Support for alternative commuting transportation also assists in LEED certification for commercial buildings, educational institutions and governmental organizations.

Duo-Gard bike shelters.

Duo-Gard Industries Inc., a provider of translucent daylighting, architectural illumination and specialty structures, has a new line of custom and standard bike shelters. Made with polycarbonate panels to provide UV protection, Duo-Gard’s bike shelters can withstand intense environmental conditions associated with rain or snow. With aesthetically appealing designs, the bike shelters are assisting buildings in achieving LEED certification by supporting alternative commuting transportation methods to reduce carbon emissions.

Ideally suited for corporate campuses, government organizations and educational institutions, Duo-Gard’s bike shelters serve as a cost-effective solution for city planners, landscape architects and specifiers looking to enhance building sustainability and design. Duo-Gard designs, manufactures and installs its bike shelters, which can be comprised of 20 percent recycled material and are 100 percent recyclable. The bike shelters feature either standard lighting or solar LEDs/PVs.

“Our bike shelters allow us to bring prominence to alternative transportation and to support the growth of green building by assisting in the LEED certification process,” said Michael Arvidson, executive vice president of Duo-Gard. “For over 25 years, our mission has been to provide our customers with contemporary solutions that utilize our advanced polycarbonate technology. Our bike shelters help deliver on our sustainable commitment and provide architects with versatile, visually appealing design options.”

Duo-Gard’s bike shelters are easy to install and can be designed as open, attached or fully-enclosed structures and feature custom glazing as well as multiple color framing selections. Additional options include bike racks, lean rails, seating and the incorporation of Duo-Gard’s 3S Solar Block coating, which reduces heat loads.

About Duo-Gard Industries:

Duo-Gard Industries Inc. is a leading innovator in high-performance translucent daylighting systems, illuminated walls and ceilings, as well as custom canopies, shelters and outdoor structures. For over 25 years, Duo-Gard has continued to advance its polycarbonate technology to assist in the design, engineering, fabrication and installation of custom architectural products that strive to increase sustainability. Duo-Gard was established in 1984 and is based in Canton,Michigan. For additional information, please visit www.duo-gard.com.

The RAMPed UP design.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the four finalists for its 2010 Natural Talent Design Competition, which gives students and emerging professionals the opportunity to apply sustainable design principles to the ongoing the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. The jury deliberation at the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School in the Broadmoor neighborhood in New Orleans and the announcement of finalists occurred in conjunction with the release of a five-year retrospective update released by USGBC earlier this week.

After a day of deliberation, the jury selected two student and two emerging professional teams whose designs for small, affordable, ADA-compliant (American Disabilities Act), LEED Platinum homes demonstrated innovative green building principles and will save the future homeowners money over the life-cycle of the home. These designs maintained respect for the Broadmoor aesthetic and respected the opinion of the neighborhood as captured by the community vote, held earlier in the summer. The four finalists are:

Emerging Professional Team: “The Little Easy”, USGBC Connecticut Chapter: This team first came together when they led Cornell University’s 2005 DOE Solar Decathlon Team. After graduation, the group founded ZeroEnergy Design, an architecture and energy consulting firm as well as FreeGreen.com, a site for free green house plans. Their design included an “outdoor living room” – a porch that functioned as an extended room, a wheel chair lift, providing greater ease to elderly or disabled homeowners and a storm water collection system.

View their designs here.

Emerging Professional Team: “RAMPed Up”, Urban Green USGBC New York City Chapter: The team from Buro Happold Consulting Engineers and Rogers Marvel Architects placed high importance on a structural system that resists both gravity, wind and flood, strategically placed windows and ceiling fans to promote passive ventilation during fall and spring and a rainwater harvesting system to mitigate storm water runoff, reducing the impact of heavy rains on the city’s overburdened storm drainage system and covering 100% of the home’s irrigation demand.

View their designs here.

