The Revitalist

In Philadelphia, Walnut Street Capital, a development company, has commissioned Kohn Pedersen Fox architects to build the Center City Tower, what could be the tallest building in America and the second tallest in the world. Amidst fierce competition, cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong threaten to strip Philadelphia of this title though. Currently, Dubai is building a structure which will surpass even Taipei’s 1,670 ft. tower--the tallest in the world.

In the new modernist equation, height seems to equal strength, solidarity, fortitude—everything that symbolizes power. As China tries to compete on the world stage, their buildings are becoming taller and more eye-catching, be it good or bad. Everywhere, cities are crawling up into the sky and claiming “unlimited” vertical real estate.

Still, Philadelphia may have one claim to fame. Their 1,500 ft tower will attempt LEED Gold Certification. With gardens on two floors, this megalith may be somewhat livable. The structure will house offices, retail space, and a hotel.

On May 19th the US Green Building Council released V.3, I think they are calling it LEED 2009.
I learned about this from Wendy Nicholas, Director of the Northeast Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She also directed me to a posting on the National trust blog by Barbara A. Campagna, AIA LEED AP of Graham Gund Architects.
As a developer trying to do preservation redevelopment, I would like to think I am building in a sustainable and responsible fashion but have been frustrated that the emerging best standard for green buildings, the LEED standard, has not been attainable for preservation projects such as ours. We recently did an analysis of a 75,000 mill redevelopment effort and determined that the added cost of basic LEED certification was between $7.50 and $10.00/ sq ft. We could not conclude that there was any demonstrable benefit to income. Worse, we received an equal point score for re-using a building or having covered bike storage. Our buildings are usually 120+ year-old brick and timber mills in downtown settings.

The headline says it all: "'Green' Buildings Don't Have to Be New." The NY Times catches on to all the green renovations of existing buildings that are going on across the country using the US Green Building Council's LEED for Existing Buildings program—revised standards were released last October.

An ad from The National Trust's Sustainability Initiative

The PreservationNation blog points out a new Embodied Energy Calculator that is available at thegreenestbuilding.org website. You select your building type, put in your square feet, and the calculator spits out an estimate on the number of MBTUs per square foot that it took to build your building. The idea is to reinforce the concept that preservation is an inherently sustainable style of development because it capitalizes on the energy already expended to build our existing structures. The site also includes a Teardown Calculator that attempts to sum the lost embodied energy, the energy expended in the demolition and the energy investment in the new construction.

To take this one step further, the National Trust is working on a methodology for Life Cycle Assessment for historic structures, as part of their Sustainability Initiative. An LCA seeks to encompass all the energy and materials consumed throughout a building's lifecycle, including resource extraction, energy consumed in manufacturing, use and disposal, etc. That, of course, is a much bigger project, but it could make a compelling case for reuse over demo.

The draft environmental impact report for Cape Wind is out, and the project gets the all clear. The report looks at the proposed wind farm's impact on noise, coastal vegetation, wildlife, fisheries, tourism and aviation, among others. A "moderate" impact on birds was determined, but the report concluded that these impacts could be mediated as the project goes forward. Only one "major" impact was noted—the ocean view from boats will be impeded. Disappointed opponents of the project were hoping that the impact report would give them renewed ammunition, especially with respect to the impact on wildlife. The President of Cape Wind said, "Any rational observer will understand that this project is not going to produce a negative environmental impact. . . . This report validates that this is the right project in the right place at the right time."

This past week's Smart City Radio program talked with Sustainable Urbanism author Doug Farr. He notes that urbanism is inherently more sustainable than other settlement patterns. But in order to address the 21st century's demands for more green, efficient, sustainable lifestyles, we are going to need something more than classic urbanism. He argues for more than just green buildings stuck into existing cities, but also a renewed focus on walkability, high performance infrastructure, and other interesting topics.

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to green up your house, then the NY Times review of energy-efficient light bulbs will come in handy. The US Congress recently passed legislation that will require lighting manufacturers to make bulbs that use 25-30% less energy, phased in over 2012-2015, while providing the same amount of light. There are many products already on the market that meet these standards (compact fluorescents, halogens, LEDs, and some funky others), but there are many complaints about the color quality of the light and the cost of the bulbs. The Times ordered a wide range of bulbs and tested them all against a standard incandescent bulb for color. Combined with the energy efficiency ratings and the cost, they give you a pretty good guide of the best looking and most efficient bulbs out there today. I'm sure that the new regulations will spur improvements in the technologies. The question is will there be a black market for better looking incandescent bulbs?

The nation's first suburb is going green. The hamlet of Levittown, NY on Long Island, one of the very first planned suburbs (1947), is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. NY's Nassau County is kicking off the Green Levittown program to get residents of this iconic community to green their houses and hopefully raise awareness across the state and country of energy efficient options available for owners of existing homes. The county estimates that 30-40% of the vintage 1947 original boilers are still operating in the neighborhood. Newer, more efficient boilers will use 300 fewer gallons of fuel per year, a savings of $900-1,200. The county has teamed up with a coalition of utilities, home improvement and financial services companies to help subsidize the costs for the residents.

Bamboo will fill the red gates to create a hedge that isolates this park from the bustling city.

The Globe's architecture critic Robert Campbell takes a pre-winter walk through the Rose Kennedy Greeway and comes out largely disappointed. He loved the simplicity of the North End park and enjoyed the naturalistic pathways of the Chinatown park but left cold by the largest of the parks, the Wharf District parks. He points out that sections remain unfinished and the several buildings that were to be on the Greenway have yet to be realized, or even imagined. Even though the Greenway is behind schedule, we have yet to see how some of its most significant features will be impact the whole. As Campbell puts it, with an air of resignation, "it's helpful to remember that even great cities don't always get things right for the first few centuries. It took half a millennium to finish the Piazza San Marco, in Venice." Hardly inspiring, but while we're waiting for the evolution of a century, perhaps we could bask in some winter sun on one of the North End benches anyway.

When I heard that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had moved to New Orleans a while back, I thought it was a little odd; but Pitt's latest announcement is, I guess, the logical outgrowth of that decision. Pitt has announced the designs for his Make It Right project – a project that will build 150 affordable, green houses in the Lower Ninth Ward. You can browse the designs on the website and sponsor a whole house or a particular element, like a thermostat, a refrigerator, or a low-flush toilet. You can even donate in someone else's name and give them a certificate instead of the standard Christmas sweater. Pitt explained the how and why behind the project on NPR.

The project team includes William McDonough + Partners (green design), Graft (master planning and collaborators with the Jolie-Pitt Foundation on projects around the world), and the Cherokee Gives Back Foundation (financing). The project asked architecture firms to submit designs (pro-bono) for houses that could be sold for $150,000, had at least 3 bedrooms and a front porch, and incorporated green and sustainable design. The designs are in, and it looks like this is the short list of designs from which residents will choose.

Concordia's design features a front stair that is sized for entertaining.

Morphosis' design will float like a boat during a flood.

This design, by BNIM, is my favorite. It seems the most closely related to the vernacular architecture of the area.