detail; the row of blue tiles is about all that helps the building stand out from the others. The Solaire uses natural resources well and is a landmark in terms of sustainability, yet its size and bulk almost make it seem like a barrier from nature itself. Residents have the best view of New Jersey one could ask for, but small windows through which to admire it …

Lynch and his partner planning to take building green a step in a different direction, in attempt to fix a more inherent problem in modern architecture, the complete disconnect from nature itself. Plans are still in the works, but the Lynch/Eisenberg/Design is currently working on Herman Miller’s National Design Center in Culver City, California

“Wherever you are in the building, you will always be engaged by the exterior,” asserts Lynch.

This is not to say that people won’t be expected to work. There will be a smart electric system that adjusts the blinds and the temperature control in accordance with the weather outside so that people at work can stay at work instead of changing thermostat levels and closing blinds. The staff at Lynch/Eisinger/Design has spent the past several months working overtime with a plan to accommodate the pedestrian inward and to incorporate nature into this center. As Lynch/Eisinger/Design works to bridge the worlds of the outside and in, they hope to invoke a consciousness about the environment, a consciousness which is the most fundamental step in thinking green.

Perhaps, just as important as solar paneling or an in-house water irrigation system is an in-house reminder of exactly what it is we are trying to save by building green. If Lynch had his way we would never have to ask a coworker what the weather is like outside. Hopefully, we will see an increase in government incentives and various amendments to LEED® that will make its format both more sensitive to region and more critical overall. Building with the environment in mind is step one … but the next step in building green is to follow Lynch/Eisinger/Design’s lead, building as if to subtly weave together the work space or living space with what is natural and living around us, whether it’ a vast forest or the Hudson River.

Written by d/visible contributor Michelle Bialeck.

For further resources on green building, please visit:

The web site for Living Homes is impressive and WIRED’s article on the Living Home in Los Angeles California USA is very helpful to anyone looking to build green.

Greenopia’s web site, is “the urban dweller’s guide to green living.”

The rise of the green building and Putting Environmentalism on the Urban Map articles, among more than a dozen other excellent pieces on environmentally-friendly building and construction, can all be found at the WIRED New York online forum.

The BBC’s article on Britain’s new, greener neighbourhoods is an intriguing read.

JDLE - Journal de l’environnement based out of France is an excellent resource for green living.

Forbes’ article Inside an Eco-Friendly Multi-Million Dollar Home is interesting, but obviously it’s subject matter is not easily applicable to most readers unless scaled down. Hence, why don’t you take a look at Ideal Bite’s web site, which “offers bite-sized ideas for light green living.”

Other questions regarding minimalising our environmental impact can be sent to one of our d/visible editors, Ciera Waring, who is d/visible’s hippie import … she leads the most eco-friendly lifestyle we know of, though Ciera often insists that she’s still learning how to live green.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Industrial, Culture, Architecture, Art & Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.