1931 Lafayette
Location: Bronx, NY
Client: Gilbane, Strada Ventures LLC, CUCS
Type: Affordable and Supportive Housing
Size: 402,414 SF
Units: 344
1931 Lafayette – North Tower is a 21-story, fully electrified, 137-unit building that will provide a mix of supportive and affordable housing in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx. It is the first phase of a planned two-phase, 100% affordable development comprising two residential towers and will certify through Enterprise Green Communities and Passive House International (PHI). The building will feature an efficient prefabricated exterior unitized curtain wall system that optimizes performance, saves construction time and costs, and reduces embodied carbon.
Triple-pane, low-e thermally-broken aluminum windows with shading frame projections will be integrated into the wall assembly and will reduce solar heat gain. The building will also feature unitized package terminal heat pumps (PTHPs) and a rooftop solar photovoltaic array, as well as planted terraces and green roofs. This last measure will help to mitigate the heat island effect, which is critical given the site’s location in an area with a heat vulnerability index (HVI) score of 4 out of 5.
The team will also explore cost-effective embodied carbon reductions throughout, including through the incorporation of sustainable, healthy materials. Low embodied carbon materials and products that avoid chemicals on the Red List, a resource that compiles substances with serious risks to human health and the environment and includes many fossil fuels and fossil fuel-derived chemicals, will be evaluated, tracked and incorporated as deeply as financially feasible. Cost-neutral changes will be Red List Free, with high-touch materials prioritized, demonstrating that reduced carbon emissions and improvements to material safety need not derive from expensive products or drastic modifications.
The building will also be equipped with a backup generator that is larger than required by code with the capacity to power the community room, which acts as an Shelter in Place Area for residents in case of emergencies and includes power for refrigerators and electrical outlets.
