EcoBrooklyn Director Gennaro Brooks-Church, talks about the importance of salvaged materials which are crucial in helping achieve the company’s goal of zero or negative waste created and zero or negative new materials used. This is one of the main things that separates Eco Brooklyn from an ordinary NY contractor – finding floor joists, wood flooring, …
Zero Brownstone Technique and Salvaged Materials Read More »
The term Zero Brownstone is an idea I came up with during our experimentation of making the greenest brownstone renovation possible. The Zero Brownstone is based on two concepts during the deconstruction and renovation of the brownstone as well as in the finished home: Zero Waste and Zero Consumption During Construction: Zero Waste – During the deconstruction …
A net zero brownstone means that it consumes a net zero amount of energy, meaning over time it creates as much energy on site as it consumes. It does this by using very little amounts of energy (few and efficient appliances that are sparingly used) and producing a lot of energy (lots of solar panels …
The correct way to finish off a brownstone is to put lots of insulation and then a concrete slab, right? Correct maybe but not the greenest way. Concrete creates way too much CO2. The greenest way and a great alternative to concrete is to put lots of insulation and then an EARTHEN floor. Yes earth, …
Small changes on a large scale make a huge impact. This is a simple concept and if applied it will improve the countless number of buildings that make up our total global infrastructure. NYC claims around 975,000 buildings and they account for 79% of this cities green house gas emissions. When it comes to residential …
The year has ended and a new one has begun. I have prepared a state of the union statement for where Eco Brooklyn has been and where it is going. Here goes…. 2010 was a turning point for Eco Brooklyn: we became too successful for our size. Up until last year our love for green …
The book Good House Cheap House: Adventures in Creating an Extraordinary Home at an Everyday Price doesn’t set out to be about green building. It aims to show nicely designed and affordable homes. But it ends up showing good green building as well. The many case studies in the book show a pattern. Firstly all the …
Yesterday I went to a workshop hosted by Expedition Gowanus an “underground” group looking at local and alternative ways (vs. Superfund ways) to remediate our waterways. Expedition Gowanus hosts a series of workshops on DIY sustainability techniques that will culminate in the final design of an off grid, regenerative, floating structure on the Gowanus Canal …
Green Home NYC is featuring Gennaro Brooks-Church as a guest speaker. He will be speaking on two key concepts he coined: Build It Forward and the Zero Brownstone. More info below on the event next week. August forum: Working with contractors (AIA credit)August’s forum will discuss working with contractors in both residential and commercial projects. …
On the Eco Brooklyn job sites we have certain green building concepts that we use. They are mostly coined by me to help the crew and clients understand what Eco Brooklyn’s core goals are. They are easy rallying points to help us all stay on track. These terms can be searched on this site for …
