NEW YORK CITY—Sixth Avenue has now surpassed Park Avenue for the most LEED-EB certified buildings in Manhattan. LEED-EB is the designation for existing buildings that meet the standards for sustainability and energy efficiency set forth by the USGBC.
Sixth Avenue moved ahead of Park Avenue with the recent LEED certification for 1271 Avenue of the Americas (also known as the Time & Life Building), a 2.1 million-sq.-ft. class-A building owned by The Rockefeller Group. In addition to breaking a tie, 1271 Avenue of the Americas—which earned certification as LEED-EB Silver—moved the West Side ahead of the East Side for the most LEED-EB buildings by a margin of one.
To date, only 37 buildings in Manhattan have qualified for LEED-EB certification. By comparison, there are more than 1,650 office buildings alone below 59th Street in Manhattan, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. By that measure, existing buildings are likely to make the most significant contribution to sustainability initiatives in the near future, primarily through reductions in energy consumption.
An analysis of Manhattan’s existing buildings with LEED certification shows a high concentration of larger office buildings accounting for a significant portion of the total, with at least 18 of the 37 buildings larger than 1.0 million sq. ft. The Rockefeller Group owns two of the five largest, 1221 Avenue of the Americas (approximately 2.7 million sq. ft.) and 1271 Avenue of the Americas (approximately 2.1 million sq. ft.).