Durst's 'green' dream - Construction & Design

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 14, 2004 by Barbara Nelson

The Durst Organization is becoming known as the "greenest commercial builder" in the United States with the development of its second environmentally friendly skyscraper in Times Square.

The Durst Organization recently signed a deal with Bank of America to build a $1 billion, 51-story skyscraper at One Bryant Park, continuing it's legacy of "green" building development, said Jody Durst, co-president of the Durst Organization.

"It's the way we are going to build," Durst said. "1 believe tenants are going to understand there is considerable additional value from an occupant's standpoint."

The Durst Organization began its environmental crusade long before it built the 48-story Conde Nast building at Four Times Square, which is the largest building in the United States to establish standards for energy conservation, indoor quality, recycling systems and sustainable manufacturing processes.

"Our grandparents instilled in us that the environment was of particular importance and whenever possible we consider the environment when we develop," Durst said. "It actually started long before the Conde Nast building when we began retrofitting our existing buildings with energy efficient systems. Four Times Square was sort of our landmark."

Durst said making a building environmentally responsible only adds about six percent to cost and One Bryant Park, designed by Cook Fox, will also boast many environmentally responsible features, allowing its occupants to breath fresher air, save on electric bills and use considerably less water.

There will be higher levels of fresh air filtered into the building and the filtration system will also be state-of-the art, upgrading the efficiency from 35-60% to 90-95%.

"The occupants will actually feel better and be more productive," Durst said. The HVAC system will also save on energy by using its own heat to generate more power.

"Co-generation is definitely gong to happen," he said. "There is a tremendous amount of heat lost in the generation of electricity. We are going to use that heat and create additional electricity or steam for hot water or add air conditioning capacity."

A wind turbine to generate power is also being considered for the One Bryant Park tower. The Durst Organization unveiled the purchase of a 10-foottall windmill at the Conde Nast tower this week, in cooperation with ConEdison.

But Durst said last week "The wind turbine is under serious investigation and consideration. It's not definite. We aren't sure of the technology."

Water conservation is a big consideration for the building.

"Going forward, one of our most precious resources is water," he said. "A typical commercial office building typically uses large amounts of water. We would like to demonstrate that that number can be reduced by half."

Water conservation measures will include water lift urinals, the capture and use of rainwater and flow restrictors on sinks and commodes.

A rooftop garden will also be installed that will act as natural insulation.

In addition to green features, the building will also be safer fur its occupants.

"All means of vertical transportation, either stairs or elevator, will be within the core of the building and surrounded by two-foot thick concrete walls, so occupants of the building will be protected in case of fire or other reasons for exiting the building," Durst said.

The stairwells will also be wider than required and additional stairwells will be added in portions of the building, he said.

Occupancy by Bank of America employees is slated for 2008.

In addition to the Durst Organization, two other developers are also building "green" skyscrapers in Manhattan. All three developers are seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Award from the U.S. Green Buildings Council.

Silverstein Properties is also building 7 World Trade Center with environmentally responsible features and will incorporate a host of life-safety enhancements that will become the prototype for all new high-rise construction.

The building was designed by architect David Childs, Consulting Design Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, New York.

The Hearst Corporation is designing its new headquarters building at 959 Eighth Ave. at 57th St. with "green" features.

The 42-story tower was designed by Lord Norman Foster, Foster and Partners, London.

Hearst has set as the project's goal the attainment of LEED certification.

The "green building" designation by LEED is given to projects that employ pioneering solutions in a quest to fully utilize renewable sources of energy while offering substantial reductions in pollution and energy consumption. No building in New York has ever won the award.