You might not think of greenness when you think of New York City—it tends to call to mind concrete, smog and traffic rather than clean and eco-friendly design. But that’s not quite the case. Green building is on the rise, literally, in NYC. Due to the dense population of the city, electricity and water are consumed at extremely high rates, and this has caused builders and investors to realize that going green is a pretty smart idea.

In this photo gallery, we’re seeing how a few buildings, from corporate headquarters to stylish apartments to museums, are shrinking their footprints by using cleantech innovations like rainwater harvesting and solar and geothermal power to make New York a little greener. Click a photo to learn about the building featured and the technologies it’s using.