Noteworthy

The New York Times

Test Case Towers

ARCHITECTURE; How Green Is My Tower?

April 16, 2006, Sunday
By ROBIN POGREBIN (NYT); Arts and Leisure Desk
Late Edition - Final, Section 2, Page 1, Column 1, 2157 words

A DECADE ago, office towers guzzled energy as fast as they could, and ''sick building syndrome'' was dismissed as a hypochondriac's all-purpose excuse. Since then, however, the rise of ''green'' architecture has encouraged architects, developers and construction managers to consider the effect their buildings have on the health of their occupants and the environment.

"All gold is not equal," said Frank A. Bennack Jr., former president and chief executive officer of the Hearst Corporation. "We made a basic decision to do a building for the 21st century. We knew it was going to cost more, but we thought it was the right thing to do."

Larry A. Silverstein, the Trade Center building's developer, said, "There was not a question in my mind" to go green. "I'm an asthmatic," he said. "When you have asthma, you realize how important it is to have clean air to breathe."