Interview with Peter I. Weingarten,
from FXFOWLE Architects

By Marianne Merritt Talbot, Esq. and Stephen T. Del Percio, Esq., LEED-AP

MMT: Peter, thank you for sitting down with us today. FXFOWLE is one of the leaders in the design of green buildings and you are a renowned architect in this field. What is your definition of green building?

PIW: Most people are aware that in order to meet the needs of future generations, we need to conserve and recycle resources. Sustainable building can play a significant role in this effort. Buildings have long been providers of shelter for living and working, an understood single purpose. Today, we know that buildings can serve multiple purposes — they can be self-sustaining through carbon neutrality, generate their own electricity, and even become an armature for food sources. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of built structures that serve multi-purposes today but it’s a goal that is being aspired to.

MMT: In many of your lectures, you use the term footprint. Can you tell me what you mean by a footprint?

PIW: The impact a building has on the environment is its footprint. Keep in mind, however, that a building’s impact on the environment goes far beyond the site it sits upon. During the construction phase, materials need to be transported to the job site and energy is consumed in order to make the materials needed. Is the energy used for these purposes from low-efficiency fossil fuel burning or from renewable energy sources like wind or solar power? Beyond the building itself, there are many factors that, when combined, reveal the true nature and quality of a building’s footprint.

SDP: How would you compare the footprint of an urban building to one in the suburbs?

PIW: For a recent study, our firm compared a commercial mixed-use Manhattan high rise of about a million and a half square feet to a building of the same square footage and use located in a suburban setting. In terms of the buildings themselves, you can control the energy consumption and you can right size the mechanical systems. In the end analysis, the amount of energy consumed is really about the same. One factor that differentiates the two structures and their environmental impact is the energy spent getting to and from these buildings by their inhabitants. In Manhattan, people generally commute using mass transportation whereas in the suburbs, people generally commute individually by car. The energy expenditure associated with driving en masse to the suburban office park substantially increases the building’s environmental footprint in a negative sense.

MMT: Tell us about projects that you’ve worked on and the sustainable components employed?

PIW: The firm has been following the trends domestically in building typology and we’ve focused a lot on residential structures. It started when FXFowle was commissioned to write the Battery Park City Environmental Guidelines. At the time LEED was still in its pilot phase and we really set the bar pretty high by mandating certain things as opposed to making them optional. We required photovoltaic cells to be used. We required that there be some form of black water/gray water treatment and so on. Recent projects would include The Helena, an apartment building located on 11th Ave and 57th Street that we designed for The Durst Organization with Rose Associates. We sought LEED gold status and recently received our certification. What’s unique about The Helena is that it is a true private sector development on a typical New York block.

SDP: The water treatment facility impacts everyone on that city block, isn’t that right?

PIW: This project was set out to have a rather large black water treatment facility to treat all water for the residential inhabitants. Since the owner controlled the rest of the block, we oversized the facility so that it can serve the entire area. This, in essence, becomes a distributed waste management system as opposed to an energy system. We’re particularly proud of this feature.

MMT: Are advances in technology having an impact on how buildings are constructed?

PIW: It’s interesting that you ask. I recently received a copy of your firm’s Quarterly Newsletter on Building Information Modeling (BIM). Architects and consultants have embraced new tools for design yet we’re still dealing with the same labor practices of 40, 50 and even 60 years ago. Not much advancement has occurred on this end parallel to the professional side. Therefore, designers must still plot and produce paper documentation — a continued inefficiency. We just haven’t connected with the construction side to make all the information we, as the designer, have available to those in the field. This could eliminate a lot of redundancy, confusion, and change orders.

MMT: I know you’ve articulated some concerns about the current desire to have buildings made out of glass. What is your concern and how do those types of buildings impact the environment? What’s the energy conservation of those particular projects?

PIW: The firm recently concluded a study called “Four Shades of Green.” It was a study of four residential projects that we had completed ranging from LEED certified to LEED gold. What we found, and it was shocking to us, was that all of the buildings didn’t score very well in energy performance yet they were able to obtain LEED certification at the various levels. We attribute the low scores in energy performance to the popular and abundant use of glass. This is a result of the conflict between a desire to build a residential environment that is full of daylight with great views and connectivity to the outside world and practical energy-efficient decisions. In order to achieve the solar shading required to obtain 40% to 50% energy efficiency over ASHRAE, you have to go with really dark glass or really small windows — nobody wants either. We’re in a quandary over this right now although glass technology gets better and better with each passing year. In one of our recent projects, the NY Times Headquarters, we went with completely clear glass but came up with a creative and energy efficient solution. Rather than fritpatterned glass or tinted glass, we put real solar shading on the outside of the building by integrating a vial of ceramic tubes into the curtainwall design. It’s as simple as putting an opaque object between you and the sun, it creates a shadow. This is more of a common sense solution than a technological solution.

