The Cost of Your Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint.  CO2 emissions.  Low carbon.  Carbon neutral. More and more, businesses eagerly attach themselves to buzzwords like these in order to present an environmentally-friendly face to today’s green-conscious market. I learned a new one the other day: “carbon offset.” What is it?  Carbon offset providers, like carbonfund.org, offer companies and individuals the opportunity to …

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Sustainable Landscaping Forum with Urban Green

Here’s a cool event that we recently got wind of: A one-night sustainable landscaping forum, organized by the NY Urban Green Council. Eco Brooklyn builds green homes–literally.  In addition to energy-efficient, eco-friendly building, Eco Brooklyn installs green roofs and sustainable landscaping.  We adapt greenery to the urban landscape by incorporating native plants, vertical gardens, green …

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Two Rammed Earth Walls

Part of being a green contractor means studying emerging technologies offering more eco-benefits than conventional construction.  In this case we’re looking at old technologies: the rammed earth wall, one of humanity’s oldest building techniques. When it comes to walls, a couple of rammed-earth techniques are available as alternatives to your standard insulation-filled 2×4 frames: The Earthship model uses …

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Building For the Climate Apocalypse

First 2000, and now 2012: Years in which people think the world might possibly end. The world probably won’t end with a bang, but might just crumble beneath the accumulated consequences of our actions. Meanwhile, American politicians’ opinions of science, especially climate science, are at an alarming low.  Sometimes TV makes me wonder if there …

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