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U.S. Green Building Council
The USGBC community is transforming the way we build, design and operate our buildings for healthier places that save precious resources for people to live, work, learn and play in.  UGSBC is helping create buildings and communities that regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation.  Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Council is the driving force of the green building industry, which is projected to contribute $554 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product by 2013. USGBC leads a diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials, concerned citizens, teachers and students.  The USGBC community comprises 80 local chapters, 17,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 150,000 individuals who have earned LEED Professional Credentials. Visit www.usgbc.org for more information.

Reflecting the growing support among government, business and civic leaders for green initiatives of all kinds, residents of Bucks and Montgomery counties are moving forward to support sustainable practices with the launch of a new Bucks-Montgomery Branch of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council.  The Bucks County Sustainable Business Alliance has merged with DVGBC to form the branch and will surely be the number one green building resource in the counties. The Board of Directors of DVGBC unanimously approved the Branch formation on Thursday, May 20, 2010.

“The grass-roots demand for green building education and services is the driver for our new branch in Bucks and Montgomery counties, as well as our recent launch in the state of Delaware,” said Janet Milkman, Executive Director of DVGBC. “We’re excited to build on the energy and leadership in sustainability in this region.”

The broad cross-section of professionals, formerly members of the Bucks County Sustainable Business Alliance, recognized the need for a branch to represent Bucks and Montgomery Counties and reflect the expanding reach of green Initiatives throughout the area.

“The sustainability community is pleased to join with the best-known voice for green building in the region – DVGBC and its parent, the U.S. Green Building Council. It’s a great opportunity to leverage local, regional and national resources to support our communities,” said Dave Hahn, Director of Construction & Corporate Operations at Columbus Property Management & Development, Inc., and Chair of the Bucks-Mont Branch.

The Bucks-Montgomery Branch launch party was held July 22, 2010, at Gilmore & Associates and was sponsored by Gilmore & Associates, Worth and Company, and e & e Building Group.  Future events and educational programming will be developed to serve the region. Please visit http://dvgbc.org/education/view/bucks-county-meet-mingle-0 for event information or contact Bucks-Mont@dvgbc.org to get involved.

Loyola University's Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons Building is exceeding the energy efficiencies designed into the building while not sacrificing design.

Advanced mechanical systems combine with popularity among students and faculty

Conventional wisdom would tell you building an all-glass building on the shore of Chicago’s Lake Michigan is probably not a good idea if you are building a high performance building that is supposed to reduce energy usage.  But that is exactly what Loyola University did with its four-story Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons Building, an all-digital research library that is attracting world-wide attention and accolades for its energy savings realization.

According to a recent case study completed by Donald J. McLauchlan, P.E. and David Lavan of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Information Commons has achieved a 52% energy reduction below the Chicago energy code since the building’s opening in 2008.

“We…incorporated cutting-edge energy conservation technology, while not sacrificing design,” said Devon Patterson, AIA, LEED AP Principal and lead architect on the project from Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB). “People from all over the world are coming to see how we integrated the technology into the building and the resulting energy savings we are experiencing.”

View of Lake Michigan from inside the walls of Information Commons.

In addition to the high performance qualities of the Information Commons, the building has become a popular destination for the University’s students.  “The Information Commons is much more than a combination of advanced mechanical systems that have been combined to create a high performance building,” said John Lahey, President of SCB.  “We designed the library to be a functional building, providing students with a place where they can interact and meet with fellow students in addition to study, while incorporating the building seamlessly into the campus and taking full advantage of the great Lake Michigan views.”

In conjunction with Transsolar Climate Engineering of Germany, SCB designed a building that uses both natural and mechanical building systems and strategies for ventilation. According to Architectural Record, “The commons is essentially a four-story transparent box with two limestone bookends. The double-skin glass curtain wall works in concert with radiant slabs, underfloor air, and operable windows and shading devices. These integrated features allow the commons to operate as either a mechanically ventilated building, or as a naturally ventilated building, given the appropriate outdoor conditions. It can also operate as a “hybrid” building. In this “mixed mode” state natural ventilation is assisted by the cooling capacity of the radiant slab.

“These sophisticated systems are controlled by an array of sensors that monitor the temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels within the building, while a weather station assesses outdoor conditions. The windows, dampers, shades, and blinds respond to this data and adjust automatically.

