“A landmark and a symbol of the city’s commitment to energy independence and environmental sustainability” – Holcim Awards Jury

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    Project entry 2008 North America - "Solar 2 Green Energy, Arts and Educational Center, New York, USA": Light, ventilation and electricity.

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    Holcim Awards Gold 2008 North America: (l-r) Dennis Trudeau, Christopher Collins

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    Holcim Awards Gold 2008 North America (foreground, l-r): Rolf Soiron, Chairman of Holcim and of the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation; winning team members Nigel Nicholls, Colin Cathcart and Christopher Collins; Adèle Naudé Santos, Head of Regional Holcim Awards Jury and Dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning; Benoît-H. Koch, Member of the Executive Committee of Holcim Ltd.

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    Holcim Awards Gold 2008 North America: (l-r) Dennis Trudeau, Christopher Collins, Nigel Nicholls and Colin Cathcart.

The unique strength of the “Solar 2” Green Energy, Arts & Education Center project will be its tremendous impact on public awareness concerning sustainable development in general, and sustainable construction in particular. The zero net-energy facility to be realized on a “brownfield” waterfront site in downtown Manhattan will be the first carbon-neutral building in the City of New York, producing all the energy it uses. Therefore, it will become a landmark and a symbol of the city’s commitment to energy independence and environmental sustainability.

Last updated: July 01, 2013 Cambridge, MA, USA

The elegant building enclosed in a green envelope will convincingly demonstrate, at the very limits of what is possible, the actual state-of-the-art with regard to the use of sustainable materials, photovoltaic technology, geothermal exchange wells, natural lighting and ventilation. All the technical features will be shown and explained in a public exhibition. Through a highly-sophisticated monitoring system the effects of the different technologies as well as of the impacts of the surrounding conditions will be made visible.

In addition, the interplay between our everyday choices and behavior and the consumption of energy and resource will be exhibited. Public stakeholders will be enticed to visit the “Solar 2” center by various cultural activities such as free art, dance and music performances. All in all, an extremely effective and easily transferable way to communicate to people how one might personally contribute to the solution of future energy and climatic challenges.