Brooklyn recently got New York City's first certified passive house, and the passive house takeover of the borough now continues with two-more multifamily projects. (The term "passive house" refers to the movement's German standards of near-total airtightness and energy efficiency, not to "houses" in the single-family sense of the word.) Architect Chris Benedict gave us the deets. Each property, at 424 Melrose Street (above) and 803 Knickerbocker Avenue will be 30,000 square feet and contain 24 units. Only 424 Melrose is underway so far, and Benedict is posting construction updates on Twitter. The project is aiming for national and international passive house certifications, because hey, why not?
Benedict has been working on energy-efficient buildings in NYC since the late 1990s, and she says she sees passive houses as a good fit for the area because our climate is similar to the German climate, except that there are very few sites oriented south for optimal solar use. The biggest problem with passive houses in NYC: "There's a sense of security New Yorkers have about their hot, blasting radiators?.A New Yorker who feels a cold radiator experiences fear." To solve that problem, 424 Melrose will have heating systems built-in. No word yet on apartment pricing.
· Official website: Chris Benedict [architectureandenergylimited.com]
· Passive House coverage [Curbed]
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