Many interior materials are recycled and have low content of volatile organic compounds. Also, specific surface coatings for the glass, shades, and blinds were chosen to mitigate heat gain, and are integral to the environmental scheme.”

Information Commons, a LEED Silver certified building, is completely automated with sensor systems that monitor the temperature, humidity and CO2 levels within the building while additional sensors monitor the exterior conditions. The windows, shades and blinds all respond to the climate data and adjust automatically. The building shows fore-thought and innovation by the design team and the University as it is a flexible 24/7 library facility that will serve the students and faculty with a high quality, energy efficient space for many years to come.

About Solomon Cordwell Buenz:

SCB is an architecture, interior design and planning firm practicing internationally from offices in Chicago, San Francisco and Abu Dhabi.

Brian Malarkey

Brian Malarkey, executive Vice President and Director of Kirksey Architecture EcoServices, received the 2010 AIA National Young Architect Award, one of only nine recipients nationwide. Malarkey is president of AIA Houston 2008, co-founder of the Houston Chapter of the USGBC, founding chair of Gulf Coast Green Conference and Expo, AIA Houston Young Architect Award recipient 2004, regional green building pioneer, award-winning designer, appointed to Houston Mayor’s Green Building Advisory Committee, and a champion for LEED legislation in Houston and the state of Texas. He also is the founder of Kirksey EcoServices.

Awarded by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Young Architects Award is given to individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early state of their architectural career. Recipients must have been licensed to practice architecture fewer than 10 years.

The Florida Life Cycle Cost Analysis Program requires State agencies to make informed value-based decisions regarding the true taxpayer cost of owning and operating State-funded facilities. The SEMP establishes a comprehensive program that includes measuring and reporting real-time energy consumption of state buildings.

“After our meetings with the Legislators, we are optimistic that adequate training will be given to and performance will be demanded of the Energy Management Coordinators so that this Plan can be effectively managed and implemented,” stated Cannellos. “Legislators with whom we met were very receptive to our visit, and we emphasized that members of the USGBC Chapters from across the State are available to assist Florida’s Legislators, State of Florida employees and the public in understanding the benefits and impacts of this outstanding plan.”

In addition to individual member visits to dozens of Legislators, the USGBC hosted on the afternoon of March 8 a green-building education session for elected officials and their aides. In addition to learning particulars about the USGBC, Legislators took to the opportunity to update attendees about the state of green-building legislation in Florida. Representatives Adam Hasner (District 87 and Majority Leader), Mary Brandenburg (District 89), Steven Precourt (District 41), and Alan Williams (District emphasized the need for innovative financing mechanisms and pointed to the upcoming EnergyStar rebate program and the Property Assessment Clean Energy (PACE) Bond program as examples. Representative Debbie Mayfield (District 80) and Darren Fancher (Department of Management Services) also participated in the session.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s seven Florida Chapters embrace the adoption of innovative building practices that conserve land, energy, water, resources and materials. The State’s volunteer-governed Chapters are comprised of more than 2,500 individuals, and 1,300 corporate, nonprofit, education and government members. The USGBC, a nonprofit (501[c][3]) organization, is the driving force of an industry with an objective of transforming the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.

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The U.S. Green Building Council South Florida Chapter is a nonprofit (501[c][3]) organization headquartered in the EcoCentre in Lake Worth, Florida. The Chapter’s 1,000+ passionate members and volunteers provide programs and services to the South Florida community from its Broward, Miami-Dade and the Keys, and Treasure Coast and Palm Beach Branches. To learn more: www.usgbcsf.org.

Green office design from EcoSpaces.

Ecospaces boasts Colorado’s first and only LEED certified showroom, a working representation of the company’s three main offerings: office furnishings, sustainable modular offices, and complete LEED consulting from the site construction to the finished space.

The showroom is a working representation of the company’s three main offerings: office furnishings, sustainable modular offices, and complete LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) consulting from site construction to the finished space.

