College Aims High for
LEED Gold Certification;
Gets $75K Foundation Grant
By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
CLINTON HILL — Pratt Institute has received a $75,000 Green Building Planning grant from the Kresge Foundation, one of the country’s largest foundations, to support the planning costs associated with developing a “green,” energy-efficient building near its Brooklyn campus.
The building, to be located one block from the main campus on the currently vacant site at 524 Myrtle Ave. (known as the “KFC site” for obvious reasons) will be a 120,000-square-foot, mixed-use structure. Pratt aims to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification — a certification still rare in the New York area.
Although the plans aren’t firmed up yet, green features currently being considered for potential application include a landscaped roof to help insulate the building and prevent water runoff, photovoltaic solar panels and a geothermal climate control system.
The only LEED gold-certified buildings in the city at this point are the Solaire condos in Battery Park, the Helena apartments in Hell’s Kitchen, the Hearst headquarters in Midtown, Seven World Trade Center, the Tribeca Green luxury rental complex, and the Dagher Engineering building on Broadway. All are in Manhattan. However, other buildings planned or under construction in Brooklyn — including Atlantic Yards — will have various levels of LEED certification, according to the Web site of the U.S. Green Building Council.
In addition to its green characteristics, the building, which will house several academic programs, administrative offices and 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, will further extend Pratt’s presence on Myrtle Avenue, joining the Prattstore, the institute’s art supply and bookstore, which opened in 2005 at Myrtle and Emerson.
Specifically, the new building will include the Digital Arts Program’s offices; the Digital Arts Lab; art studios for graduate students; the offices of the Pratt Center for Community Development, a university-affiliated nonprofit; and the offices of Pratt’s Institute of Development.
The building’s construction is made necessary due to a rapidly expanding student body. Student enrollment has nearly doubled over the last 15 years, according to a university spokesperson.
“Pratt’s new building will symbolize the growth and revitalization of the institute and its surrounding neighborhood while demonstrating the institute’s commitment to sustainability,” said Pratt Institute President Thomas F. Schutte. “We anticipate that 524 Myrtle will serve as a model of sustainable design for Pratt students, the local community and urban campuses across the country.”
The multi-disciplinary architectural and engineering firm Studio A and WASA designed the new building to serve as a connection between Pratt’s campus and Myrtle Avenue with an atrium allowing views into and through the building from both sides.
“The north facade is highly insulated and finished in brick and glass, in order to complement the 19th-century commercial architecture of Myrtle Avenue without imitating it,” said Jack Esterson, partner-in-charge at Studio A and WASA. “On the south side, a glazed wall with ultra high-performance clear and translucent glass and solar shading is designed to bring daylight into the building year round, while keeping summer heat out.”
The Kresge Foundation’s Green Building Initiative, launched in 2003, was designed to increase the awareness of sustainable or green building practices among non-profits and encourage them to consider “building green.”
The initiative offers educational resources and special grants to help non-profits during this planning phase. So far, it has given out 113 awards, a spokeswoman told the Eagle.
As for the Kresge Foundation, it is a private foundation with a $3 billion endowment. It was established in the 1920s by Sebastian Kresge, the founder of Kmart (which, as old-timers may remember, was once known as Kresge’s), but there are no current ties between the two institutions.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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