Eco-friendly design and construction is the hot new Brooklyn trend. Here’s a resource guide to help you (and your contractor) get started:
Advice
Architects
Ellen Honingstock: (212) 228-1585; ehapc.com.
Tony Daniels: (212) 420-1340; studioa-wasa.com.
Kiss + Cathcart: (718) 237-2786; kisscathcart.com.
Contractors
Greenstreet: (212) 234-1027; greenstreetinc.com.
Developers
Propeller Group: (718) 797-4233; propellergroup.net.
R & E Brooklyn: (718) 858-7500; rebklyn.com.
Green roofs
Alive Structures: (917) 743-7735; alivestructures.com.
Supplies
Bettencourt Green Building Supplies: (718) 218-6737; bettencourtwood.com.
Build it Green: (718) 777-0132; bignyc.org.
Green Depot: (718) 782-2991; greendepot.com.
Through the skeleton of steel girders and piles of wood, Derek Denckla clearly sees the future of 361 Manhattan Ave. in Williamsburg. “It’s the perfect opera house,” he says, pointing out the reception area for the non-profit “Center for Performance Research,” an arts space built into the ground floor. “The perfect space to rehearse for performances at BAM’s Harvey Theater.”
Many real-estate developers care little about the arts, but Denckla wants to change the sometimes-parasitic relationship between developers and artists. Typically, artists blaze a trail by setting up studios in cheap, industrial neighborhoods. Their work and lifestyles make such neighborhoods attractive to developers — but the result is that higher prices push out the artists, who move on and begin the cycle elsewhere.
But Denckla, a former poverty lawyer turned non-profit consultant, wants priced-out artists to have a permanent home in his sleek green building.
The inspiration for Greenbelt, a former plumbing warehouse turned into apartments that went on sale in February, came to Denckla in 2002 when he learned that Williamsburg and Greenpoint’s industrial areas would be rezoned for residential use, putting his cash-strapped clients in jeopardy. An architect friend, Gregory Merryweather, approached him with his nascent developer-with-a-conscience idea.
First came the yearlong search for financing in 2002. Getting a loan proved difficult because investors were slow to realize the cache of the young green building movement (This was pre–“Inconvenient Truth,” after all.)
“We had to hone the sales pitch,” says Denckla, who is also the guitarist in the band Building 6. The pair would ask bankers to name the only two cars that aren’t discounted by dealers. Hearing the answer — the luxury Aston Martin and the fuel-saving hybrid Toyota Prius — convinced a few that there really is an upside to going green.
Securing investment allowed Denckla to not only incorporate eco-friendly elements like low-flush toilets or bamboo floors, but to go whole hog and get certified as part of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The certification is gaining fashion in Brooklyn — heck, even Bruce Ratner is following LEED guidelines in some buildings — but it takes an enormous amount of energy to save energy.
“I’ll give you an example,” Denckla says. “For the materials and resources section — one of the five major categories in LEED — you get credit by showing that you used recycled or salvaged products.”
But when Denckla’s contractor said there was no such thing, the two had to find it themselves.
Most recycled-drywall manufacturers are in California, but because that falls outside the 500-mile radius LEED stipulates, Denckla had to search harder until he found a company in Aliquippa, Penn. And getting LEED credit meant more than just installing the drywall, but also documenting the purchase with the manufacturer’s product-information sheet and an invoice.
“And that’s just for one of 62 credits,” says Denckla.
The moral, of course, is that building green isn’t as simple as a trip to Home Depot — although it has gotten easier with the advent of eco-construction retailers like Williamsburg’s Green Depot.
“People shouldn’t have to compromise their comfort or lifestyle to live greenly,” says Denckla.
Nor should luxury condos have to mean the end of Williamsburg as an arts colony.
Nicole Davis is the editor of the newsletter, BrooklynBased.net.
361 Manhattan Ave., Williamsburg
Prices: One and two BRs from $715,616; two BR penthouse, $920,150.
The pitch: All units feature energy- and water-saving appliances, air filters, terraces, recycled paper countertops, bamboo floors and cabinets. Solar energy will power the common areas and elevator, and an energy-recovery vent will use the excess heat produced by equipment.
Fun fact: Sale prices subsidize the rent of a ground-floor dance and performance space.
©2008 The Brooklyn Paper
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