Solar 2, City's First "Net-Zero" Building, To Be Built On East River
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A new fully sustainable building on the East River won’t just save energy — it’ll produce it, as well. NY1’s Jill Urban filed the following report.Close to 80 percent of New York City’s carbon emissions come from its buildings, so imagine if that could be eliminated.
To that end, one developer has created plans to build New York’s first energy positive, or “net-zero” structure, called "Solar 2."
“It will be the first net-zero energy building in the city, and by that I mean it will generate more energy than it uses from its own clean, renewable sources,” says Chris Collins, executive director of Solar One.
Solar 2 will hopefully be the building of the future. The environmental education center will be the first of its kind, using every combination of energy and water-saving technology.
“Solar 2 will create more energy than it uses because we will have our own photovoltaic solar array on the building. We’ll also have solar thermal in the building to keep our water hot. We’ll also have 20 geo-thermal wells — that reduces your energy load for heating and cooling in the building. We’ll have a vertically integrated greenhouse attached to the building,” says Collins.
Every aspect of the building will be energy-efficient, from elevators to the windows to its outdoor green stage.
The sustainable structure will be located on the East River at 23rd Street. Its primary goal will be to educate the public on green living. The facility will include classrooms, cutting edge digital exhibits and cutaway walls that show just how it all works.
It’s expected to generate about eight percent more energy than it will use, and that extra energy will help generate some money for the center.
“On an annual basis we’ll make some money just like a homeowner would that installs solar PV on their home. They actually will send energy back onto the grid and get paid for that. We’ll do the same thing,” says Collins.
Once opened, the center will be free to the public, and developers are anticipating more than 100,000 visitors in the first year alone.
The project is still in the fundraising phase. Developers hope to break ground sometime next year. If they do, Solar 2 could open its doors by early 2014.