Anatomy of a 'Green' Building: Toren

From the outside, stands apart from other condo towers in terms of its sculptural design, metallic finish and angular architecture.

However, on the inside, this 240-unit building at 150 Myrtle Ave. may hold yet another important distinction from its neighbors in Downtown Brooklyn/Fort Greene's booming real estate market: That of being one of the most sustainably built and operated residential towers around.

According to Toren's sponsor, BFC Partners, the 38-story development is on track to receive a Gold designation from the U.S. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.

So it was with a keen eye on these "green" building details that Patch embarked on a tour of Toren Monday with Brooklyn workers hoping to take advantage of an expected flood of sustainable maintenance, installation and construction jobs.

"It's a great opportunity for us to see how it all works," said Bed-Stuy resident Kevin Wheatt, a participant in City Tech's Green Maintenance Building Program, while inspecting two of the building's model penthouse units on the 36th Floor.

Wheatt was one of about a dozen of a group of under- and unemployed workers—many of whom have been displaced by an economic malaise that has hit construction and maintenance trades hard.

So it was with palpable curiosity bordering on excitement that Wheatt and other program participants surveyed Toren's many "green" building details, including its building-wide air filtering system, permeable outside pavers that help manage stormwater runoff and co-generation units that can produce up to a half-megawatt of electricity using clean-burning natural gas.

According to BFC Partners, it is this mix of distinct architecture and sustainable construction and operational techniques that seemed to be finally paying off—with 90 percent of the building's units sold almost exactly two years after the building officially opened in 2010.

On Monday's tour, development project manager Win Wharton characterized the tower's success in the context of a still red-hot condo boom in which the impetus to cut corners and improve profit margins is high.

"In terms of amenities and design, we did a little bit more than what people expected at the height of the market," Wharton said.

Those amenities include an indoor pool, outdoor terraces and a wood-paneled library complete with books purchased "by the foot" from Strand, a flat-screen TV and interlocking iPod docking station.

It was this luxurious attention to detail that provided a strong counterpoint to displaced workers like Wheatt—who aren't likely to earn the $450,000 starting asking price for one of Toren's one-bedroom apartments anytime soon.

However, the maintenance worker and real estate broker was confident that a new sustainable and profitable era ushered in by buildings like Toren would rub off on hard-working Brooklynites like himself.

"This is the future," he said.