SDP: Does FXFOWLE keep up with how the buildings perform? Is there any sort of data set that you look at?

PIW: The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE), annually award the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions. In order to submit a design for consideration, a lot of data is needed — data that is difficult, if not impossible to come by. Entrants must provide specific answers to a multitude of questions on topics such as energy consumption, energy savings and water usage. Understandably, there is a general reluctance by owners to provide this data — especially data that pertains to indoor environmental quality issues because the true benefit is the health and productivity of the building inhabitants. While we would love to be able to evaluate the on-going performance of our building designs, we have not been successful in obtaining this information with any consistency or consistent format.

MMT: What about retrofitting existing buildings? What incentives exist for owners?

PIW: Well, it really depends on the perceived investment vs. the return. If you add a feature that will save the owner significant money in the long run, the owner will likely make the investment. I love what my friend Mark McCracken does with thermal ice storage. He offsets peak energy demand with an off-peak energy usage at night that reduces the peak load during the day by creating ice with the chillers and then turning the chillers off during the day and using the cheaper energy to make ice at night to cool the building. This results in significant cost-savings. With that said, I can tell you that LEED for existing buildings is the most underutilized of the LEED products in this city and we probably have the most to gain from this product. The existing building stock in this city is tremendous. Owners will need incentives — tax incentives, tax rebates, and maybe even increased floor area. This is where public/private partnerships will come into play. In his 2030 plan, Mayor Bloomberg has outlined some very progressive ideas about sustainability. This in conjunction with the recently passed environmental legislation, Local Law 86, that mandates LEED standards for city buildings is very encouraging.

MMT: If there is a drawback to green building, it’s the cost. What is your take on this issue?

an do a LEED certified green building at no additional cost. It’s just about making the right choices — common sense choices. If you intend to go after the Platinum LEED certification, there will be additional costs, not necessarily substantial, but additional costs nonetheless.

SDP: The USGBC announced a new version of LEED — version 3.0. How will the new version differ from previous articulations?

PIW: LEED 3.0 is a really exciting opportunity for the USGBC. It’s still in development, but as I understand it, they intend to streamline the process of certification and create a single umbrella system that is more like a bookshelf of credits from all of the current variations. This will allow the product to be custom tailored to meet specific project types and their needs more effectively. Making LEED easy and specific has always been a challenge, but the USGBC has demonstrated over the years the ability to adapt and improve so we expect great things from them as LEED 3.0 advances through it’s development.

SDP: How is green building perceived in the international arena?

PIW: We have started to do a lot of work in India and the United Arab Emirates. Sustainability is really taking a strong foothold in these markets and it is very exciting. I just joined the Emirates Green Building Council, which is newly founded. We don’t want these developing nations to emulate Western methodology by making some of the same mistakes along the way — like using coal-fired or fossil fuel dependent energy plants, for example. We’d actually like to see these nations leap frog and get right to the next generation of building. Our clients in India and the UAE have embraced this ideal.

SDP: What kind of projects are you working on in those countries?

PIW: High-rises, for the most part, because we are encouraging higher density and more connectivity to mass transportation. We’re doing an 85-story hotel and residential tower in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) which will be the tallest building in Mumbai. Interestingly, I was blown away when I met with the local architect who told me that rainwater harvesting is a code requirement. The Indian government has instituted this code because water is such a resource for them — especially clean potable water. In Mumbai, 100 inches of rain falls in a four-month period and the rest of the year is rather pleasant but dry. What they’ve smartly done is adapt certain sustainable strategies to maximize the resources the natural climate provides.

MMT: What do you think of Al Gore’s initiatives? Have you seen his movie “The Inconvenient Truth”?

PIW: Yes. Many times. In fact, we have several copies in our office. Whenever we travel overseas, we always bring the movie and give it out as gifts. It is a very well put together synopsis of this important issue yet it’s done in a way that makes it very palatable to many people who might otherwise feel the issue is too complicated to grasp. There is a lot of science there, but you don’t have to be a scientist to get it. The face of the green movement is young and enthusiastic. In fact, the Emerging Green Builder program that we run through the USGBC-NY Chapter is one of the most successful programs we offer and this is in large part due to the young volunteers who are so passionate about sustainability. Therefore we like to lecture as much as we can at both colleges and universities and to students as well as faculty. It’s important to reach out to the next generation of doers and leaders and focus their awareness on this issue.

Interview with Peter I. Weingarten, from FXFOWLE Architects