Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Battle of the Title for Greenest Skyscraper
This story is just so frustratingly silly, I'm not sure where to start. Ok, so Philly and New York are competing for the title of the "Tallest Greenest Building in the US." (I know that some will say that skyscrapers shouldn't even be built in any form for environmental reasons, but they will be built anyway, and it's better that they're more sustainable than standard ones.) The 975-foot Comcast Center is in Philly, and the 962-foot Bank of America Tower is in NY; the debate will come down to which certification each building will get. NY's Bank of America Tower will probably receive a Platinum rating - the highest.Philly's Comcast Center's rating is still in dispute because of urinals. And it's not because of a debate over their effectiveness or safety - but because the Plumbers' Union doesn't like them because they need less labor to install them than normal ones. The builders must get clearance from the Union quickly for the urinals so that they can place their order for them without delaying construction. The builders are not optimistic. The article says that the builders, Liberty, were "denied permision" to install them in another LEED building, but it doesn't say by whom.
Waterless urinals could prevent millions of gallons of water each year from entering the sewer system. On some rainy days, Philly has to release untreated sewage into the Delaware River. And they are not being installed because they have less piping. Great.
(Rumor has it that a compromise has been reached: the builders will get to install the waterless urinals, and the Union will get to plumb them as if they did use water, but the water will not really be connected to them. Huh????)
The article also mentions that other unions, such as the Sheetmetal Workers Union, have a good deal of influence on building issues there.
This is not the only problem with the building industry in Philly. In Philadelphia Building Codes, I contrasted the permitting process in Philly as compared to Chicago.
Philly needs some major reform in their building industry if they hope to keep any level of sanity there.
Thanks to Mom for the tip!