Green Building : Jetson Green

The Lucida, NYC Luxury LEED Condos

The Lucida, located in New York City's Upper East Side, is the first LEED condominium building in the neighborhood.  If the Upper East Side wasn't rich enough for your taste, this building certainly adds to the allure.  With 110 units, the smallest of which appears to be around 2,000 square feet, this building is certainly not for the average buyer, but it is beautiful. 

Evo Green Condos Looking for Silver

If you live in LA, you've probably heard about Evo and the rest of the newly planted green buildings in the South Park neighborhood (official referred to as "South").  Evo is expected to receive LEED Silver certification, joining its neighbors Luma and Elleven -- California's first LEED Gold condos.  At some point, we'll take the opportunity to talk about both Elleven and Luma as well, but since Newsday published these pictures of the model unit in Evo, we thought it'd be fun to take a look inside. 

LEED Platinum Twin Eco Towers Planned for Abu Dhabi

It's *interesting* to hear story after story coming out of the Middle East, almost as if there's no shortage of capital in that part of the world.  This project was announced during Cityscape last week, but the news was lost among the clamor for information on Jumeira Gardens, a development we'll mention later.  These two so called Eco Towers have been designed to be the first mixed-use towers in the Middle East with LEED Platinum certification.  The 23-story Eco Towers are being developed by Connection Real Estate for ~$245 million USD. 

PNC Planning D.C.'s First LEED Platinum Office Building

Within the last couple months, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and Vornado/Charles E. Smith released their shiny new design for what could be Washington D.C.'s first LEED Platinum office building.  The 365,000 sf building is planned for the corner of 17th and H Streets, NW, a prime location just two blocks from the White House.  Designed by Gensler, 800 17th Street / PNC Place will have an Eco Lobby featuring a three-story climate wall that radiantly cools the lobby with flowing water. 

Beleza To Be Smart, Green Community

River North Properties LLC is planning to develop a LEED Certified, condo/retail project for Denver's River North ("RiNo") neighborhood.  Named Beleza, a Brazilian Portuguese word for "beauty", this luxurious green community is modeled after the Brazilian city of Curitiba.  Like Curitiba, Beleza will focus on sustainable lifestyle, eco-friendly development, and planning that cuts pollution and waste while improving the quality of life for residents.  It will also have smart amenities, such as biometric fingerprint access, climate-controlled window blinds, power outlets in parking spaces, and digital screen controlled integrated lighting, communications, and A/V systems. 

Jahn's 50 West Street Going LEED Gold

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. 

Pittsburgh Three PNC Plaza Going Green

Slated to open in 2009, Three PNC Plaza is planned to be one of the largest, environmentally-friendly, mixed-use buildings in the U.S.  The 23-story building is also Pittsburgh's first new high-rise in 20 years.  3 PNC will have office space, 28 condominiums, a restaurant, retail space, underground parking, and a Fairmont Hotel.  Three PNC Plaza fronts a large public park (see site plan below). 

[Video] Green "Rotating Tower" Planned for NYC?

I've not blogged about this interesting and innovative Rotating Tower, which was designed by David Fisher of Dynamic Architecture, because critics have downplayed the concept saying it's not capable of being built.  But now comes news that the Rotating Tower is not only on the cusp of construction in Dubai, but it's in advanced design phase for Moscow and intended for New York.  Let me say that again: Fisher intends to design a Dynamic Tower for the Big Apple!  If you haven't heard about it yet, make sure to watch the above video.  Here's the general idea:

Foster + Partners' Newest Energy-Efficient Structure for Amsterdam [S2]

Construction just finished on this 24-story building designed by Foster + Partners for Vivaldi Park area in Amsterdam.  It's quite the efficient structure -- exceeding Dutch environmental regulations by 10%, and features flexible floor plates that are perfect for big name tenants such as Ernst & Young.  The design calls for an ecological pond, fully glazed windows on sun-exposed facades, and the retention of 65% of rainwater.  In addition to its energy efficient elements, probably one of the more interesting aspects of the structure, and one that has grown on me, is Foster + Partners' signature use of the aluminum-clad, steel diagrid structure.  Any thoughts relating to the diagrid pattern on the building exterior?

Nano Vent-Skin Demonstrated in Concept Tower

I was pretty impressed by Agustin Otegui's design for Nano Vent-Skin (NVS), rendered on the building above.  NVS is a building skin that uses organic photovoltaics to capture sun and micro-wind turbines to capture wind.  Otegui envisions nano-manufacturing with bioengineered organisms as the production method for NVS, and because it's organic, the wall provides the additional benefit of capturing CO2 from the air. 

Obviously, the concept building above would be a new design built to reap the benefits of NVS, but Otegui also thinks the skin would be perfect for making existing buildings greener.