All in all, Ecospaces is a one-stop shop for the greening of commercial interiors including: flooring, furnishings, designs, window coverings, lighting, audio visual systems, cabling and electrical sound masking. Ecospaces eases the process of the mandatory transition between what has traditionally been acceptable and what it now necessary to create LEED certified sustainable work environments. From introducing a new line of elegant and economic sustainable modular office units, to sourcing the best new and used office materials and furniture, to LEED planning and consulting, Ecospaces can assist in creating an affordable LEED work environment.

Ecospaces showroom is a place people can come to see how sustainability initiatives can be achieved. Ecospaces can guide any new design project or building update to make it as eco-friendly as possible. If brought in at the beginning of a project, they can even help with site selection, evaluating up-front the building systems a company will potentially work with. Once a site is chosen, the traditional method of hiring the architect and putting it out to bid can be eliminated. Ecospaces saves time and money by putting together a complete team that is so well versed they work in conjunction with the real estate professional so customers can get into their space quicker.

About Interior Solutions/Ecospaces

Ecospaces, an Interior Solutions of Denver company, is a premier commercial interiors solutions provider offering new and used office furniture and consultation to create workplaces that are functional and stylish, cost effective and environmentally friendly. For more information about Ecospaces visit www.weareecospaces.com or call 303.382.1100

University of Texas at Austin is using the OptimumHVAC optimization system.

Energy savings resulting from the use of the OptimumHVAC™ software can contribute to the achievement of 27 Energy and Atmosphere (EA) credits within the latest version of the LEED^®. green building certification program. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. OptimumHVAC also can help increase ENERGY STAR^® scores, one measurement used to earn LEED points.

Optimum Energy is a provider of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) software solutions.

“Not only can we improve HVAC energy efficiency up to 60 percent, but continuous optimization and measurement of HVAC plant performance helps ensure energy savings persist,” said Nathan Rothman, founder and CEO, Optimum Energy, LLC.

Aventine office building qualifies for maximum LEED energy efficiency performance credits
The Aventine office building located in La Jolla, Calif., and owned and operated by Glenborough, LLC, is a registered project pursuing LEED Platinum certification. In early 2008, the Aventine installed OptimumHVAC software, and in the first year, reduced HVAC energy consumption by 500,000 kWh. As a result of the savings, the Aventine increased its ENERGY STAR score by 15 to the maximum score of 100, qualifying the Aventine to receive all available points for EA Credit 1, Optimize Energy Efficiency Performance. In the latest version of LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, it’s possible to achieve up to 18 EA Credit 1 points.

“Achieving an ENERGY STAR rating of 100 is unprecedented for a 20-plus year old building,” said Carlos Santamaria, director of engineering, Glenborough. “Installation of OptimumHVAC is saving us money and better positioning the Aventine in its pursuit of LEED Platinum certification. This next generation technology is unlike any control strategy in the market today, and its proven energy efficiency benefits can significantly change the way buildings operate.”

Additional LEED 2009 contributions
In addition to supporting the achievement of up to 18 EA Credit 1 points in LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance, Optimum Energy’s end-to-end delivery model and ongoing optimization can contribute to the requirements of an additional nine EA points, including:

1. EA Credit 2.1: Existing Building Commissioning – Investigation and Analysis (2 points)
2. EA Credit 2.2: Existing Building Commissioning – Implementation (2 points)
3. EA Credit 2.3: Existing Building Commissioning – Ongoing Commissioning (2 points)
4. EA Credit 3.2: Performance Measurement – System Level Metering (1-2 points)
5. EA Credit 6: Emissions Reduction Reporting  (1 point)

A cornerstone of Optimum Energy’s HVAC efficiency solution is ongoing commissioning provided by OptimumHVAC software that continuously optimizes centrifugal chiller plant performance based on real-time load requirements. Combined with OptimumHVAC Performance Assurance, which provides measurement and validation of HVAC performance via a secure Web site, facility managers have the information they need to maintain efficient plant operations over time. OptimumHVAC Performance Assurance also provides alerts in case of an equipment failure event, and tracks energy and carbon emissions savings, helping to satisfy requirements for corrective action response, performance measurement and emissions reduction reporting.

