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
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