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March 31, 2023Rosenblum Development’s 1818 Fifth Ave in Troy Wins $1M NYSERDA Prize
Rosenblum Development Corporation has been selected as a winner of a $1 million award in Round Three of the Buildings of Excellence Competition, administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), for the development of a net-zero emitting multifamily building. The competition supports Governor Kathy Hochul’s nation-leading climate goals outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act), which place New York state on a path to economy-wide carbon neutrality and mandates an 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Rosenblum Development’s winning project encompasses replacing a vacant, suburban-style former bank branch and surface parking lot at 1818 Fifth Avenue in the historic downtown of Troy, New York, with the City’s first zero-emission multifamily building. This new but contextually appropriate four-story market-rate building will provide 70 micro, studio and one-bedroom apartments as well as robust communal amenities including coworking space and heated indoor bicycle storage in a highly walkable, transit-oriented location. Micro units, which are smaller than traditional studios but similarly appointed will be available for a target monthly rent approximately 30% lower than the average asking rate of apartments in the region, addressing an unmet need for more affordable market-rate single occupancies.
1818 5th Avenue will use fully electrified systems including heat pumps for space conditioning and energy recovery ventilation combined with an air-tight building envelope, smart building controls, and a planned rooftop solar PV array to achieve Passive House Institute U.S. (Phius) CORE certification. In addition to eliminating fossil fuels from operations, the building’s embodied carbon is reduced by using all wood construction and low carbon materials like sub-slab foam glass aggregate insulation. Superior acoustic performance, air quality and disease resistance, beneficial by-products of passive house construction, ensure resident comfort despite the concentrated floor plans and urban environs.
“The 1818 Fifth Avenue project exemplifies our company’s core focus on creating and sustaining greener, healthier spaces that build stronger communities,” said Jeff Mirel, a Principal of Rosenblum Development. “We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with NYSERDA and leverage the support from the Buildings of Excellence competition to model more people-centric, financially sustainable, high-performance housing.”
To successfully execute the project, Rosenblum Development assembled a team with Balzer & Tuck Architecture as lead designer and Sustainable Comfort, Inc. (SCI) in the dual roles of Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC) and NYSERDA Primary Energy Consultant (PEC) that combines regional multifamily design experience and passive house expertise. Balzer & Tuck and Rosenblum worked together previously on two award-winning, multifamily infill projects in downtown Troy, The News Apartments and Vicina – Modern Urban Flats. Aries Power, an Albany-area distributed generation development company that has worked with Rosenblum on all of its solar installations to date, is the Solar PV Project Manager.
The Buildings of Excellence Competition, launched in March 2019, is a $48 million initiative that has awarded 63 projects to date – 56 exemplary new construction demonstration projects and seven early stage design projects. It is the only competition of its kind, with the awarded projects becoming part of a comprehensive data collection effort that will help determine how to cost-effectively deliver superior performing buildings that will serve as an essential building block of a carbon-neutral future and advance the design and construction of multi-family buildings. The 1818 Fifth Avenue is Rosenblum’s second Buildings of Excellence project — a net zero market-rate multi-family building to be constructed at the company’s Great Oaks Office
Park in Guilderland, New York was selected as a winner in Round Two of the competition.
NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “NYSERDA is pleased to support the Rosenblum Development Corporation project team with a Buildings of Excellence Round Three award as they bring their zero-emissions vision to life, providing affordable energy-efficient living spaces in the Capital Region. Their commitment to sustainable building practices is helping advance climate-friendly building stock that utilizes the latest materials and equipment while electrifying building systems and incorporating on-site renewable energy.”
For a complete list of the winning projects statewide, please visit NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence website
