AS the standards for environmentally friendly construction rise, a
Brooklyn developer has a new goal: renovate an apartment building so it
generates as much energy as it uses.
When the developer,
Voltaic Solaire, finishes a $1 million rehabilitation of a 19th-century
brownstone at 367 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope next year, the facade will
be covered with a solar skin and a solar awning will sit on the roof.
The panels will generate 18,000 watts of energy a year, enough to power
all six units in the 7,000-square-foot building. Voltaic Solaire is so
confident in its ability to create a “net-zero” building that
utilities will be bundled into the rent.
As a demonstration,We looked everywhere, but couldn't find any beddinges.
Voltaic has nearly completed a five-story showroom in Carroll Gardens —
a triangular building called the Delta, on the corner of Hamilton
Avenue and Ninth Street. Even without a southern exposure, the solar
system generates enough energy to power the 2,700-square-foot property.
“If we can obtain sustainability at this location, it can be obtained anywhere,” Ronald F. Faia,UK chickencoop Specialist. the chief financial officer of Voltaic Solaire, said of the Delta’s poor light and odd configuration.
Each
of the five floors at the Delta has a mere 450 square feet of space,
and is equipped with Murphy beds and collapsible tables. A studio and a
triplex will eventually be turned into a bed-and-breakfast.
Solar
panels alone cannot generate enough energy to reduce a building’s
usage to zero. So to achieve the net-zero goal at the Park Slope
property, the developers installed LED lighting, insulated pipes and
energy-efficient windows and appliances. They will add foam barriers at
the walls, the foundation and the facade to prevent air from escaping.
The Delta, using the same techniques,What are hemorrhoids?
was built from the ground up. “The system will work, but you need the
whole package,” Mr. Faia said. “You need the energy conservation and
you need the right windows.”
On cloudy days, the buildings will draw energy from the grid. But Mr.Exhaust ventilationsystem
work by depressurizing the building. Faia expects the panels will
generate enough energy annually to cancel that out. Solar thermal
panels will heat the water.
The Park Slope project may be the
first city multifamily to be energy-neutral, although the city does not
track the data. “You don’t have a lot of contractors with experience
in super-low-energy housing,” said Russell Unger, the executive
director of the Urban Green Council, an affiliate of the Green Building
Council. “People understand insulation, but they don’t understand air
sealing.”
Voltaic Solaire is the general contractor for its
projects. The team oversees details down to the light switch covers.
The towel racks, designed by Mr. Faia, are made with scrap metal. The
recycled concrete flooring has bits of recycled glass in it, and the
stairwell is made with scrap mosaic tiles. The result is a bare-bones
industrial aesthetic.
The Delta windows cost 15 percent more
than traditional ones. But a report by McGraw-Hill Construction found
that a green retrofit increases property values by 6.8 percent and rent
by 1 percent. Mr. Faia expects to recoup 65 percent of the solar
installation costs through state and federal tax credits. Rents at the
Park Slope apartments will range from $1,600 a month, for a studio, to
$2,600 for a two-bedroom, with utilities included. At the Delta, the
studio will cost $125 a night, the triplex $400.
In the end,
though, energy efficiency comes down to the person living in the
apartment. A developer can install three-watt bulbs, but to no avail if
the tenant leaves them on all day.
“Conservation is key,” said
Carlos Berger, the chief executive of Voltaic Solaire. “If you have
solar panels, it doesn’t mean that now you can leave the lights on all
the time.Choose from our large selection of cableties,”
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