LEED-Certified Starchitecture in New York

An iconic new residential tower in the Chelsea section of New York City recently received LEED certification, according to a recent Inhabitat article. The tower, known as 100 Eleventh Avenue, was designed by well-known French architect and Pritzker Prize-winner Jean Nouvel.

With a façade composed of 1,700 different panes of glass, the 23-story building—housing 73 residential units ranging in price from $1.6 million to $22 million—exemplifies the potential for green building in a dense urban environment like New York City, the article noted. In fact, the building’s glass façade stands out as the most highly engineered and technologically advanced curtain wall ever constructed in New York City.

Some of the building’s green features include extensive use of FSC-certified wood, recycled materials, low-VOC paints and carpets, and an indoor air quality management system. Through the building’s striking design and orientation toward the south and west, daylight and views are maximized for the building’s occupants.

The building’s façade caught the eye of the New York Times’ architectural critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff, who commented that “its mix of grit and glamour — embodied in a glittering facade that seems to have been wrapped around the curved front of a black brick tower like a tight-fitting sequined dress — is apt to temper whatever you may feel about the Wall Streeters and art-world insiders who are likely to move into its apartments.”

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com