FXFOWLE pioneer addresses Greenbuild event.

Peter Weingarten, AIA, LEED, senior associate of FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS, PC, addressed attendees at The Greenbuild International Conference & Expo on November 10th in Atlanta, Georgia with an analysis of urban multi-unit housing developments.

FXFOWLE has designed and constructed a number of residential high-rise projects in New York at various levels of LEED certification. The program, entitled 4 Shades of Green, was a study of four of the projects, collectively representing over 1,800 units of housing and an investment of more than $500 million in sustainable construction. These projects provide a unique chance to understand the opportunities, constraints and fiscal implications of applying the LEED rating system to this building type.

FXFOWLE led the team of professionals that wrote the sustainable guidelines for residential development for the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority in New York City. Based on those guidelines, buildings have been designed to LEED levels within the public/private development to date. In addition to the buildings at Battery Park City, the presentation analyzed three of the firm's large scale residential projects in construction or recently completed: The Mosaic, The Helena and St. Francis Tower.

All four buildings included in the analysis represent a meaningful shift in the residential market toward sustainable design. The projects, designed for different development teams, indicate recognition by the marketplace that green is good--not just for the environmental conscience, but also for the bottom line.

Weingarten co-authored the first comprehensive "green" guidelines for urban high-rise residential and commercial development in the country, for use by the Battery Park City Authority, and was the project architect for Syracuse University's new 165,000 s/f environmentally responsible School of Management, which was featured at the 2005 AIA NYS Convention. He is currently working on a series of residential projects in New York.

Weingarten joined the firm in 1998 and has been recognized for his design, management and marketing leadership of the 100-person firm. He is also a key member of FXFOWLE's "Team Green," a passionate advocate for environmental responsibility and a mentor to younger staff on the benefits of building green.

Weingarten sits on the board of the U.S. Green Building Council's New York Chapter.

He has been a featured speaker on sustainable development at EnvironDesign4 in Denver and at SmartDesign2 in Washington D.C., and taught "Introduction to Sustainability and High Performance Buildings" at the Baruch College Newman Real Estate Institute.

The Greenbuild Conference is organized annually by The U.S. Green Building Council, the national coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.