Search
 

Standing on the Shoulders of Green Giants

NEW YORK CITY-The teams behind One Bryant Park and the Empire State Building retrofit may have deep pockets, but NYU's Kontokosta thinks their examples apply broadly.

By Paul Bubny | Updated on May 28, 2010

NEW YORK CITY-Two of the highest-profile sustainable building projects in the city—and arguably, the US—reached milestones in May, as the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park was certified LEED Platinum and the Empire State Building hit the high Energy Star ranking that was called for in its green retrofit program. Both projects have occurred under the auspices of deep-pocketed owners, and it’s fair to question whether they set examples that other landlords can realistically expect to follow. The director of New York University’s sustainability institute believes they do.

“One Bryant Park is almost the exclamation point on what a lot of people in design and real estate and government have been trying to do, which is to advance energy efficiency in buildings,” says Constantine Kontokosta, director of the NYU Schack Institute’s Center for the Sustainable Built Environment. “It also represents the beginning in a lot of ways, just another step in the evolution of where we’ve been going.” He calls the retrofit of the 79-year-old Empire State Building at 350 Fifth Ave. “a great example” of what can be done in existing properties.

Both the Durst Organization/BofA team behind One Bryant Park and Malkin Holdings, which last week announced an Energy Star rating of 90 as a milestone in the retrofit program at 350 Fifth, have said they’re anticipating that others will follow their templates. Similarly, Kontokosta sees the Bloomberg administration as leading by example with its PlaNYC initative, and says government at all levels is incentivizing the greening of new or existing buildings.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

GlobeSt

Join GlobeSt

Don't miss crucial news and insights you need to make informed commercial real estate decisions. Join GlobeSt.com now!

  • Free unlimited access to GlobeSt.com's trusted and independent team of experts who provide commercial real estate owners, investors, developers, brokers and finance professionals with comprehensive coverage, analysis and best practices necessary to innovate and build business.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and GlobeSt events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com.

Already have an account? Sign In Now
Join GlobeSt

Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.