The Andrew, a new rental development in Rego Park, was recently named the state’s “best performing building in a multifamily new construction four stories or greater” by Steven Winter Associates (SWA), a leading architectural, engineering research and consulting firm that specialized in making building more energy efficient.
After studying hundreds of buildings across New York over the past 15 years, SWA found that The Andrew has outperformed every building that SWA has ever worked on, performing over 50 percent more efficient than conventional non-Energy Star® construction and saving residents substantial funds. The Bluestone Organization, the real-estate development company that designed The Andrew attributes most of the cost savings to the building’s unique “envelope” design, which was created using an insulated concrete form (ICF) system that encloses the exterior of the building, greatly reducing cost for heat.
“While the ICF system has gained popularity across the country for its high performance attributes, namely superior air-tightness and insulation, it has only been used in a handful of New York City residential buildings with more than four units,” said Ryan Merkin, senior project manager of SWA. “The cost of building the ICF system was the same as that of a conventional building that has fewer sustainability features, so we know this design will set the standard for efficiency in the future.”
A 50-unit, multifamily rental building located at 65-54 Austin Street in Rego Park, The Andrew sets a new benchmark in energy savings according to lead developer Steven Bluestone of The Bluestone Organization. He hopes the design will revolutionize buildings in the 21st century in terms of helping the environment and saving residents money.
“We have received awards and certificates for The Andrew, but we adopted these practices primarily to save on energy costs for our residents and create a smaller carbon footprint,” said Bluestone. “Since green design does not require significant cost increases, we know that these practices will become more widespread for all new construction.”
