Green’ Architects are Seeing Red

When it comes to creating environmentally correct buildings, what was old is new again.
Today’s hottest trend in architecture is “building green,” a concept that merges environmental sensibility with the hard realities of modern construction. And the green movement is not limited to country homes in picturesque, woodsy settings. New ecology-minded apartment and commercial towers have begun appearing in such hardcore urban landscapes as New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

Just as surprising, developers have found that the steel-and-glass skyscrapers enamored by science fiction writers and big-name “starchitects” project the wrong image for structures with environmental attitude. Buyers and tenants, it turns out, prefer earth tones and natural accents in their earth-friendly abodes. To achieve this look, architects and builders frequently turn to one of the oldest, and certainly the “earthiest” of materials - brick.

“There are few man-made materials more appropriate than brick for sustainable building,” says Dick Jennison, chief executive of the Brick Industry Association (www.gobrick.com). “It’s an all-natural product to begin with and it can be completely recycled when its use has ended. But brick also has the right look and feel for projects that are designed to be in harmony with the environment.”
Brick is considered a green or “sustainable” building material because it embodies a number of environmental qualities. It is made from clay and shale - two virtually inexhaustible natural materials, it has a long lifespan, requires little maintenance, is virtually impervious to weathering and decay, and is almost totally recyclable.

Building green began as a grassroots movement among architects and other industry professionals hoping to restore a sense of civic responsibility to the way modern buildings utilize energy materials, and even the land they are sited on - before, during and long after construction.

In New York City alone, nearly two dozen environmentally engineered apartment and commercial towers are currently under construction. The first of these, the 26-story, 293-unit Solaire, reached full occupancy just six months after it opened. It is the nation’s first residential high-rise to earn Gold LEED status under the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system recognizing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Like many of today’s greenest buildings, the Solaire incorporates red brick in its facade. Marty Dettling, project manager during the building’s construction, noted however, “It’s not just environmental criteria that determines which materials you choose. Brick has always been used and it always will be used - take a look at how many other buildings in New York City are made of brick.”