Abigail Klein Leichman
February 27, 2011, Updated September 12, 2012
Tel Aviv's first office eco-tower

Tel Aviv’s first “green” office tower, a $51.83 million project of Azouri Brothers Building and Development Co., officially opens in May.

The latest step is implementing VIP ecological parking, according to CEO Ronen Azouri. Planned in coordination with Israel’s revolutionary electric car infrastructure developer, Better Place, this special area to accommodate “green” employees of the building’s tenants will reward drivers of hybrid and electric/zero emission (ZE) vehicles with premium parking spots. ZE car drivers will get a 50 percent discount on parking fees and there will be a ZE charging station, too.

“Green parking completes the general vision of building a ‘better place’ (pun intended), a green and healthy business environment,” says Azouri. “Transit is part of the quality of life of residents of the building, and we are pleased to provide an incentive to switch to electric vehicles.”

For those who prefer to commute by bike, the parking facility will include ample spaces to secure them, and the building will have solar-powered hot showers for cyclists so they won’t arrive at their desks sweated up.

The underground parking area is designed with special windows to bring partial daylight inside, supplemented by electric light from economical LED bulbs. To save even more energy, the lighting system will be programmed to be more or less intense depending on the time of day.

The car-park also will be outfitted with carbon monoxide detectors that will activate or deactivate the ventilation system accorded to the CO level detected.

The entire ecotower is constructed of recycled, sustainable and/or domestic building materials, and Azouri developed a protocol for ecological maintenance procedures to assure a low long-term impact on the environment.

With the help of Israeli architect Keren Yedvub and British green building consultant Guy Battle, the Azouri brothers designed their project with a continuous filtered fresh air system and online monitored climate control; a condensed recycled cardboard material from Germany for exterior coatings; and parquet floors of certified wood from sustainable forests.

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