by Navy Yard Philadelphia
April 25, 2024
Categories: Community, Development Updates, Energy, Innovation, Sustainability,
April is Earth Month, a time to celebrate our planet and take action to protect it. To raise environmental awareness and highlight how the Navy Yard has become Philadelphia’s most sustainable neighborhood, PIDC and our development partners Ensemble/Mosaic hosted a Sustainability Symposium April 24 at Ensemble/Mosaic’s marketing center.
The event featured an engaging presentation and panel discussion on responsible and sustainable real estate development with speakers from PIDC, Ensemble/Mosaic, experts from LEED Consultant Re:Vision, and executives from Navy Yard company, Ecosave.
During the presentation, attendees got to see a case study surrounding the Navy Yard’s journey towards LEED-ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development) Certification. The LEED-ND Certification plan directly assesses five core areas of the design and operation of a neighborhood. The goal is to improve walkability, reduce vehicle miles traveled, increase efficient energy and water consumption, protect habitat, and water bodies, and maintain natural areas and “Smart” location choices.
“One of the things that has made the Navy Yard the most successful redevelopments of an old military installation are our continued commitments to sustainability and resiliency,” said Kate McNamara, PIDC’s Executive Vice President at the Navy Yard. “This has been the mission since PIDC began redevelopment nearly 20 years ago and will remain true through future redevelopment plans with our partners at Ensemble/Mosaic. We look for innovative, industry leading ways to incorporate sustainable and resilient elements throughout our 1,200-acre site. These include adaptive reuse and modernization of historic buildings, ensuring new construction projects are LEED certified, and creating green spaces that are welcoming and designed to reduce stormwater runoff and future impacts of climate change.”
After the panel discussion, walking tours of Ensemble/Mosaic’s recently completed multi-tenant research and development lab building at 1201 Normandy (pending LEED Gold Certification) and the under-construction AVE Navy Yard (target LEED Silver) were offered to attendees.
“Sustainability has always been a guiding principle for development at the Navy Yard with one of the largest collections of LEED-certified buildings in the country and its recent award of a Level 1 Arboretum accreditation, one of only six in the City of Philadelphia,” said Brian Cohen, Managing Director at Ensemble Investments. “Furthering this commitment, Ensemble/Mosaic is pursuing a LEED Neighborhood Development certification for a substantial portion of the Navy Yard to be completed later this year. Once certified, the Navy Yard will be the largest LEED Neighborhood Development in the state and one of the largest in the nation.”
Visit the Navy Yard website to learn more about the sustainability and resiliency practices at the Navy Yard including how the new development plan accounts for climate change, adaptive building reuse, high performance buildings, stormwater management, the region’s first automated shuttle, and more. To learn about the Navy Yard Plan that charts the next 20 years of equitable growth at the Navy Yard, visit navyyard.org/plan.
