News
GREEN SCENE: Co-gen Condos
April 28, 2010
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| We met with Donald Cappocia recently to check out BFC Partners' newest development, the 240-unit Toren condo tower in Downtown Brooklyn. When he and partners Joseph Ferrara and Brandon Baron were building Brooklyn's Schaefer Landing in ‘06, they explored implementing a co-generation plant within the building, but weren't able to. BFC did, however, bring the idea to Toren, thanks to a $1M grant from NYSERDA. Here, Donald shows us the 500-megahertz plant with five generators that fuel the building's electrical, heating, and cooling needs by capturing waste heat and putting it back into residential use, lowering the burden on the utility companies. |
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| Toren is the only new condo tower in the city with a full co-gen plant and is able to competitively offer the energy services rather than go through Con Edison and other utility providers, Donald says. All of its amenities, from its heated pool to residential library, are powered by the plant. The building, which is aiming for LEED Gold, recently hit the 50%-sold mark, and 55 families have already moved in to the studio to three-bedroom homes, which range from the mid $300s to $1.8M. Anyone who's buying these days isn't looking to sell next year, and Donald says buyers are beginning to realize the potential impact of LEED certification on a unit's resale value. |
