Audubon is once again in the vanguard of green office design and operations. The organization's new home office, located at 225 Varick Street in New York City's West Village, was designed to meet today's demanding LEED® certification standards and can serve as a model of conservation excellence in the workplace for other organizations and businesses.
The 25,000 square foot loft-style office includes innovative systems that will ensure greater energy efficiency, responsible waste management and reduced water consumption. It features an open, airy floor plan and large windows on all sides, allowing natural light and a great view of a historical neighborhood.
From its furniture to HVAC systems, Audubon's new green office incorporates a wide array of sustainable features, including:
- Materials made with a high level of recycled content wood that is either salvaged or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which supports sustainable growing practices
- Low flow and automatic fixtures, reduces water usage
- An underfloor air distribution system utilizes the natural buoyancy of air to heat and cool the space
- Indirect lighting fixtures, low-wattage bulbs, and a daylight harvesting system that automatically adjusts to daylight all help achieve a greater level of energy efficiency
- Use of cork and bamboo, to support the use of rapidly renewable resources
- Most materials used in creating the space came from within a 500-mile radius, to reduce transportation costs and thus minimize pollution.
Audubon's last home office - at 700 Broadway- is considered to be the first "green building in NYC". It was converted in the early 1990's prior to the establishment of LEED certification standards. Audubon applied its lessons learned from 700 Broadway to create what is likely to rank as the city's greenest, leased office space.
"We believe that what we've done here, in a leased space, will be a model that can be replicated by more and more businesses and organizations. It certainly delivers on Audubon's responsibility to have a cost-effective, quality workplace that aligns with our environmental values…"
- John Flicker, Audubon President & CEO.
