By Brett Rosenberg
October 17, 2005

The Solaire: New York City’s First Green Residential Building

Susan Kaplan of the Battery Park City Authority in New York, and Dr. Andrew Higgins of American Water’s Applied Water Management Group discussed what is touted as the nation’s first “Green” high-rise residential tower. In their presentation during the 2005 Urban Water Summit, “Innovative Green Building Water Reuse – First in New York City – First in the Nation,” Kaplan and Higgins described The Solaire, a new building that features a wastewater treatment and reuse system, a stormwater reuse system, and numerous water conservation strategies and technologies that make it unique among urban residential water users.

As the first LEED-Certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – the widely-accepted authority in accrediting “Green” buildings), The Solaire boasts an array of pioneering strategies for reducing a structure’s environmental footprint. In addition to the LEED Gold certification, the building also adheres to environmental guidelines set forth by the Battery Park City Authority entailing energy conservation; indoor environmental quality; materials use and conservation; operation and maintenance; and water conservation and site management.

With regard to its water and wastewater use, the 27-story 293-unit Solaire treats all of its wastewater on site, in a treatment and reuse system built into the building’s basement. According to Higgins and Kaplan, processed water from the building’s wastewater treatment system – up to 25,000 gallons per day – is then used for the building’s cooling tower, to flush toilets, and for irrigating the adjacent park. Additionally, special fixtures and gardens on the building’s roof collect stormwater, store it in a 10,000 gallon tank in the basement, and use it for irrigation.

Treatment systems for wastewater, known as blackwater, and stormwater are rarely found in urban residential settings. Kaplan noted that “Having a water treatment plant in the basement of a high end residential building is truly amazing.” She continued, “People don’t want one in their neighborhood, but here it is in the basement…and no one has a problem with it.” Part of the reason for this, according to Kaplan, is possibly the residents’ understanding that this strategy is a positive contribution to global water conservation efforts.

The high tech treatment plant itself doesn’t hurt either. It consists of a collection tank, biological treatment, osmotic filtration, ultraviolet disinfection, and ozone treatment to remove any remaining color and pathogens. The system requires minimal supervision, Higgins said, with an operator on site only twice a week for cleaning and equipment testing. Otherwise, American Water provides 24-hour monitoring, and in case of emergency, the building has a fail-safe system that seamlessly reverts to the normal New York City water and sewer systems.

These strategies, as well as low flow toilets and water and energy-efficient appliances have led the New York Water Board to propose a 25 percent rate decrease for developments like The Solaire that reduce and reuse water. All told, the building consumes 50 percent less potable water than a traditional building of comparable size.

As the Urban Water Council’s 2005 Urban National Urban Water Survey suggests, American cities are facing water shortages in the coming decades unless they find new water sources or somehow extend the use of what they currently have. Among the more unsung but innovative trends in water conservation is the use of automated water meter reading. At the 2005 Urban Water Summit in Albuquerque, Joe O’Connor and Tom Pautz of Honeywell Utility Solutions, and Pam Malone of Itron, Inc., demonstrated the benefits of automated metering in their presentation, “Comparing Innovative Solutions to Modernizing Metering Technology – Akron (OH) and Augusta (GA).”

According to the speakers, automated meter reading uses remote sensing technology to gauge water flowing through specialized leak-proof pipe fittings at residential and commercial establishments. It promotes conservation through accurately accounting for all the water that comes from a treatment plant. Additionally, it enhances the water utility’s ability to operate more economically through reducing distribution system-wide water loss and labor costs. O’Connor put it more succinctly: “The premise is that greater accuracy means better accounting of water use, which means greater revenue for the utility.”

Honeywell and Itron have worked with the cities of Akron and Augusta to update meters and the related customer services. According to Pautz, “customers are the key to success,” therefore, through a high level of service and real-time information availability, a city can maintain an excellent water accounting and conservation system while the mayor has one less thing to worry about.