Building to beat asthma.

Many buildings in the US are failing their residents, becoming containers for polluted air that cause health problems as mild as a light headache and as serious as asthma.

Because HRH Construction builds multifamily projects worth a total of approximately $500 million each year, we are very interested in helping solve this problem. In fact, we recently completed a project in a hard-hit neighborhood that helps to do just that.

Air pollution in American homes can be two to five times higher than outdoor levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In part because of this indoor air pollution, nearly 75 percent of Americans live with someone who has allergies, asthma, emphysema or another respiratory illness.

In central Harlem, one of every four children has asthma, one of the highest rates ever documented for an American neighborhood, according to The New York Times.

This catastrophic outlook for many children in Harlem has us questioning how we can make improvements in the lives of our city's children so that they can spend their early years on the playground, instead of in a hospital bed. One way to help reduce the rates of asthma in neighborhoods like Central Harlem is to build "green." Truly green buildings are energy efficient, but they are also healthy for their users.

One of the most important ways in which green buildings are superior to traditional structures is indoor air quality.

Green construction uses the most advanced systems to clean the air and improve living conditions within the building, as well as without. And for many in Harlem, that can mean a reduced likelihood of asthma, and fewer asthma attacks for those who already have it. When we built 1400 on Fifth, a $40-million residential apartment building in Harlem, we created the first affordable multi-family complex using environmentally sustainable practices in Harlem.

It is also one of the very first such buildings in the New York area as a whole.

The developer responsible for this innovative development is Full Spectrum of NY, LLC.

At 1400 on Fifth we installed a specialized air filtration system that minimizes small airborne particles that are potential allergens, and which stimulate asthma attacks.

Air filtration systems that improve indoor air quality are especially important for those homes whose owners don't change the filter on their heating and cooling system every two to three months, as is recommended.

About 50 percent of Americans fail to do this, and many have never replaced the filter at all, not even once, according to The American Lung Association.

There will never be a scientific study to prove children living in 1400 on Fifth suffer less from asthma. However, the value of creating such a building is clear.

At HRH Construction, we hope to work on many more such projects in the future.

GREG CUNEO, CHAIRMAN, HRH CONSTRUCTION