Director of Eco Brooklyn, Gennaro Brooks-Church discusses how the Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) will work once it is completely installed in the Passive House building. The NY green contractor is currently renovating this entire Harlem brownstone, and the addition of an ERV is a vital part of the standards that need to be met. Essentially, …
Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) at the Passive House in Harlem Read More »
We just received our triple pane windows from Europe to our Passive House site in Harlem. The windows will help the brownstone achieve its necessary air tight specs and save up to 90% in energy costs compared to an ordinary building of the same size. If you enjoy the video, please give us a “Like” …
Triple Pane Windows Arrive to EcoBrooklyn Passive House, Harlem Read More »
Last week a judge dismissed Henry Giffords law suit against USGBC. Gifford had pointed out that energy audits of LEED buildings showed no greater energy savings than normal buildings of the same class, and in fact LEED buildings showed WORSE energy savings in many cases. Green Source Magazine speaks about it here. USGBC countered his …
LEED Wins Law Suit Despite Bad Energy Efficiency Read More »
The web site CleanAirNY.org has an email list worth subscribing to. Sponsored by the NY Dept of Transportation, the alerts tell you whenever NY is at risk of smog. You’ll get an email the day before saying, “Hey tomorrow is a clean air day!” with advice on what to do: drive less etc. It is …
Hemp is actually one of societies oldest cultivated plants and has only in the past century gotten a bad name mostly due to political and financial interests wanting to dissuade its use. But recently it is becoming more popular again as a building material. Check out these videos on the topic. They show how hemp is a …
Here is an interesting article from OilPrice.com. It outlines the best way to live in a world without oil, something most people foresee in the next 30 years or so (we are all really guessing but that is one number). Preparing for a world without oil is a little like preparing for the end of …
Living Without Oil Dependency and Green Building Read More »
Good design is probably the most effective green building technique there is, more than how much you salvage, what chemicals are not used or what technology you put into the house. Good design is what makes a house green or not green. With this green builders perspectivein mind, reading the classic book The Design of Everyday Things …
Sheet rock isn’t very green. It requires a lot of heat to make it and the ingredients are not great. I’ve had little luck finding sheet rock alternatives. Plaster and lath is one but the labor costs make it hard to compete with sheet rock. The best I do so far is use salvaged sheet rock. …
One of the things Eco Brooklyn is focused on is eliminating the use of concrete. Concrete is normally used in the following areas of the brownstone: the foundation footings, the cellar floor, front sidewalk. Concrete and its ingredient of cement is not green. It produces massive amounts of CO2. So we are eager to find …
It is striking that despite the many green building going on in the US that there still remains some blaring gaps in our knowledge and available products. I encountered another of these gaps recently in my search for a good front door for a Brooklyn Passive House style brownstone. I was looking for something super …
