Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon visited the 555 Greenwich construction site in Hudson Square this week as part of a U.S. tour by the European monarch.
The high-performing office tower is being developed by Hudson Square Properties – a joint venture of Hines, Trinity Church Wall Street and Norges Bank Investment Management, a division of the central bank of Norway.
The skyscraper will be a benchmark for sustainable and responsible development by exceeding New York City’s 2030 climate targets for office buildings by over 45 percent while meeting NYS 2050 carbon neutral targets.
Crown Prince Haakon visited the site as part of a four-day US tour focused on promoting Norwegian cultural and business interests, climate and energy issues.
555 Greenwich will be a 16-story, 270,000 s/f office building connected on nearly every floor with the adjacent 345 Hudson Street. The project was designed by COOKFOX Architects will be one of the city’s most sustainable buildings. It is being built with low-carbon emissive mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and below-grade geothermal piles. The building will also be the first new office building to utilize its concrete superstructure for thermal energy storage.
It is expected to achieve LEED Platinum-certification and is an official partner of the NYSERDA Empire Building Challenge, a partnership of private and public leaders in the climate change technology space aiming to create a replicable model that permanently and drastically reduces carbon emissions in the New York real estate sector.
“When we talk about reducing greenhouse gas emissions 85% by 2050, this is the type of investment we are talking about, we’re talking about a transformation for the better for all New Yorkers and frankly, for the world,” said Doreen Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), during the Prince’s visit.
Tommy Craig, senior managing director of Hines, added, “Change is something that is often overestimated in the near term, but underestimated in the long term. Getting that right as we move forward from design to construction is never easy and it is my belief that 555 Greenwich will prove we have it right in terms of the long-term change.
“This is all thanks to the thinking that came out of our Hudson Square partnership team as well as our design and engineering professionals, all of which have been a vital force in every part of this project.”
Sujohn Sarkar (Managing Director of Asset Management, Trinity Church)
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