Back by popular demand — Intervale Green in the Bronx!

Saturday’s on BambiGoesGreen will bring more information/pictures/details about the stories that you the reader loved most during the week.

This week’s Saturday Recap features this video of Intervale Green. The Intervale Green complex, on Intervale Avenue between Freeman Street and Louis Niñe Boulevard, an infamous strip of South Bronx urban blight, is a new, green, low-income housing development. The building, developed by the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation, or Whedco, a Bronx nonprofit group, opened to qualified low-income residents in February, and has filled about a third of its 128 apartments. Designed with a large, glass-windowed lobby, two green roofs and a sculpture-filled courtyard, the development, tasteful, sparkling and eco-friendly, could give many cookie-cutter luxury buildings a run for their money.

Reader Shirah from the University of Vermont wrote to me:

“It is wonderful to hear of green building projects in the cities, where it is the most visible to thousands of people every day. I think it’s quite clever that there is a green roof on it, as a visual reminder of it’s mission and goals. As cities grow more and populated, it is essential that we look to ways to create green housing that will be sustainable for our future. Here at the University of Vermont, (http://learn.uvm.edu/igs ) we realize that creating a more sustainable world is more obtainable when it becomes accessible and is encountered in a day to day basis.”

Thanks for the comment and information, Shirah!

Have your say! Drop me a comment any time and I may feature you on a Saturday Recap!

At Intervale Green in the Bronx, a green roof was chosen not only for its eco-friendly qualities but as a visual reminder of the building’s mission.

I’ve had several impressions of the green movement going into this project. Most of which are directly a result of me growing up in a low income family: green stuff is expensive — generic, no-name is cheaper. Sure, it’s also lower (lowest) quality, but when you have no money to spend, that seems to be your answer. I realize now that that’s not the way to think of it at all. You know what really costs money? Energy inefficiency!

Eco-friendly lightbulbs, while dimmer, save you money on electricity. Sure, they’re more expensive than standard 60-100 watt lightbulbs, but with them you can look forward to hours and hours of energy(and money) saving!

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