One of the biggest questions in planning and constructing green housing is how to define "green" - just what it means for a building to be energy-efficient and healthy. There are the LEED standards, exacting criteria developed by the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council that can make builders eligible for local tax credits. There are the green standards set down in the Green Communities initiative at Enterprise Community Partners Inc., a national affordable housing group that handled much of the funding for a building just opened in the Bronx. And then there are what green housing supporters call simple measures – sealing holes to stop heat loss, using durable flooring and more – that by themselves may not garner LEED tax credits, but do decrease buildings' impact on the environment.
Jacob’s Place, the new building on Webster Avenue in the Fordham section of the Bronx, had its ribbon-cutting one week ago. The building includes 63 apartments, an early childhood education center and a playground. It also has a “green roof” with vegetation that collects rainwater – thus cutting down on polluted runoff – plus solar panels that provide electricity for the building’s common areas and elevators.
In a tour of the roof on Monday, the skyline of the north Bronx was visible over the iridescent blue solar panels and sedum plantings. Esther Yang, a new fellow with Enterprise’s Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship, explained to a group of visitors that the roof cuts down on the heat given off, slows down the flow of water into city sewers, and adds a layer of insulation to the building.
Later in the morning, in a room painted with low-fume paint, U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano, who represents the area, said that “to have a green building is a major statement in the Bronx.” He recalled the earlier eras when “it looked like no one wanted to live here” in the borough.
The developer of the building is Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation, a community group that develops and manages “safe, sound and affordable” complexes in the Bronx and will serve as landlord at Jacob’s Place – which is named after the late Astin Jacobo, a longtime community activist in Crotona and the Northwest Bronx.
Pat Logan, director of development with Fordham Bedford, said while the building isn’t LEED-certified, it does meet the criteria for Enterprise’s Green Communities initiative. Fordham Bedford often works with Enterprise, whose financing arms provide equity, grants and loans for affordable housing, and it decided to use the Green Communities criteria, Logan said.
Those are “holistic” standards, he said, such as building a complex near public transportation, using materials that don’t cause or add to health problems, and making efficient use of the building’s energy and water.
Fordham Bedford developed – and now owns and manages – another residential building on Webster Avenue with a green roof, which in 2005 may have been the first installation of a green roof on a Bronx affordable housing complex. Those involved in Jacob’s Place believe its combination green roof-solar roof is another first for Bronx affordable housing.
