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The Helena- New York, NY                      Green Features

The 550,000 s.f., 38 story Helena, located at 57th Street and 11th Avenue, is a mixed use / mixed income development in New York City. The developer made use of New York City Housing Development Corporation’s 80/20 program under which they were able to finance the construction with tax-exempt bonds in exchange for reserving 20% of its 580 studio, one bedroom and two bedroom units as affordable housing. The 116 affordable units are spread throughout the building and their layouts are identical to the market rate apartments in the building and include all unit types.

The project was a collaboration between the Durst Organization and Rose Associates. Fox & Fowle Architects lead the consultant team, which included Flack + Kurtz for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering and Severud Associates for structural. The team worked closely with the neighborhood Community Board and City Planning Commission, to obtain approval for the master plan. The development team set the goal of attaining a LEED Gold rating at the beginning of the project and the project team supported that goal throughout the design process.

The bulk of the building is pulled back from the street wall, preserving the view corridor to the Hudson River while maintaining street wall continuity along Eleventh Avenue. A significant amount of “dark” space on the north side of the building is used to house the blackwater treatment plant and other building infrastructure, as well as occupant amenities such as a health club and community gathering spaces.

In addition to the public transportation typically available in New York City, the building owners will run a compressed natural gas powered shuttle from the building to the subway station during rush hours. In addition the design team was able to reduce the parking capacity on site, and also provides both a physical and web-based bulletin board for carpooling.

Through a variety of integrated systems, including daylight dimming lighting, occupancy sensors in stairwells and corridors, onsite micro turbines, a cogeneration plant, high efficiency mechanical systems, and building integrated photovoltaics, the project is projected to use 34% less energy than the ASHRAE 90.1 standard. The photovoltaic panels are incorporated in the southern and western facing sides of the mechanical enclosure at the roof, as well as at the entrance canopy, where they will serve as a symbol of the building’s commitment to sustainability for residents and visitors. Additionally, the building is using 100% green power, purchased through Community Energy, Inc., and all appliances are Energy Star approved. The on-site power generation measures provide about 10% of the electrical base building load.

In addition to reducing electrical load, the 11,906 s.f. of green roof reduces stormwater runoff and helps mitigate the heat island effect.

The Helena’s water usage is reduce by 34% through the incorporation of extensive water usage reduction measures including a blackwater treatment plant which treats 76% of the buildings wastewater and provides water for irrigation, toilet water, the cooling tower and low-flow fixtures throughout the building.

The wood floors throughout the Helena are FSC certified. Paints, carpets, and adhesives are all low-VOC and wherever possible urea-formaldehyde was eliminated as a binding agent in wood products. Wheatboard was used for cabinets and bi-fold doors. The gypsum wall board was 100% recycled. In addition to using sustainable construction materials, the building management plan includes a green housekeeping plan and makes green cleaning materials available for purchase in the Helena lobby retail store.

Paying further attention to the issues of life-cycle impact of housing, the construction team diverted 84% of the Helena’s construction waste from landfills and each floor will have a dedicated recycling chute. Sustainability guidelines will be distributed to each tenant.

Lessons Learned from the architect - The design team feels that the next step in the development of sustainable affordable housing is to be able to provide even more on-site electricity generation, improved energy conservation measures and higher indoor air quality. They predict that as more people become comfortable and experienced with sustainable design and construction, sustainable affordable housing projects should continue to become even more attainable.