Oculus - Fall 2015 - (Page 29) feature An Active Market for Passive More and more NYC architects are embracing the benefits of the Passive House standard for multifamily dwellings BY JONAT HA N LERNE R K nickerbocker Commons, a 24-unit affordable seniors' apartment building in Bushwick, Brooklyn, designed by Chris Benedict, RA, was the largest Passive House (PH) project in New York City when it was completed last year. Another PH structure now going forward, designed by Jack Esterson, AIA, of think! architecture and design, will be bigger. Called Hanac Corona Senior Residence, it will include 68 affordable apartments and a preschool. But Beach Green North (Curtis + Ginsberg Architects), under construction in Rockaway, is a still larger PH project, with 101 units. And Handel Architects' 350-apartment PH tower planned for the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island will dwarf even that [see pg. 33]. This is not a contest, of course. But size matters in a dense city. So does reining in energy consumption, which New York State and City codes and conservation goals require. A growing cohort of designers and developers see PH as the way to achieve - and even surpass - those targets. Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan, "One City: Built to Last," for example, aims for a 35% carbon emissions reductions citywide by 2025, stating, "Overall, the city must cut energy use across all building sectors on average by at least 60% from 2005 levels." According to the advocacy group New York Passive House, "Designing to the Passive House standard reduces a building's energy demand for heating and cooling by 90%." ©Teresa Arana Better for energy and air quality Chris Benedict, R.A.: Detail of Knickerbocker Commons senior housing in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Home Game: Winning with Housing Originating two decades ago in Germany and first applied to single-family residences, PH is a building standard that radically reduces energy consumption while simultaneously improving indoor air quality. Compared to conventional construction, it requires a highly-insulated building envelope, usually less glazing, and rigorous air sealing, all to eliminate thermal transfer, and ventilation systems that capture energy while introducing and filtering fresh air. In the U.S., PH has also migrated from single-family to multifamily. Apartment buildings have advantages, with smaller exterior wall-to-living-area ratios. Row houses have only front and back exposures. Those conditions already lessen thermal leakage and make the standard that much easier to achieve. With its abundant row-house fabric - and flush real estate market - "Brooklyn has the most projects by far in the country," says Ken Levenson, AIA, president of New York Passive House. When Levenson discovered the standard in 2008, he Fall 2015 Oculus 29 Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Oculus - Fall 2015 First Words Letter From the President Letter From the Editor Center for Architecture One Block Over Opener: Affordability: Many Paths to a Solution Housing for the 99% Tower Power An Active Market for Passive Ahead of the Class It Takes a Village Support System, Modular Style From Learning to Living The DIY Approach to Housing In Print 118-Year Watch Last Words Index to Advertisers Oculus - Fall 2015 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0317 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0217 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0117 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0416 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0316 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0216 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0116 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0415 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0315 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0215 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0115 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0414 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0314 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0214 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0114 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0413 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0313 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0213 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0113 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0412 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0111 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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