Time Equities, Inc. just broke ground on 50 West Street, Manhattan’s newest green condo and hotel skyscraper.  Designed by influential architect Helmut Jahn, the $600 million, 580,000 sf mixed-use eco-tower is shooting for LEED Gold certification upon completion in 2011.  As a result, the 65-story tower will incorporate a host of green features and measures, including a green roof, water-efficient fixtures, automated blinds and energy control systems, recycling of demolition materials, use of sustainable and rapidly renewable materials, and an energy-efficient glass facade to filter in daylight and filter out UV rays. 

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The following is taken from an email from the USGBC relating to taking comments in relation to certified wood.  Friday August 8, 2008, the USGBC opened the first 30-day Public Comment Period for proposed revisions in how the LEED Green Building Rating System awards points for the use of certified wood.  Comments are being sought on: (1) the proposed revisions to the credit’s intent and requirements and (2) the criteria proposed in the USGBC Forest Certification System Benchmark.

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In the Spring 2008, the NY Times commissioned a study to learn how the real estate market and economy may be affecting people’s attitudes towards buying a home.  Their study skewed young, affluent, and New York/Metro area (with roughly 250 NY participants).  It was also conducted in two-stages with the online study portion first and a follow-up interview second.  They concluded the study with Five Core Insights, with the following two points relating to environmental concerns:

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Just recently, I noticed news that One Waterfront Place in the River District of Portland has received Platinum precertification under the LEED-CS program.  One Waterfront Place is said to be the first Platinum precertified project on the West Coast and the first precertified project of any level in Oregon.  And, as you can tell with the above rendering, the $100 million, 270,000 sf commercial office building has a posh location right near the river.  The Class A+ building will have a host of green amenities:

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• Top 5 American green buildings.
• Will Americans accept greener hotel rooms?
• Cheap or green: poverty and greenery collide.
• Beijing leads in race for most polluted Olympics.
• Seattle urges deconstruction as means for building demo.
• MIT develops way to bank solar energy at home.
• A new process stores carbon dioxide in precast concrete.
• Dutch town tests ‘air-purifying’ concrete to fight pollution.
• ‘Green’ building codes sprout up across US, SF the strictest.

*WIR = Week in Review; a Saturday showcase of excellent links.