Optimum Energy also conducts an HVAC plant energy analysis, provides a capital improvement plan and calculates return-on-investment for every project, as well as documentation of plant operation and training for facility managers at the time of implementation. These activities support investigation and analysis and implementation credits.

A fact sheet is available at http://www.optimumenergyhvac.com/LEED_Facts.pdf

The Aventine case study is available at http://www.optimumenergyhvac.com/Aventine.pdf

Saving Energy in Commercial HVAC Systems
Optimum Energy is the first company to use a scalable software approach to deliver advanced control technologies that reduce HVAC energy consumption up to 60 percent without sacrificing occupant comfort. Reliable, third-generation OptimumHVAC software combined with ongoing, Web-based performance monitoring ensure energy savings last for decades.

Optimum Energy’s solutions are being employed in a wide range of buildings, including: commercial high rise office towers, schools and universities, data centers, federal and state government facilities, hotels, casinos, airports, medical facilities and shopping centers.

“Green building saves energy, water and money,” said Roger Platt, Senior Vice President of Global Policy & Law, USGBC. “It is one of the most promising solutions to critical global issues such as climate change, resource depletion and dependence on foreign energy sources. These bills will create jobs and pump money into our economy.”

The USGBC Top 10 list honors The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and spotlights nine other pending bills in the House and ten in the Senate that represent the best proposals to advance green building. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed into law last February, dedicates more than $22 billion for energy efficiency projects, including $346 million for energy-efficient building technologies specifically.

“The Members of Congress and Senators we are honoring are all demonstrating bold leadership toward a clean energy future, a sustainable built environment and a sustainable economy,” Platt added.

The Top 10 List includes bills that have been introduced in Congress in the last year that would enable innovative financing for home-owners and building-owners to make efficiency improvements, increase and extend incentives for improving our schools and existing building stock, and encourage job growth and training in new fields of building energy management and retrofits.

“Our country will rise and fall based on how we educate our children, and study after study shows that where children learn has a huge impact on what they learn,” said Rep. Chandler. “Not only will this bill begin to fix our crumbling public schools, but it will create local jobs that cannot be shipped overseas, save energy, and during these tough economic times, make a significant long term investment in our country’s most valuable resource, our children.”

“With our crippled economy, continuing energy crisis, and changing climate, Americans need timely and effective solutions to set a new course for how we use and think about energy,” said Sen. Snowe. “Energy efficiency has emerged as one of the most effective and expeditious actions that can be taken to preserve valuable resources for producers and consumers.  I am pleased to work with Senators Feinstein and Bingaman to build upon the success of past tax credits and provide critical energy efficiency tax incentives that will spark innovation in our housing and commercial building sector and pave the way for economical and environmentally-conscious living.”

The Top 10 list includes:

HOUSE

• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – Public Law
• The American Clean Energy and Security Act – Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
• The 21^st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act – Ben Chandler (D-Ky.)
• The Expanding Building Efficiency Act – Dave Reichert (R-Wash.)
• The Property Assessed Clean Energy Tax Benefits Act — John Sarbanes (D-Md.)
• An Act to Enhance Private Financing for Clean Energy Technology Deployment – Steve Israel (D-N.Y.)
• The Energy Efficiency Modernization Act of 2009 – Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio)
• The Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment (WATER) Act – Michael Coffman (R-Colo.)
• The Livable Communities Act of 2010 – Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) **pending introduction**
• The Federal Personnel Training Act of 2010 – Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) **pending introduction**

SENATE

• The Clean Energy and American Jobs Act – John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
• The American Clean Energy and Leadership Act – Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
• Energy Efficiency in Housing Act (EEHA) of 2009 – Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
• The Livable Communities Act of 2009 – Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)
• The Expanding Building Efficiency Incentives Act of 2009 – Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)
• The School Building Fairness Act – Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
• Clean Energy for Homes and Buildings Act of 2009 – Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)
• The Energy Efficiency Modernization Act of 2009 – Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
• The Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment (WATER) Act of 2009 — Mark Udall (D-Colo.)
• The Federal Agency Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2009 – Susan Collins (R-Maine)

U.S. Green Building Council
The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.

