The future of affordable housing must be climate-friendly, and it must provide a model for community living that is splendid and racially just. How can the lessons of Via Verde help shape the future of green social housing in the United States?
On Thursday, March 18, we had a dynamic discussion on the future of green social housing with a focus on lessons learned from our award-winning project, Via Verde! Sponsored by UPenn and Pratt Institute, Dattner Architects’ Senior Consulting Principal William Stein was joined by Jonathan Rose (President, Jonathan Rose Companies), Jessica Clemente (CEO, WE STAY/Nos Quedamos), Karen Kubey (Visiting Associate Professor, Pratt Institute), Nikil Saval (State Senator, Pennsylvania’s First District), and Daniel Aldana Cohen (Director of the Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative, UPenn).
Find a video recording of the event here: https://vimeo.com/527101000
Via Verde is an affordable, sustainable residential development providing healthy, urban living in the South Bronx. The winning entry in the New Housing New York Legacy Competition, it reflects a public commitment to create the next generation of social housing.
Sustainability and longevity were key drivers at Via Verde, enabling the project to become a stable precedent and archetype for future subsidized housing in New York. Using standard, cost-effective structural systems and a prefabricated, high-performance rain screen, the project was able to achieve lofty goals within its strict budget. Its 66 kW building-integrated photovoltaic system, onsite cogeneration, green roof, community vegetable gardens, green interior finishes, rainwater harvesting and drought tolerant vegetation helped the complex achieve LEED NC Gold certification.
