NEW YORK — The city’s Housing Preservation and Development Department is demonstrating the success of a new standard in sustainability for affordable housing.
“Uses much less energy than most buildings”
Overlooking train passengers speeding along Park Avenue in East Harlem, Sendero Verde, Spanish for “green path,” shines.
A public walkway gives name and mission to the three buildings it bridges and house more than 700 families. The complex is considered the largest, fully affordable Passive House-certified project in the country. The HPD says: “Passive House is a high-performance building standard originally developed by the Passive House Institute (PHI) in 1990 and by the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) in 2007.”
“The building itself simply uses much less energy than most buildings,” said Jen Leone, HPD’s Chief Sustainability Officer.
The first of more than 25 HPD Passive House designs now completed, elements incorporated into every aspect of life reduce energy consumption by more than half that of a comparable-sized traditional New York City complex.
“You can’t see it,” Leone said. “You don’t know that the windows are better than normal windows… and that every breath is cleaner.”
The complex includes two children’s education centers, a community arts program and support services for the more than 50 previously unhoused families who have also found a home in Sendero, making room for everyone on their path to a greener future.
The Sendero Verde apartments are all allocated, but there are still plenty of projects in the pipeline. That’s why HPD recommends that you enter the agency’s lottery now, if you qualify. Click here for more information.
HPD also launched a new Green House Fund last week, allowing property owners to offset their emissions by purchasing credits that fund the agency’s sustainability efforts.
“Never in My Dreams”
Michelle Oliveros and her family were among the first to move in, after watching the towers take shape from their one-bedroom apartment a few blocks away. Two years later, in addition to all the luxury amenities available to make her life easier, such as computer and laundry rooms with terraces, the clean air that has calmed her son’s asthma has had the biggest impact, she said.
“It still gives me goosebumps because we never thought about it,” Oliveros said.
Rebecca Crowley and Germain Louis went from a one-bedroom life in Brooklyn with their three children to a three-bedroom apartment in Sendero that had room for them all.
“The end game was to create a better environment for my family, so I just kept going,” Crowley said. “I never thought in my dreams that I would have such a beautiful place.”
Have a story idea or tip in Harlem? Email Jessi by CLICKING HERE.
Jesse Mitchell
