Downtown Brooklyn's skyline could be getting a new addition.
A new passive house skyscraper at the crossroads of State Street, Third Avenue, and Flatbush Avenue — called The Alloy Block — is expected to make it the most sustainable block in the New York City borough.
The new residential tower will shatter records by becoming the tallest passive house skyscraper in the world, said David McCarty, vice president of Alloy Development.
The company already completed New York City's first all-electric skyscraper and built two of the city's first passive house public schools. Now, it's setting its sights higher with the construction of a new residential tower that will shatter global records.
"In New York City, you know, the majority of our carbon emissions come from buildings. And as a result, if we're going to tackle climate change in New York City, we need to decarbonize our buildings," McCarty said.
In all, The Alloy Block plans to restore two 19th-century brick buildings and bring more than 1,000 new housing units, affordable and market-rate, to the busy transit hub.
What is a passive House building?
"Passive house is a European building energy efficiency standard that involves, a really airtight building envelope, a lot of insulation, and it results in the building consuming a fraction of the electricity," McCarty said.
In approximately four years, the 700-foot skyscraper will stand at 63 stories — the tallest of its kind.
"It's the first time that any building of this scale has ever achieved passive house certification," McCarty added.
The energy-efficient building method, popular across Europe for decades, is starting to gain traction in the U.S. Michael Ingui, an architect and founder of the Passive House Accelerator, has been helping drive the shift here.
"It's basically kind of a free online place where people can learn how to do passive houses, a knowledge accelerator. And it's a place where a whole bunch of other groups and architects go every week to show projects and solutions," Ingui said.
Benefits of passive house buildings
Ingui lives in a passive house brownstone in Carroll Gardens. He says one of the first things clients notice when they enter an air-tight building is the silence.
"You've got this really nice house that's sealed, with filtered fresh air 24/7. The windows are super quiet because they're triple-pane windows. They're really silent," he said.
Another benefit is energy efficiency.
"You really barely need to heat the house. You're heating it maybe, maybe 10 nights in the whole winter, maybe less. So because of that, I don't have to design for heating anymore," Ingui said.
While it's difficult to estimate exactly how many passive houses exist in New York City, Ingui shared a map from his accelerator program showing dozens of buildings — some new, some historic, and even some landmarked — making sustainability strides a part of this movement.
"All of the sudden you're breathing new life into these old buildings that at one point were the old, drafty, difficult buildings to deal with," he said.
Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by CLICKING HERE.
Hannah Kliger joined the CBS News New York team as a reporter in May 2022, focusing her coverage in Brooklyn. A native New Yorker, Hannah has received several awards for her investigative journalism about problems plaguing Brooklynites, from hate crimes to housing rental scams.
More from CBS News
New York's $2.5 billion offshore wind farm halted by Trump administration
Scavenger hunt celebrates NYC's food carts from around the world
Long Island homeowners claim hospital construction damaged their houses
NYC pauses fines for breaking new composting rules. Here's why.
