Beyond Via Verde - A Green Center for the South Bronx (New York: apartments, construction)

[Jack in the Bronx]

The Via Verde project will be a milestone for Melrose and the South Bronx and an inspiration for the entire City. The start of construction is scheduled for this summer.

The project is located across Brook Ave. from the rear of the Staples store. The north border of the site is E 156th Street and the south is E 153rd Street.

CITY OF NEW YORK AND AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS ANNOUNCE WINNER OF FIRST JURIED COMPETITION FOR SUSTAINABLE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

www.aiany.org/NHNY/ViaVerde_Panel1.pdf

The stretch of Bronx along Brook Ave from E 149th to E 163rd includes vacant land, a park, ballfields, some housing, the old Borough Courthouse, and Melrose Town Center. The latter is a 4.5-acre site that is currently under construction and will contain a college, over 700 apartments, 40,000 sf of retail space, and a pedestrian-only street (E 162).

There may be opportunities for expanding the environmentally progressive concepts being incorporated into Via Verde. That expansion can be both technical and geographic. The most immediate opportunity is the Bronx Borough Courthouse located on Third Avenue and E. 161st Street. That building will become the Bronx Academy of Promise, a charter school to be administered by the Urban Youth Alliance International (UYAI).

Next week, I will meet with Reverend Wendy Calderon Payne of the UYAI to discuss the integration of energy generating and conservation systems into the school building. We will tour the Via Verde site, the link along Brook Avenue, and the school. She is very interested in exploring the potential integration of education, environment, and energy (the "3Es") and how these aspects connect the school to Via Verde.

There are numerous energy generation and energy conservation systems that could be incorporated into the school building during its renovation.

The highly visible triangular area of land along Third Avenue at the front of the school building could be used to generate energy and make a strong envirionmental statement with vertical-axis wind turbines mounted on sculptural towers of varying heights.

The front of the building could also contain a well-head for an underground vertical geothermal loop system.

A gas-fired micro-turbine installed in the basement (in place of a standard boiler) can provide all the heating and has the ability to generate electricity. Micro turbines are very efficient fuel users.

Shade panels located near the roof garden and green roof can be covered with electric generating solar arrays.

Finally, the entire renovation should be built out to a high level LEED standard.

Ideally, an exhibition space in the lobby area would demonstrate the systems working in real time. The Bronx Academy of Promise can be a working showcase for these emerging technologies where both students and the visiting public can learn and be encouraged. Moreover, the Academy, along with Via Verde, can be the genesis of an "Urban Green Corridor" that addresses the global problems associated with carbon-based fuel, deforestation, urban pollution, and specific environmental issues that affect the South Bronx.

If you have additional or alternative ideas for establishing a connection between Via Verde and the school (and beyond into the Melrose Town Center project), please let me know.

Jack in the Bronx