Brooklyn Construction Pro Acknowledges ‘Step in the Right Direction’
By Sarah Ryley
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “landmark modernization” of the city’s entire 1960s-era building code released last week addresses the very present-day concern of environmental sustainability through numerous new requirements and incentives for “green buildings,” or buildings constructed with energy efficiency and recycling in mind.
But some said they would have liked to see the proposed building code, which must be approved by the City Council, be even more aggressive on green building practices, particularly since the city is the largest and most influential in the nation.
Among the proposed revisions, new buildings would be required to have more efficient heating and cooling systems and “white roofs,” or roofs using reflective paint that is said to cut air conditioning costs by 40 percent.
(For a related article on the code, please see page 5.)
The code provides incentives for, as opposed to requiring, other sustainable building practices such as water-conserving plumbing systems during a time when the city’s water and sewage rates are expected to increase by 11 percent.
“Chicago’s [building code] is a lot more aggressive, but New York’s building codes were so antiquated that it seems like it’s going to be several years before New York is where it should be with green building,” said Bart Bettencourt, co-founder of Williamsburg-based Bettencourt Green Building Supplies.
Still, he said he recognizes the enormous job Bloomberg took on, and is “appreciative of the step in the right direction.”
Chicago, the city with the most aggressive sustainable building standards in the country, requires that all new buildings meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, while the mayor’s proposal only makes that requirement for public projects and other buildings of a certain size.
Any project receiving public funding in Chicago must have its roof covered in vegetation, resulting in nearly 154 “green roof” projects in the city, according to a report by the New York City Office of Environmental Coordination. In New York, the mayor gives a tax rebate for green roofs, but they are not required.
“It doesn’t go far enough, but it doesn’t purport to. Consider this the first installment. I think the next changes will be a lot more substantial,” said Russell Unger, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council, who has served as counsel for the Mayor’s Office and City Council.
Bettencourt said he would have liked to see more emphasis on green building supplies, which he sells. “What I see in general is a lot of focus on energy efficiency and still kind of a big black hole on material content for building.”
Bloomberg’s proposal requires the code to be updated every three years, “enabling the city to take advantage of worldwide innovations in safety, sustainability, new materials and technology,” said a Buildings Department spokeswoman.
But there’s no guarantee that the next mayor will be as green as this one.
“It would have been better to have done more now, of course, but I think what one has to realize is that the whole code has been overhauled,” said Unger.
“The discussion of what’s going to go into the next round will be happening over the next three years, but I think we’ll see some of those changes still within this administration.”
Unger said the mayor is surrounded by officials in high places, who aren’t constrained by term limits, who push green policies. “I think they include everyone from the [Buildings Commissioner Patricia J. Lancaster] down,” said Unger. “These are people who seriously and personally believe in these issues.
“This green code was not something imposed. This was something that was supported actively in the Department of Buildings. Fundamentally, the Department of Building wants to green that code.”
Lancaster said in a statement, “The city’s economic development depends on construction codes that achieve a delicate mix of enhanced safety requirements, opportunities for cost savings, and incentives for innovative and sustainable building.”
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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