Subway Stations Undergo Greening

[mark1447]

Underground spaces are more pleasant with natural light. Filtering light into these spaces, whether mezzanines, platforms, or other areas—is one of many green methods the MTA has incorporated into station design.

 

“My favorite shot is down on the platform—that light really is coming down, and it’s a wonderful thing,” said Judith Kunoff, chief architect of Capital Program Management for the MTA, motioning to a slide she was showing as part of a presentation. “And again you’ve got most of the people congregating right there, that’s where they’re most comfortable—that’s where the natural light is.”

 

As Kunoff explained on Wednesday at 2 Broadway, other initiatives include solar panels and green roofs.

 

A green roof on top of the East 180th Street station, about 1,500 square feet and visible from the Bronx Highway, has proven to need little maintenance, said Kunoff. Yet it both protects the roof membrane underneath and reduces heat inside the station.

 

After retrofitting, Mother Clara Hale Depot in Central Harlem between 147th Street and 148th Street will have a 66,000-square-foot green roof as well as a southern solar wall that will preheat air before it enters the building.

 

Above the Stillwell Avenue Subway Terminal, a 60,000-square-foot solar array produces 250 kilowatts of energy. The Gun Hill Road Bus Depot in the Bronx has one of the largest photovoltaic systems on the East Coast, producing 300 kilowatts.

 

The Corona Car Washer and Maintenance Facility, Queens, New York City Transit’s first LEED certified building, is replete with green features, such as a 100-kilowatt solar system.

 

“The most sustainable elements are natural light and natural ventilation,” said Thomas Abdallah, chief environmental engineer with the MTA. “At the Corona shop, they don’t have to turn on fans—actually the computers do that now—until it’s 85 degrees outside. The energy savings with this building, and a lot of Transit Authority buildings, are very energy efficient.”

 

Rainwater collection can help prevent overburdening the sewage system. New buildings and retrofitted buildings incorporate this feature, such as the Church Avenue station, currently being worked on. At the new station, rainwater will be funneled into special planters designed to hold water.

 

The Corona Car Washer and Maintenance Facility, Queens, New York City Transit’s first LEED certified building, is replete with green features, such as a 100-kilowatt solar system.

 

“The most sustainable elements are natural light and natural ventilation,” said Thomas Abdallah, chief environmental engineer with the MTA. “At the Corona shop, they don’t have to turn on fans—actually the computers do that now—until it’s 85 degrees outside. The energy savings with this building, and a lot of Transit Authority buildings, are very energy efficient.”

 

Rainwater collection can help prevent overburdening the sewage system. New buildings and retrofitted buildings incorporate this feature, such as the Church Avenue station, currently being worked on. At the new station, rainwater will be funneled into special planters designed to hold water.

 

Bill Henderson, president of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, said generally the authority has been doing a good job with environmental improvements.

 

“A lot of it is internally funded,” he pointed out. “There’s a payback to the improvements that they do, so they actually end up saving money, say some of the lighting they’ve done in Grand Central Terminal.”

 

Kurnoff, feels the future will bring more environmental improvements.

 

“If any of us are going to succeed in the future,” she said, “we have to embrace the environment.”

 

Photos and Source:

 

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[KeystoneRegional]

It's good to "green" even one of the greenest form of transportation on this globe. I am liking how the is going with this, Jay Walder and Joe Lhota and their collegues rocks!