Global Green grants Albanese annual design award

Real Estate Weekly,  Jan 2, 2008  

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Pioneer green real estate developer, The Albanese Organization, was honored last month with the Green Building Design award at the 8th Annual Designing a Sustainable and Secure World Awards at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Battery Park City.

"I am honored to receive this award on behalf of The Albanese Organization," said Russell Albanese, president of The Albanese Organization. "Our journey toward green development began almost eight years ago, and we have been blessed with the opportunity to meet and work with visionary leaders and organizations that have helped shape the focus of our company and the way we think about green design."

The awards embody the environmental spirit and vision of Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Global Green USA. Created in 1994, the awards are meant to celebrate the success and courage of extraordinary individuals, companies and organizations that recognize the connection between humankind and nature.

The Albanese Organization was honored for being a leader in sustainable development in New York City. The company pioneered green residential development in 2003 with the completion of the first green residential building in North America, The Solaire, which received Gold LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Albanese Organization has since completed a second green residential tower, The Verdesian, and is currently developing its greenest residential project to date, The Visionaire. The projects, all located in Battery Park City, have helped create a market for green residential buildings.

Designed by Pelli Clark Pelli Architects, The Visionaire has been designed and engineered to qualify for Platinum LEED rating and is scheduled for completion fall 2008.

The Visionaire will provide residents with high-end finishes and amenities while offering innovative sustainable and energy-saving features such as a high-efficiency air filtration system that conditions, filters and supplies fresh air into each unit and a water treatment system that recycles water and provides make-up water for the HVAC system cooling tower.

Other Global Green award winners included Discovery Communications, Inc. honored for Media and Entertainment Design; Pratt Industries, Inc., honored for Industrial Design; Shaklee Corporation, honored for Organizational Design; and Scott Seydel, president of EvCO Research, LLC, and chairman of the board for Global Green USA, recipient of the Founders Award.

Presenters included Katie Couric, actresses Glenn Close and Kyra Sedgwick, model Josie Maran, actor Josh Lucas and playwright Eve Ensler. Special guest Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Global Green USA President Matt Peterson offered remarks.

"For the first time, all of our honorees are leaders from the corporate world," said Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green USA. "In a year when an unprecedented number of companies are deciding on going green, American companies should look to this year's award winners and the innovative results they have achieved through a balanced approach to sustainability which have also proven to be profitable."

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