Arbor House, designed by Blue Sea Development Company, LLC and located in the Bronx, is this week’s featured green project.
The 2014 Green Awards Overall Winner for the Multifamily High-Rise category, Arbor House is an exemplary, holistic green project that has successfully merged thoughtful design with innovative green features to create beautiful and sustainable multi-family, affordable housing.
Below are just ten of the numerous green features and techniques used in Arbor House that led to the project’s ultimate recognition.
10 of Arbor House’s green features
- A rooftop urban farm and an interior living green wall that improves indoor air quality by removing carbon dioxide and replacing it with oxygen
- 95.8% of construction waste recycled and diverted from landfills
- Rigid R-10 thermal break insulation and vapor barrier on the exterior walls, R-15 fiberglass insulation in the wall framing, and R-35 roof insulation with high albedo white coatings
Low-E coatings and argon gas windows
- A stormwater management system that stores and releases captured rainwater to reduce surcharging of city sewer system coupled with a rainwater harvesting system for greenhouse use
- Energy Star appliances and LED and fluorescent fixtures
- Occupancy and daylight sensor lighting
- NEST “learning” self-programmable thermostats in each room
- Dual flush toilets and extra low-flow showerheads, bathroom, and kitchen sink faucet aerators customized to building water pressure
- Continuous direct vent background exhaust system with Energy Star fans, regulators, and trickle vents in each apartment
- Stories: 8
- Square footage: 120,000
- Units: 124
- Type: Rental, low-income
- Green certification(s): NGBS-Gold, LEED-Platinum, Energy Star
- Other achievements: recognized as a Healthy High Rise Building by the American Cancer Society
Find out how your green project can win Best in Green in the newly announced NAHB Green Awards here: www.nahb.org/greenawards.