The Community Exchange

The members/tenants of this cooperative are:

1)      The Alchemical Nursery Project: a non-profit organization committed to promoting the development of sustainable urban lifestyles and landscapes. In the Community Exchange, the ANP will coordinate an urban CSA (community supported agriculture) processing and distribution center, as well as food preservation and processing programs, and a Kombucha brewery.

2)      Deconstruction Syracuse: a collaborative effort between The Alchemical Nursery Project, Onondaga Community College, and Syracuse Habitat for Humanity, the deconstruction operations will provide jobs training in the warehouse, and transportation to and from the job sites for the deconstruction crews. All saleable materials gleaned from job sites will be sold in the ReStore.

3)      Onondaga Community College: as an exciting new offshoot in technical training programs, OCC is pioneering the fledgling deconstruction industry. OCC will run the training programming for the deconstruction crews in the Community Exchange a strategically located off-site location in downtown Syracuse.

4)      Recycling for Empowerment E-waste for E-ducation: an organization that will use electronic waste in training local high-schoolers interested in pursuing a career in information technology. Recovered electronic components can be used to rebuild computers for resale or donation. E3 will operate the jobs training and youth mentorship end of the e-waste programming.

5)      Northeast Surplus & Materials: a company working with e-waste for the purposes of innovation, recycling, and reuse, utilizing de-manufacturing and recycling processes to minimize, reduce and finally eliminate the environmental impact caused by the disposal of electronic equipment. Northeast Surplus & Materials will operate the innovation end of the e-waste recycling programming.

6)      Ombligo: a company that refurbishes laptops and computers using e-waste for resale at low prices. Ombligo will operate the resale end of the e-waste programming.

7)      Habitat for Humanity ReStore: Habitat for Humanity of Syracuse already has a location for their ReStore, but they are quickly outgrowing their space. Their local deconstruction crew guts houses in the area, taking all saleable components such as cabinetry, tiling, sinks and tubs, appliances, lighting, and architectural features to the ReStore for resale to the general public. The ReStore also receives donations of materials from various companies, usually in large quantities. There is need for additional storage space and a more visible storefront space.   

8)      Reuse Refuse For Art (R2ART): an artist’s resource reclamation project where industrial cast-offs and other materials are stored for the future use of teachers, artists, organizations, and others.

THE CONCEPT

The Community Exchange will operate as a cooperative of a number of non-profit and for-profit enterprises, all dedicated to reuse, recycling, green jobs creation, job training, and small business incubation. This centrally and strategically located series of buildings will serve as a major driver for a new green economy based on environmental stewardship and the integration of socially equitable practices.

There will be voting shares and financial shares available to the larger community to establish a sense of community ownership and involvement, and community members will have representation through voting shares. Financial shares may be bought by city, county, universities, businesses, individuals, etc. The building will be donated to the cooperative, and the land will be managed by a land trust.

Each tenant will be responsible for renovating their own space. The Coop will be responsible for the core and shell, utilities and the communal spaces. Once the necessary renovations are completed, the Center of Excellence will pay for additional work to bring the building up to LEED Gold standards.

Members/tenants will meet with design teams to give more detailed information on their specific spaces at the local Emerging Green Builders Natural Talent Design Competition kick-off open house and walkthrough at the warehouse, January 30 and 31, 2009 from 10am to 2pm.

PROJECT CONTEXT & SPECIFICATIONS

The .86 acre building site is located on the corner of West Street and Erie Boulevard in downtown Syracuse,, New York. This is a series of five buildings.

 The Community Exchange Main Components and Anchor Operations

A: The Alchemical Nursery Project Urban CSA Program and Deconstruction Syracuse

The first building on the corner of Plum Street and Erie Boulevard is three stories, and approximately 15,000 SF.

First Floor: Urban CSA processing and distribution center. There will need to be a large commercial kitchen, preferably with multiple walk-in coolers and a walk-in freezer. Several large sinks in a row, and two stovetops, in addition to island counter space, will all be useful for rinsing and prepping in the sink, in addition to fulfilling needs for a community kitchen. Access to the elevator on the Plum Street side of the building will be needed.

Second Floor: Classrooms for training for the deconstruction program. Elevator access.

Third Floor: Office space and space for a kombucha brewery. Elevator access.

Roof: Depending on the load-bearing capacity of the roof structure, we would like to have either greenhouses for food production, or a green roof system.

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B: Main entrance, lobby, breezeways between buildings, collective space.

The second and third buildings are a two story, 8,800 SF building; and a two story, 9,000 SF building. These buildings will be utilized as mixed used space for all organizations that are involved in the ComEx cooperative.

First Floor (second and third building): Grand entrance, lobby with secretary kiosk, lounge area and café, community reading nook.

Second Floor (second building): The Grand Hall – large high ceilinged space with beautiful timbers, a presentation hall: the place for big events and occasions.

Second Floor (third building): Community library and free store

Roof: the roof is not flat here. Rainwater collection system would be ideal.

** It is important to note that the third building houses the large machinery required to run the coolant systems for the two warehouses when they were used for cold storage, and it is all still there. While this presents somewhat of a challenge in terms of removal, there is also potential to design the space around a piece or two that would remain in the space as an interesting historical feature.

C: E-Waste jobs training and recycling programs

The fourth building is a 7-story warehouse, plus a full basement. Each floor is approximately 6,000 SF.

First Floor: E-waste programs cooperative lounge space, community computer clusters and wi-fi café.

Second – Seventh Floors: E-waste programming space for offices and classrooms, workshop spaces and shop space.

Training classrooms: at least 36x36 feet, have 15-18 tables each with electrical and data outlets, at least 3 electrical outlets along the wall, two lighting zones (one for blackboard and one for the rest of the classroom), outlet with video and sound connections on the ceiling for the projector, speakers around the room for sound, vinyl tiling for floors, fluorescent lights in the ceiling

Roof: The roofs of the warehouses are poured concrete, structurally sound and load-bearing. There will be greenhouses for food production.

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D: Syracuse Habitat for Humanity ReStore

The fifth building is a 7-story warehouse, plus a full basement. Each floor is approximately 8,300 SF.

First Floor: grand entrance and show room for resale materials. Include at least one higher overhead door, wider if possible. Design for easy access to loading docks with backroom for loading/unloading and to provide inventory staging space.

Second and Third Floor: combine for one high-ceilinged floor: resale floor space for large items. Provide loading/unloading and inventory staging backroom space by freight elevator.

Fourth and Fifth Floor: combine for one high-ceilinged floor: resale floor space for large items. Provide loading/unloading and inventory staging backroom space by freight elevator.

Sixth Floor: additional floor space for resale materials. Provide loading/unloading and inventory staging backroom space by freight elevator

Seventh Floor: office space

Roof: The roofs of the warehouses are poured concrete, structurally sound and load-bearing. There will be greenhouses for food production.

Considerations for the entire site:

Add a larger freight elevator (8’x10’min) to outside of building to be shared amongst tenants and most easily accessible to the ReStore. Convert existing freight elevator in second warehouse tower (D) to a passenger elevator.

Maintain as many connections between the buildings as possible to encourage traffic between the various programs, and reinforce the cooperative nature of the Community Exchange.

Consider parking for staff and customers, security features including overnight truck parking, and handicap accessibility.

Integrate Greywater systems, including rainwater catchment systems, and composting toilet system. (Look into Clivus Multritum). Also consider incorporation of living machine and biodigestors, additional composting systems on-site for food scraps.

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