With a community comprising 78 local affiliates, more than 18,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 140,000 LEED Professional Credential holders, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to contribute $554 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product from 2009-2013. USGBC leads an unlikely diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials and concerned citizens, and teachers and students.

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO₂ emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.

LEED
The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED green building certification system is the foremost program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. Over 35,000 projects are currently participating in the LEED system, comprising over 6.9 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 states and 114 countries.

By using less energy, LEED-certified buildings save money for families, businesses and taxpayers; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community.

USGBC was co-founded by current President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi, who spent 25 years as a Fortune 500 executive. Under his 15-year leadership, the organization has become the preeminent green building, membership, policy, standards, influential, education and research organization in the nation.

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

Greenbelt, 361 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, home to cutting-edge artists and hip restaurants, is now the site of Brooklyn’s first building to receive LEED®-NC Gold certification, announced developer Derek Denckla and Community Environmental Center, the company overseeing the building’s energy design and LEED certification.

Called “Greenbelt,” this energy-efficient, five-story complex contains eight condos and a 4,000-square-foot arts facility on the ground floor, rented to the Center for Performance Research (CPR). Attesting to the building’s unique green status, Greenbelt is Brooklyn’s first mixed-use facility and arts center to receive this high LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-New Construction) rating and also New York State’s first multifamily low-rise building to achieve LEED Gold.

Located at 361 Manhattan Avenue, Greenbelt is a joint venture of Brooklyn developer Derek Denckla of Propeller Group and New York architect Gregory Merryweather.

Community Environmental Center (CEC), the Queens-based non-profit company dedicated to energy efficiency and green building, was responsible for the energy modeling, and the LEED consulting and commissioning.

Denckla was seeking an alternative to business-as-usual when he developed the property. “Unlike the majority of LEED projects sponsored by large corporations building high-rise structures,” he says, “Greenbelt shows that a neighborhood-scaled development can achieve excellence in environmental design for the rest of us.”

“Propeller Group, Community Environmental Center, and the Center for Performance Research hope to inspire other developers to see that Greenbelt has achieved LEED®-NC Gold certification, delivering both environmental sustainability and lasting cultural value,” Denckla adds.

Richard M. Cherry, founder and president of Community Environmental Center, says: “The Greenbelt building is a model for the urban environment of the future. It provides aesthetically pleasing apartments, offers a cultural component that benefits the community and challenges the climate crisis that affects us all.”

“Green” is the key concept throughout the airy building, which was completed in December 2008. Each of the eight condos, which range from 750-square-foot 1-bedrooms to 1,100-square-foot 2-bedrooms, includes energy-efficient technologies and green features:  Energy Star appliances and lighting, Forbo Marmoleum floors in the kitchen, Benjamin Moore Eco-Spec low-volatile organic compound (V-OC) interior paint, Richlite compressed paper-and-resin kitchen counters, and high-efficiency dual-flush Caroma toilets.

Rooftop solar panels produce over 6,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually—close to the amount a typical New York City household uses in a year—and that energy runs the elevator and the lighting in the building’s common areas.

On Greenbelt’s first floor, dancer Jonah Bokaer and choreographer John Jasperse, co-founders of the Center for Performance Research(CPR), extol the real estate-arts partnership that provides below-market space to CPR and other Williamsburg arts groups. “New York City is facing a real estate crisis that threatens to displace the arts from maintaining permanent, affordable space,” says Bokaer,  “CPR responds to this crisis by offering subsidized workspace for rehearsal and performance, made possible by the sale of the market-rate condominiums above us.”

While the LEED®-NC Gold rating confers supreme recognition of this Brooklyn building’s energy efficiency, the complex has also won the Brooklyn Building Award in the Mixed Use Category and the Cinderella Award for Excellence in Energy Efficient Design. In addition Greenbelt was featured in a 2008 exhibition at the AIA Center for Architecture.