Later this month, Omni New York LLC and The Grinnell are being recognized by Energy New York Awards (ENYA) for their leadership in energy efficiency. Omni New York LLC is being recognized for Park Avenue Green, the largest PHIUS+ certified multifamily Passive House in the country, featuring highly-insulated construction, unitized ventilation, solar PV, and cogeneration. The Grinnell, a co-op apartment building, is being recognized for its groundbreaking community solar array, or what Bright Power likes to call a “solar co-op.”
ENYA was created about 15 years ago from the New York Energy Consumers Council (NYECC) board’s desire to increase the real estate industry’s knowledge of energy management best practices. The goal is to recognize and share technological advancements that improve New York’s built environment, including in construction, software, on-site generation, and building management systems.
The NYECC board consists of energy executives within real estate companies and the energy firms they work with. As a group, we recognize that the ENYA nominees’ work has a profound impact on their bottom line, their tenants, their cities, and the environment.
This is the case for The Grinnell and Omni New York.
About The Grinnell
The Grinnell is a large cooperative located in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Its community solar project is one of the first on a historically landmarked building and one of the first ten community solar installations in New York State.
The ENYA Committee (with me abstaining) unanimously agreed that the leadership of the cooperative’s board and Green Committee exhibited to generate their own renewable electricity was something worth recognizing and celebrating. The committee especially recognized the unique financial and operational challenges NYC co-ops face, which makes the project all the more important to celebrate.
About Omni New York, LLC’s Park Avenue Green
Developed by Omni New York, LLC, Park Avenue Green represents a fine example of large scale multifamily Passive House construction and design. In fact, it is the nation’s largest multifamily PHIUS+ certified Passive House building. Because of its size and the rarity of Passive House projects, it has been included in this year’s recognized projects.
In light of the move to electrification, Passive House standards are a significant step in the right direction because of their ultra-low energy demand. Replicating Passive House into future developments is likely a key piece of meeting both NYC and NYS environmental goals.