Bethany Senior Terraces

Bethany Senior Terraces received a Blue Ribbon Award in the 2021 NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence Competition. The project received a 2026 Better Buildings Award from the U.S. Department of Energy for the team’s innovative & industry-leading accomplishments in implementing & promoting practices, principles, and procedures of energy management.

LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY

PROGRAM: Affordable Independent Residences for Seniors (AIRS)

TOTAL AREA: 39,200 SF

CLIENT: RiseBoro Community Partnership

PARTNERS: Murray Engineering, Whitley Manufacturing East, Briarwood Organization, Bright Power, ZeroEnergy Design, New York Engineers

Bethany Senior Terraces is a 58-unit affordable housing development in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, designed by PCA with energy consulting services. As NYC’s first modular Passive House building, the project demonstrates how modular construction can reduce costs, construction time, and waste while lowering operational energy use and embodied carbon.

Cascading garden terraces create a sequence of indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, connecting the rooftop community room to a ground-level communal greenhouse. By placing community spaces off of these terraces, and by offering a variety of outdoor spaces – big and small, sunny and shaded – the design creates space for socialization, activity, and leisure. A communal basement kitchen provides space for cooking classes and other resident programming.

The building provides a 140 kW solar array with all-electric VRF heat pumps, heat pump water heating, individual energy recovery ventilation, and an enhanced air barrier to deliver high performance and healthy indoor air quality. Ultimately, Bethany achieved its goal of providing comfortable, healthy homes where residents can enjoy a high quality of life without the burden of rising energy costs.

Certifications include:

  • PHIUS + 2018 Passive House Certified

  • EPA Water Sense

  • EPA Indoor AirPlus

  • DOE Zero Energy Ready

  • Enterprise Green Community, the nation’s only national green building program designed explicitly for green affordable housing construction.