There’s a worldwide “green” movement to make buildings environmentally sustainable, and the Power Authority is moving into its front ranks.
During 2006, the Power Authority’s considerable efforts in that direction earned a LEED® Gold-EB ranking from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for its 17-story administrative office building in White Plains. The designation stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Existing Buildings. The Rappleyea Building, named for past NYPA Chairman and CEO C.D. “Rapp” Rappleyea, is the first existing building in New York State to achieve LEED Gold and is among only 19 such facilities in the country.
Four years earlier, NYPA moved to set rigorous energy-efficiency standards for the White Plains building. It replaced the chilled-water cooling plant and installed energy-saving lighting, window film, top-to-bottom room occupancy sensors and efficient new motors for fans, pumps and other systems.
That cut energy consumption 50 percent, saving more than $400,000 each year. When he was appointed NYPA’s president and chief executive officer in 2006, Timothy Carey brought with him an acute appreciation of the value of green building guidelines, as defined by the USGBC.
The organization was founded in the 1990s to establish national green standards and goals. It promotes buildings “that enhance their occupants’ health and productivity, conserve the Earth’s resources, and contribute to their owners’ financial success.”
Carey headed the Battery Park City Authority when it adopted a policy of sustainable construction and strict mandates to reduce energy and water consumption, use recycled materials in construction, enhance indoor air quality and recycle construction wastes. Battery Park City’s Solaire was the nation’s first residential high-rise building constructed under these guidelines.
Carey directed NYPA building managers to adapt USGBC’s “road map.”
“Nationally, green strategies can reduce water use in office buildings by 40 percent, cut energy costs by 30 percent and divert half or more of construction and demolition waste for recycling purposes,” he said. “By improving indoor air quality and comfort, worker productivity and sick time costs can show striking improvements.”
