New York Is A Huge Green State!

There are many green builders in New York focused on making our environment a little cleaner by designing buildings that are eco friendly. LEED certified buildings currently range from homes to schools to museums. In New York City, a company called the Blue Sea Development Company is working very hard to receive certifications for their buildings.
The LEED certifications come in four different levels, which are certified, silver, gold, and platinum. The certificates are handed out based on a number of points the building receives from various categories including but not limited to energy, atmosphere and water efficiency. The LEED process can be very expensive as well as time consuming which is why many eco builders in New York have actually stopped building projects to meet LEED status. The Blue Sea Development Company is one of the few who actually finished their project and received silver certification for their project in the Bronx.
The project in question that has been completed is the Morrisania Homes which is an apartment complex for lower income families. The complex has 28 buildings, totalling 64 units altogether. The actual buildings are made of recycled materials, even down to the floor, which is made of concrete. The carpets have recycled soda bottles as one of their components and the concrete is made from ash residue from coal power plants. They have basically taken trash and made it into something incredibly useful – living space. There are also fans throughout the buildings to remove any harmful agents in air.
Creating the energy efficient homes costs about seven percent more than regular homes and it can be frustrating when building for low income housing since the increased costs can't be made up in rent or sales. One of the partners for the Blue Sea Development Company stated that with development costs cut a bit by state and city subsidies that the extra money put into the complex to be eco friendly is worth it. The company also plans on building more eco friendly communities in New York with plans such as no smoking policies and reserving units of the new buildings for more low-income tenants.
When working on their new projects, if they're looking to achieve gold certification there are other measures of energy efficiency that can be looked into. Solar panels is one of the most commonly thought of forms of energy reduction as it actually produces it's own energy from sunlight. Insulation from the outdoors is another very effective measure in reducing energy costs and insulation can be made from both recycled materials as well as certain plants the will reflect heat. Roof top plants are also great especially in cities for blocking sunlight and reducing the heat absorption that usually comes with black pavement roofs.
These are just a few ways that builders can help in building sustainable communities. Thankfully, many green builders are committed to building with energy efficiency and the environment in mind, in spite of the additional costs. These builders continue to do a great service in helping to preserve the earth’s ecology, one building at a time.

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