The Challenge

Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2024, Sendero Verde is a multi-family, multi-building project that will be one of the world’s largest Passive House International (PHI) buildings. Occupying an entire city block, this mixed-use, mixed income property will feature 709 affordable housing units, a charter school, community and retail facilities, an 18,000-square-foot park, and three buildings – a 10-story structure, a 15-story tower and a 34-story tower.

Designed by Handel Architects, Sendero Verde was engineered to meet a range of PHI guidelines that seek to slash energy consumption, minimize carbon emissions, and maximize occupant comfort and health. To deliver these benefits, Passive House design focuses on five key principles:

• An airtight building envelope
• Continuous, climate-appropriate insulation
• Thermal bridge-free construction
• Shaded, high-performance windows
• Continuous ventilation and heat recovery

Not surprisingly, Passive House testing requirements are rigorous. Accordingly, architects for the Sendero Verde project specified above-code insulation, triple-glazed windows, and advanced ventilation and energy recovery systems. To meet the stringent PHI air tightness requirements, the design team worked with Henry on the North and South structures of Building B.

The Solution

In May of 2018, Louis Koehl, Senior Associate and Director of Sustainable Design at Handel Architects and Antonio Luz, Senior Associate and Building Envelope Consultant at Socotec, met with Henry Building Science Manager Todd Skopic.

Having worked with Henry on previous projects, they looked to Skopic for a Henry air barrier system solution that would best meet the rigorous PHI air infiltration rates (0.6 ACH @ 50 Pa) and other project requirements. Skopic recommended Henry Air-Bloc 17MR, a fluid-applied, vapor-permeable membrane, which the team wrote in as a sole-source specification for the project.

“We’ve used Henry products on jobs around the country with positive results,” Koehl summarizes. “We specified this system for the project because we were confident we would get a complete high-performance air barrier system that would be familiar to the contractors who would be bidding and installing the job.”

The Results

At the time of this writing, Building B is substantially complete and has passed the PHI air infiltration requirements, in part thanks to the trouble-free installation of the Henry air barrier system solution. This vapor-permeable system is poised to help future residents pay lower monthly utility bills compared to similar NYC residential properties, and enjoy the health benefits of filtered, ventilated air in an area with one of the highest childhood asthma rates in the country.

Henry Company is proud to have been a part of another significant milestone in Passive House design and construction, and one of East Harlem’s most transformative projects.