This is Eve and I welcome readers to comment on how new build properties can be environmentally friendly. That said, a notable feature of this new green complex is that it has been built as affordable housing.
By Samantha Maldonado. Originally published in August 13, 2024 THE CITY
At the height of a July heatwave, the air sticky with humidity, Phoebe Saldana sat in the colorful plaza of her East Harlem apartment building, watching her two young daughters ride scooters and climb onto exercise machines.
The two played outside before returning to the cooler two-bedroom apartment, where air conditioning was a godsend for Saldana, 37.
“We went without air conditioning for a long time,” said Saldana, who moved from a shelter in Brooklyn. “It’s amazing. I never turn it off.”
She says her apartment is warm even in winter, there are no cold drafts and she can barely hear the trains that run on the elevated tracks next to the building.
“It’s very comfortable living here. It’s peaceful,” she said.
Saldana lives in Sendero Verde, a 709-unit complex that houses low-income and formerly homeless people. Completed in April, the building is the largest certified Passive House in the United States, and supporters say it can serve as a model as cities and states try to tackle both the housing and climate crises.
“Ideally, all affordable housing should be developed this way,” says Sadie McKeon, president of the Community Preservation Corp., an affordable housing finance company that is not involved with Sendero Verde. “When you develop something with Passive House principles, the benefits to the tenants are huge: a quieter living environment, a healthier living environment, lower energy bills. The buildings stand up better to extreme weather conditions: wind, rain, heat and extreme cold.”
According to the developers, Sendero Verde uses about half the energy of a comparable non-passive building, thanks to insulation, leak-proof seals, thick windows and ventilation. The result is clean air, quiet interiors and a stable temperature even during power outages. With support from the national and local governments, Incentives and Obligations In order to create greener buildings, projects like this provide a comfortable and healthy environment for residents who are most vulnerable to the effects of global warming.
Sendero Verde consists of two mid-rise buildings due for completion in 2022 and a 34-story tower that was completed in April. Aside from the gas water heaters, the buildings are powered by electricity, including the kitchen stoves. Gas stoves emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and are known to cause indoor air pollution and contribute to childhood respiratory illnesses. (Last year, New York state became the first state in the nation to ban gas stoves in new buildings, following New York City in 2021.)
There will also be a community garden, a shared outdoor terrace with native plants, a fitness center, a playground, a computer lab and a multipurpose room. One of the buildings will house a charter school, and there will be space for retail and social services such as occupational therapy and mental health care.
Jonathan Rose, president of Jonathan Rose Companies and one of Sendero Verde’s developers, said the goal is to create a “community of opportunity.”
“We have a responsibility to our residents to make their homes as resilient as possible,” he says, “so I think Passive House is a really good methodology and opportunity to do that.”
Sendero Verde, which means “green road” in Spanish, occupies a block in low-income East Harlem. I drew a red line The area’s lack of trees means it’s significantly hotter than the wealthier, leafier Upper East Side neighborhood a few blocks south.
These disparities put residents at higher risk of heatstroke and death: Black and Hispanic New Yorkers are more likely to die from heatstroke than white people, city statistics show.
In 2016, a broader Neighborhood rezoning planThe housing authority asked developers to submit plans to build sustainable, affordable housing on city-owned land and offered subsidies for the projects.
The competition “was a good catalyst and a catalyst to push us and others in the industry towards this change,” said Jessica Yoon, managing director of L+M Development Partners, one of Sendero Verde’s developers. “We were probably slowly moving towards this change anyway.”
Construction costs were about 6% to 8% higher than non-Passive House projects, developers say, but costs have since come down.
The federal Inflation Control Act includes rebates and tax credits to support many elements of passive building, including ventilation upgrades and appliances, and both New York State and the City have Funding and Incentives For energy efficient buildings.
“As we strive to create high-density, smart, site-sensitive buildings, Passive House is a natural fit,” says Jennifer Bloom Leone, chief sustainability officer for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. “As the city transitions from fossil fuels to all-electric new buildings, Passive Houses can help dramatically reduce energy use, minimizing the risk of grid outages and rising utility bills while providing other benefits, including occupant health and safety.”
There are now more than 1,860 certified passive houses in New York, according to data compiled by the Passive House Institute US, and that number is expected to grow soon. Last year, state and city officials $15 million endowment It aims to “fast-track the construction of 3,000 energy-efficient, all-electric affordable housing units in New York City.” The program will support up to 30 buildings, essentially doubling the number of passive projects the city has funded since 2014.
Because Passive Houses are so well insulated, they use less energy than conventional homes, resulting in lower utility bills. This efficiency is especially helpful for consumers who are electrifying their homes, because electricity is often more costly than gas, despite having fewer emissions.
“If you’re going to use electricity as your primary energy source, you have to be really smart about how you use it,” says Laura Humphrey, senior director of energy and sustainability at L+M Development Partners.
Given the climate and health benefits of passive housing, Rose of Jonathan Rose Companies said all of his new construction projects will be passive homes or aim to achieve comparable energy efficiency.
“Before, some cars didn’t have seat belts, but now they have seat belts,” he said. “Yes, it costs more, but it saves lives.”
This article is Guardian.
