152 freeman street passive house greenpoint

Williamsburg-based architect firm Loadingdock5 has designed passive houses and condos all over Brooklyn, including some for Hello Living!, and now the group is building its own passive house apartment building at 152 Freeman Street in Greenpoint, according to New York YIMBY.  The seven-unit “Haus” is designed to be like a “baugruppe” (German for “building group”), a cooperative community that builds its own home, usually to passive house standards. It’s a popular living arrangement among architects and builders in Germany and Austria.

We’re not wild about the facade, which has a typical boxy passive house look and asymmetrical windows, but the project is intriguing. The architects say on their website that they want to prove a passive house can be built for relatively little money in New York. The four-story project will have one unit on the first floor and two each on the second through fourth floors, along with a shared garden and roof deck. Each apartment will be about 700 square feet.

The project has already been beset by costly delays, though. An energy audit by the New York City Building Department took a year. What do you think of the development?

Revealed: Haus at 152 Freeman Street, Greenpoint Passive House Baugruppe [NYY]
Rendering by Loadingdock5


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