Construction is slated to start this month on what-will-be the world's first high-rise residential tower built according to Passive House (PH) standards, considered the most rigorous criteria for reducing a building's greenhouse gas emissions. Passive houses, such as the building on the right in the thermogram below, release significantly less heat compared with a typical building (such as that on the left).

Touted as an "iconic marker" for Cornell University's new tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York's East River, the project will innovative design features such as:

• A pre-fabricated metal façade that will act like a thermal blanket, insulating the structure.
• A louver system, or the building's "gills," which will house the building's heating and cooling systems.
• Low-VOC paint to limit off-gassing and improve air quality.
• Exterior paint that "naturally shifts color from silver to warm champagne" when reflecting light.

According to figures released by the university, the building will save 882 tons of CO2 per year compared to a conventional construction. Designed by the New York-based firm of Handel Architects LLP, the building will provide communal spaces as well as multi-family housing for Cornell Tech and its partner university, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The campus master plan is being designed by SOM and Field Operations, and will include a building by Thom Mayne.