The Brookwood Goes Green

With so many choices for luxury condominiums these days, it’s so important to get all the facts about each project. What sets on building apart from the other? What are the amenities and how can they integrate into your daily life? One new condo building is going to be standing out where most haven’t dared to go. The Brookwood is being built to LEED standards. What does this mean to you as a Buyer?

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System® is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. USGBC’s members, representing every sector of the building industry, developed and continue to refine LEED which includes consideration in Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation and Design.

The Brookwood is being designed and constructed utilizing LEED principals with an end goal of achieving LEED certification. Some of the goals for the project include maximizing open green space with the use of gardens and vegetated roof spaces well beyond that required by the zoning ordinances. These features combined with the rainwater recovery system for irrigation will result in a project site with no stormwater runoff to the municipal stormwater system and virtually no contribution to the urban heat island effect.

Also important are the selection of a high efficiency heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system and the reduction of potable water consumption throughout resulting in a reduced utility bills for the occupants as well as a reduced environmental footprint for the building.

Finally, the selection of materials is very important to the building’s environmental goals. The project is using materials with high recycled content with emphasis on those coming from our region to minimize transportation costs and significantly limiting the use of interior materials (paints, adhesives and carpet) which contribute volatile organics to the indoor environment. Finally, during the construction process the project is striving to significantly reduce the amount of landfill waste, including from demolition of the existing hardscape.

The Brookwood is among the first LEED certified residential buildings in Atlanta. Some of the green benefits offered by The Brookwood are:

• Use of paint and carpeting systems that reduce indoor air contaminants
• Pressurized hallways to provide continuous fresh air
• Abundant use of glass for added sunlight
• Pre-conditioned outdoor air ventilation and monitoring
• Bicycle parking and storage areas
• Energy Star Appliances
• Water-source heat pumps fed by cooling tower for lower costs
• Low-emissivity glass for better insulation
• Recycling chute
• Energy efficient insulation throughout
• Use of rainwater to irrigate gardens