City slickers loving green life as sustainability goes mainstream.

Rotating louver. Frit glass. Greywater reclamation. Environmentally friendly building terminologies are no longer exclusively the domain of granola-crunching hippies building yurts and bomb shelters in upstate backyards. The language and technology has been tailored to entice high-end condominium buyers to developments projects across the city proving that green building has finally reached the mainstream New York residential market..

"Just a couple of years ago, the number one question we were asked when it came to green building was 'How much more does it cost?' People don't ask that question so much anymore, now what they want to know is 'What can I do?' They come in ready to incorporate green materials into their projects. That's a tremendous change," said Rick Cook, principal of Cook Plus Fox architects, which has designed several green luxury condos, including the Lucida, on the Upper East Side. Advertising has changed to reflect that receptiveness, too. More buildings are marketed to reflect their stamp of approval with the United States Green Building Council, the organization created in the late 1990's to set environmental friendly standards.

"LEED certification is becoming the 21st century equivalent of the Good Housekeeping seal," said George Aridas, senior vice president of the Albanese Organization, which pioneered the development of green residential towers in Battery Park City, with the Solaire, the Verdesian and the Visionaire. For some, green has become an easy selling platform. "When we first started selling the building, green was just one of the many aspects of our marketing campaign," said Monique Roeda, of the Sheldrake Organization which is currently building The Riverhouse, a 32-story green condominium in Battery Park City that is expected to score Platinum LEED certification. "Later, inquiries started coming in specifically about green materials and technologies. As a result, over the past few months we have slowly begun tailoring specific ad campaigns to break down some of those elements, and using marketing to reinforce the green lifestyle. It's a soft sell."

For others, green elements provide a hook to draw clients who have ventured through the sales door because they were attracted to other aspects of the properties.

"You don't necessarily see people walking in with a lot of knowledge of green features. But after they come in, we have sales reps who have a lot of training and can educate them about the different aspects of the technologies. They can say, this is not just an ionic air filter, but this is how an ionic air filter will effect you," said Andrea Mignone, senior project manager with Marketing Directors Inc. of the Ryness Corporation, which is currently marketing the Kalahari, a green, African themed luxury condominium in Harlem.

"If you are looking at two luxury condos and see one is going to give you healthful air quality, that becomes a helpful deciding factor," added Mignone.

To that end, many sales offices have begun creating integrated educational and promotional materials for their buyers. Potential buyers at the Riverhouse are given a 64 page magazine called 02, which was created in lieu of a brochure and contains tips on living a healthy green lifestyle and includes maps of local green businesses in the Battery Park City area.

Consumers are not the only ones who have become more sophisticated. Sales agents at the Riverhouse attend special sessions given by both a LEED consultant and a green consultant which include lessons on the various technologies inside the building.

Developers and architects have been consistent in trying to improve upon their prototypes to one-up their LEED certification status and innovate fresh green concepts. Albanese is striving to build on the models it created for the Verdesian and the Solaire and gain Platinum certification for the Visionaire.

Cook+Fox is in the initial stages of designing a project on the Upper East Side that will create a "fiercely green living environment," through new and old technologies.

"When it comes to buying property, people are beginning to realize what direction we are heading and are more apt to go green. They are starting to understand, 'Why would I want to buy something that will be obsolete shortly'," Cook said.