For
John Billone Jr., incorporating environmental values into his commercial
practices is no conflict at all — it’s simply good business. The Flower City
Management developer had this in mind when he began making plans to renovate
the Medical Arts Building at 277 Alexander Street as a mixed-use facility. The
10-story building, constructed in 1929 to house doctors’ offices, will include
retail shops, office space, and high-end apartments by the time renovations are
complete.
Among
the new high-technology features Billone is adding to the Art Deco structure is
a geothermal heating and cooling system that’s expected to dramatically slash
the amount of energy the building consumes. Construction on the system, which
is taking place in the building’s back parking lot, is nearly finished. It consists
of about 70 narrow holes, each sunk 240 feet into the underlying bedrock. The
temperature of a water and anti-freeze mixture pumped into the ground will be
moderated about 10 degrees by the underlying dolomite and shale, and pumped
back into the building, heating it in winter and cooling it in summer.
“There
was the obvious [factor] of the environmentally right thing to do,” says
Billone about pursuing geothermal technology for the Medical Arts Building. The
second reason he gives displays his business savvy more openly: “Certainly the
savings in energy costs; the benefits we can pass on to our tenants.”
The
Environmental Protection Agency estimates that this type of geoexchange system
is 40 percent more efficient than heat pumps that use air, 48 percent more than
gas furnaces, and 75 percent more efficient than oil-burning furnaces,
according to figures provided by Billone.
Those
figures account for fuel burned at electricity-generating plants to operate the
system’s pumps. He estimates that the energy cost savings will pay for the
price of the system in about five years. Add to that the possibility of about
$60,000 in rebates from the New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority, and the result is a financial picture that’s downright rosy. “I
don’t see any downside to it, honestly,” Billone says.
He’s
hoping potential customers see it the same way. But in a metropolitan area
where commercial and residential tenants tend to move ever outward in search of
greener pastures (often literally), can a greener building lure anyone back
into the Rochester’s urban core? Billone believes the market’s there. “We know
that we’ll attract people to this building,” he says. “I’m getting all kinds of
calls.” He adds “From what I’m seeing people are becoming more conscientious
about environmental buildings.”
And
with the revival of night life and a resurgence of market-rate housing in the
East End, Billone downplays the notion that the city is an unattractive
location compared to the suburbs. “I think there is a lot going on in the
city,” he says. “It’s only going to get better. We get a lot of calls from
people selling homes in the suburbs and moving back into the city. The city’s
got so much to offer.”
In
addition to environmentally friendly residents, Billone also hopes to “attract
businesses that appreciate green technology.” If he succeeds, he doesn’t think
he’ll be alone in the green commercial space market for long: “I think you’ll
find more developers taking an interest in it because it’s the right thing to
do,” he says.
While
it’s too early to tell if commercial tenants will be drawn by the new
improvements, other groups have noticed. The Medical Arts Building is one of
only three buildings in the area to be registered with the Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design program of the US Green Building Council. A planned
City of Rochester Water Authority building and a Frito-Lay project in Henrietta
round out the local list.
Frito-Lay
will likely be completed (and receive its LEED certification) first, Billone
says, but adds “Hopefully, if things go right we’ll be the first residential
mixed-use building in Rochester” to receive the distinction.
The
Medical Arts Building will also be showcased this weekend as one of four tours
available to delegates of “Energy 2004.” The national energy expo is being held
in Rochester by the US Department of Energy from August 8 to 11 to promote
energy efficiency and sustainable and renewable energy use. Other tours include
the Greater Rochester International Airport’s wind and co-generation plant, the
Niagara Power Project, and a biomass plant in Dunkirk.
This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2004.
