Artist's
rendition of our future "green" Children's Center.
SIMHS
IS DEVELOPING
STATEN
ISLAND’S
FIRST
'GREEN' OFFICE BUILDING
The
Staten Island Mental Health Society is entering the home stretch
in developing the Island's first "green" office building,
which we expect to be completed in the fall of 2010.
After purchasing a vacant building at 444
St. Marks Place in St. George two years ago, we have been working
with a Green Team of builders, engineers, architects and geologists,
who are experts in green technology and design, with additional
support from Con Edison and the New York State Energy Resources
and Development Agency (NYSERDA), which serves in an advisory/consulting
capacity.
Why are we going green? An environmentally
friendly building complements our mission of safeguarding the future
of Staten Island through our work with children, and is also a model
of responsible building and design for Staten Island businesses,
including those in the not-for-profit sector.
The renovation of the three-story, 13,000 sq.
ft. building will cost $10 million. We are seeking LEED certification,
the national green building standard, for the structure. LEED is
an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The
exterior, interior, and infrastructure elements of LEED-certified
buildings are rated on a scale, depending on how many green technologies
are utilized to meet or surpass national industry standards.
Among the green building elements being
incorporated into the building modernization are geo-thermal heating
and cooling, via underground pipes and wells; solar roof panels
and a rooftop wind turbine system to generate electricity; solar
walls to provide pre-heated fresh air in winter; energy-efficient
lighting and occupancy sensors; porous paving material around the
building to absorb storm water runoff; window design to maximize
natural daylight throughout the building's interior; interior and
exterior insulation throughout and around the building; water-efficient
plumbing, including use of rainwater for toilets and waterless urinals;
and interior paint and furniture manufactured from environmentally
sound materials.
When the “green” Children’s
Center is ready, our four St. George-based programs, currently housed
in leased premises nearby, will be relocated there: Family Support,
a children's mental health program bolstered by support services
for their families; Family Resources, a child abuse prevention program;
and the North Shore offices of the Project for Academic Student
Success and Teen Center adolescent chemical dependency prevention
and treatment programs.
These programs serve approximately 1,000
Staten Island children and their families, through 20,000 visits,
each year. Consolidating the programs under one “green”
roof will benefit all, by providing services in a state-of-the-art,
environmentally friendly, energy-efficient Children’s Center.
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