SPRING 2023 | 21 heaters. Under New York City’s renewable energy goals, 70% of electricity will come from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind by 2030 and 100% of electricity will come from renewable energy sources by 2040. The 44-story, 480-foot electric skyscraper will include 440 rentable apartments and 30,000 square feet of retail. Though innovative, there will soon be others. In December 2021, New York City’s then-Mayor Bill de Blasio accelerated the construction of all-electric buildings when he signed into law a mandate phasing out the combustion of fossil fuels in new buildings, legislation which Della Valle says he supported. “We have changed the way the city perceives the use of natural gas and fossil fuels, influenced the passage of legislation, influenced the industry to reconsider what types of fuel and assets they used,” Della Valle says. “This project is a test case for future facilities.” The redesign of Khalil Gibran International Academy, an Arabic high school in a 150-year-old building, and construction of a new, public 500-seat elementary school will also be part of the first phase. They will be the city’s first “passive house” designed schools, which means they will have ultra-low energy needs and significantly cut down on greenhouse gasses. The second phase will include another all-electric 840-foot-tall residential, office and retail tower with space for a cultural institution. In total, the project will include 1 million square feet of development, with the first phase to be completed in the summer of 2024 and the second phase to be done in 2028, Della Valle said. Of the 850 homes, 200 of them will be affordable housing units. Della Valle is seeking to partner with a community-based solar developer to construct an off-site solar operation in New York City that will generate seven megawatts of energy, enough to power the first electric skyscraper. That clean energy will be fed back to Consolidated Edison’s electricity grid, offsetting the skyscraper’s energy needs with a clean source. Della Valle‘s Lehigh Experience Growing up on Long Island, Della Valle worked in a furniture shop in high school, then framed houses as a carpenter. His father sold antique hunting and fishing collectibles, and his mother was an educator who encouraged Della Valle to take art lessons. “I was introduced at a very early age to construction and really enjoyed the process of making space, making buildings and making things with my hands, so architecture was always the path,” he says. Della Valle says it was never a question that he would go into development and architecture, and he credits Lehigh with developing his passion for the field. When he chose to go to Lehigh, Della Valle said he was looking for an architecture program not far from home on a campus small enough that he would feel comfortable interacting with faculty and staff. The first tower will be mixed-use, with residences and retail space. The project combines the old and the new to provide educational, residential and office space. The first phase includes redesign of Khalil Gibran International Academy in a 150-year-old building and construction of a new, public 500-seat elementary school.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0OTQ5OA==