Here’s to every immigrant worker in the world. Did you ever think that countries were created to create cheap immigrant workers? Here at Eco Brooklyn we love immigrant workers. Not because they are cheap labor. Eco Brooklyn pays based on talent alone, not nationality, race or sex. And if you have a family to support …
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 …
Check out this petition on change.org. We think their proposal to turn an abandoned tract of land into green space will benefit many New Yorkers. The Rockaway Beach Branch Committee is petitioning the New York City Council to turn an abandoned 3.5 mile stretch of the old Rockaway Beach Branch railroad into a green space. …
The two best building systems I know of right now are the Earthship and Passive House methods. Right now Eco Brooklyn is lucky enough to be involved in two jobs that involve both systems, one a NY earthship and the other a NY Passive House. Earthship building is best for non-urban parts of the world. …
I have tolerated Mayor Bloomberg because he has done some good things for New York’s ecology. He isn’t the mayor of Copenhagen, Denmark. Now that is a city worth looking at in terms of ecology and social planning. But Bloomberg could have been a lot worse. His plan NYC is an acceptable plan, the bare minimum any …
As a New York green contractor you learn very quickly that “natural” does not mean “good”, nor does it mean “bad”. Case in point: the mushroom. Mushrooms are some of the most beneficial human foods available. But you eat the wrong one and you will die. Not good, not bad. Powerful, yes. So the next …
This NYC government web page lists the times, zip codes and dates that helicopters will spray pesticides over the city. They call it the “Aerial Larviciding Schedule”, and define Aerial Larviciding as: Dropping natural bacterial granules by helicopter to marshes and other large natural areas to kill mosquito larvae before they grow into adult mosquitoes. Does …
I was speaking with a green building intern today about how green building has a different set of priorities than say a normal corporation. In fact from a green building perspective the priorities of a normal corporation are criminal, suicidal and simply bad business in the long run. I see it as a perspective thing. …
Here is an excellent pdf on Passive House. It shows the construction methods and results of a group of Passive House buildings in Hannover, Germany, giving a great insight into how Passive House works. PEP-Info1_Passive_Houses_Kronsberg As Passive House builders in New York this information is invaluable to us. In NY we are definitely experimenting with …
Green framing focuses on building walls that use less wood but are still structurally sound. This technique is called the Advanced Framing Techniques, or more specifically Optimum Value Engineering (OVE). As a New York green contractor we are not concerned so much about exterior stud walls since most of our jobs are in brownstones where …
