United States real estate company Brookfield Properties announced a new move to fully power One Manhattan West, one of its skyscrapers in Manhattan, with renewable energy, reported Bloomberg.
Brookfield intends to power the building entirely using hydropower from Brookfield Renewable, which manages more than 70 hydropower plants and three wind farms in New York state.
As stated by Brookfield, the agreement for 100% renewable energy at One Manhattan West is one of the largest in-state renewable energy transactions for a single building.
Last year, Brookfield teamed up with Tesla Energy and Dacra to build SunHouse at Easton Park in Austin. According to the company, it will be the country's most environmentally friendly residential community.
Renewable energy is also being pushed through state and local efforts. In December, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a framework for the State to achieve at least 10 GW of distributed solar by 2030, enough to power nearly 700,000 homes. The state's solar energy capacity has increased from 74 MW to 2.2 GW since 2013.
As for New York City, efforts for emission reduction goals are also being carried out. According to the statistics released by the New York City Council in 2021, buildings accounted for 71% of greenhouse gas (GHG) missions in the city, with businesses responsible for 26%. To reduce carbon emissions from buildings, the city enacted Local Law 97 in 2019, placing carbon caps on buildings larger than 25,000 square feet. These building are required to reduce emissions by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.
Brookfield and the Qatar Investment Authority just announced last week the sale to Blackstone of a 49% share in the One Manhattan West.
The office skyscraper was completed in 2019. It secured a multibillion-dollar financing agreement in 2020, refinanced with $1.5 billion in CMBS debt. The entire package was increased to $1.8 billion by two mezzanine loans.
