Developers see the light.

Developers cultivating the large-scale, environmentally friendly buildings spurting up all over Manhattan may be tapping into more than one type of green.

"Green buildings," have become a strong enough recent trend in the past decade that developers are able to nourish deep-rooted desires to protect the environment, while charging rates of up to 20% higher than non-green buildings from buyers.

Douglas Durst, CEO of the Durst Organization, a pioneer in the development of green buildings, said that although rents are higher in The Helena, an energy-efficient condo complex his company opened in 2005, "We never have any trouble filling apartments in a building like that. Whenever an apartment becomes available, we rent it up almost immediately. We have a waiting list."

According to a recent survey by Mortgage Lenders Network, 94% of Americans also prefer to work in a building that is designed to be energy efficient and ecologically sound and employers and developers are now responding to that demand en masse.

The U.S. Green Building Council has seen its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications for newly-constructed green buildings jump in the past three years by 150%, from 167 to 417.

The Council's LEED certification is the only national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings and the industry rates itself according to the LEED system, usually striving for ratings of gold or silver from LEED.

LEED certified buildings are those that cut energy costs, eliminate waste, and mix green materials such as those that recycle old water into their building's systems. These could include anything from solar panels to bamboo floors, to rainwater storage tanks and lush grassy roofs.

In line with the national trend, the buildings are spurting like wildflowers across the city. There are currently at least seven large-scale green buildings in Manhattan, and many more in the pipeline.

The under-construction 1,540,000 s/f New York Times Building on West 40th Street is a pioneering project that, among many innovative eco-friendly designs has a "sunscreen" on the building's facade made of ceramic rods designed to absorb heat, thus reducing climate control costs in the building.

Durst's 4 Times Square was recognized as the first high-rise green office tower in the United States, according to Douglas Durst.

Trying to one up themselves, Durst broke ground on the 1.1 million s/f Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, set for completion in 2008. The building promises to be the largest, most advanced, environmentally responsible building in the world, according to Durst.

It will contain a thermal storage at the cellular level which produces ice at night when electricity rates are the lowest, green roofs, and a 95% air filtration system.

The most elaborate part of the setup will be a gray-water filtration system which captures and re-uses rain water and wastewater which is expected to save up to four million gallons of water per year. The building is expected to be completed in 2008.

Durst is just one developer who has found that, once he started, he couldn't stop building green. In addition to the BOA building, the Durst Organization is currently building the condominium complex, Epic West, on 31st street, and a second-home community in upstate New York.

"These buildings endure and don't become obsolete, and it preserves the environment for future generations," he said. "We don't build any other way any more."

Many other companies have found this domino affect in their businesses. Carlton A. Brown, chief operating officer at Full Spectrum, LLC, began the creation of the organization's new project, the Kalahari, a 250 unit condominium complex on 116th street, after creating several other green buildings in Harlem and working alongside other development corporations, such as the Albanese Organization, which built the Solaire, a 290-unit luxury rental building in Battery Park City.

"The US Green Building Council has been real active in trying to make sure that we are in dialogue with each other and that we learn from each other and from our past experiences," Brown said. "It is a good strategy for dealing with air quality in the city, particularly in areas like Harlem where you see health problems developing due to the air quality such as an elevated asthma rate."

Though Brown expects the high end of the mixed-income housing at the Kalahari will bring a 20% premium sales price above what other similar scale projects bring in, he is one developer who believes deeply that environmental benefits of green apartments appeal to people at a deeper level.

"As a city, as a community, as a country we have to consider leaving a smaller environmental footprint in the sand," Brown said.

"A lot of people don't feel they have a choice but to leave a big footprint. And this kind of building offers people a choice."

The trend toward building green comes as no surprise to Jim Smith, senior director of real estate and facilities at Mortgage Lenders Network who is spearheading construction efforts for MLN's $75 million eco-friendly headquarters in Wallingford, CT, with an eye toward earning LEED certification.

But Smith said MLN's green building strategy is about more than just keeping employees happy and healthy.

"MLN is looking beyond the common benefits of green buildings--employee retention, fewer illnesses and increased productivity--and seeking to influence employees and customers to live and build green in order to increase environmental sustainability," said Smith. "Energy independence is the first step toward financial independence. A greater reliance on sustainable resources will help pave the way."

One example of MLN's drive toward energy efficiency is The Founder's Cottage at its new headquarters which will feature technology allowing it to produce as much energy as it uses through solar panels and hydraulic power.