At Galapagos Art Space we believe that part of serving the community means embracing environmental responsibility head-on.
Winner of a 2009 Building Brooklyn Award, and current nominee for the Municipal Art Society’s MASterwork Award, Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO is on target to become New York City's first LEED certified 'green' cultural venue.
Why did we do it?
It's a privilege to work in the arts, and with that privilege comes responsibility. As cultural leaders we can’t simply be placeholders, bystanders in the midst of what others before us have built, we have to – in our time and during our careers - lead.
We believe there is a deep responsibility to lead, and - pun intended – if we are to lead – then LEED would seem to be a base level requirement every time a cultural project puts a shovel into the ground, or goes out to buy paint or wood.
We also wanted to prove something: if li’l-ole Galapagos Art Space can do it then so can any other performing arts facility, small business or building owner in New York City.
What did we do?
LEED is an internationally recognized certification system that measures how well a building or community performs across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, water efficiency, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to the impacts of their use or extraction.
To learn more about LEED certification, please visit the U.S. Green Building Council website.
To be a green building we:
- (The most fun first!) Built a 1600 square foot lake inside our building that wicks heat away in summer and transfers the warmth of the ground beneath our building up in the winter.
- We didn't destroy our building. The existing structure was retained in place: we didn't break the building and build a new one
- We installed hyper-efficient mechanical heating, cooling, and ventilation systems, creating a very low energy consumption building
- Occupancy sensors control our HVAC systems, so that when fewer people are in the space, the systems don’t work as hard, if they work at all.
- Our award winning lighting design is highly efficient (under .75 watts/ft, not including stage lighting)
- Materials were sourced and supplied locally (concrete, steel, etc.) and local craftsmen were employed for concreting, woodwork, and metalwork etc.
- Ventilation systems were designed to bring in substantially more outdoor air than required by code
- 30% of the poured content flooring, lake basin, mezzanine and walls are recycled content
- 100% of the steel used in the project is recycled
- Low water flow in bathrooms through use of efficient and motion-sensitive fixtures
- Low or no voc (smelly and off-gassing) adhesives and paint / epoxy were used
- All appliances used are energy star
- Hot water is heated with a energy-saving condensing hot water heater
- We used only reclaimed and sustainable (forest council certified) wood for our bar and stage
- Six flowering street trees were added!
- Was it hard? No, it wasn't hard. In fact - to be honest - it was very satisfying. You can do it too.
Contact us if you'd like to build something green. We'd be happy to share our experience.
- The Galapagos Art Space team!
