|
|||||
|
I have a love hate relationship with the local Brooklyn green building supply stores. I love that they sell green stuff, I hate that they want to sell as much of it as they can. Most people would scratch their head at that comment. “Of course they want you to buy it, what [...] From a chat list: FSC is a fraud. Unreliable at best, false and fraudulent at worst. Don’t take my word for it–just ask some of the FSC-certified timber corporations–Tembec, Precious Woods, et al. Go to the Rainforest Foundation UK web site. There are a host of environmental non-profits fighting the FSC–even Rainforest Action Network, [...] I was checking out some cool plant pottery at this site PedlersWaggon.com. The pottery holds water and lets it out slowly, keeping the plants fresh during times of no rain. Very cool. And then I noticed on the shopping cart page a little note that said: “We ask that wherever you may live to [...] Word on the street is that the Gowanus Canal is going to be designated a Superfund site. The canal is two blocks from the Brooklyn green show house so it is dear to our heart and very clearly part of our ecosystem. The Gowanus is definitely a good candidate for a superfund designation. [...] Green building is all about energy efficiency, saving precious resources, green roofs and recycled cellulose insulation, right? I would actually say that those things are secondary and that there is a larger philosophy behind green building. Those things are some of the focused methods we carry out the philosophy perhaps but the overall philosophy [...] Dear USGBC Constituents: In recent weeks, a wave of fear and pessimism propagated by the world financial crisis has stolen the headlines, gripped the nation, and challenged our movement. In conversation after conversation, people are asking what will happen to the green building movement if our community is plunged into a recession. And I [...] Here is an article by a major news agency about how dry wall imported from china is toxic. A couple things: - I’m sure they are right about the Chinese drywall. – They claim the US dry wall is safe….I am skeptical of that. – Another thing is that since it is a story [...] Renovating a home is expensive. It involves a lot of people, a good amount of time, and there are lots of unknown. A person can’t possibly know everything regarding DOB fees, codes, electric, plumbing, framing, underpinning, reinforcements etc. And because of this you need to depend on the expertise of others. And you can’t [...] I had to paint the hallway of one of my tenant’s apartments. So I’m in the paint isle and I have a dilemma. Normal paint is cheap. Low VOC or non VOC paint is almost twice the price. Which one do I buy? They don’t care if the paint is low VOC… I’m [...] Here is a cool app courtesy of NaturalHomes.org. It shows all the natural homes in the world (at least the ones they know of, which is probably one tenth the real number). The map at first only shows the US, but we’ll forgive them their nationalism in light of our recent and proud presidential [...] Everyone and their mother is getting LEED certified. Remember the story about Rockefeller overhearing his shoe shine boy talking about stocks? This prompted Rockefeller to conclude that the market had reached a bubble and was about to collapse. He took all his money out of the market just before it crashed. Now I’m [...] Spray foam insulation is good because it creates very good seals. You don’t have to worry about air leaks. The one thing it has against it is that it is petroleum based. There is a company that sells itself as a green alternative because it uses soy based oils instead. Biobased is one such [...] “High End Apartments”, “Luxury Condos”, “Exclusive Properties” These are terms that have been thrown around a lot over the past couple years as developers and buyers got more and more caught up in the real estate frenzy, constantly looking to make fancier buildings. But but what did “luxury” really mean? More than anything it [...] Insulation from Eco Brooklyn Inc with Gennaro Brooks-Church Green Building is like life: it is all about energy. How you control it, who has it, where it is flowing, and where it isn’t flowing. You control the energy and you have a great house (possibly a great life too). So obviously insulation plays [...] I have relationships with the contractors in the neighborhood. These oak floors were perfectly fine but the owner wanted to replace them with cherry wood floors. Instead of put them in the dump I got them. The lower floors of a brownstone are dark so I like light floors to maximize the light. [...] Things we can do right away in a lousy economy: –Conserve. Obama almost said the ‘C’ word in the debateand you would think this is something radicals, liberals and conservatives would all agree on, as it requires no funding or investment and can produce huge rewards. If we had continued to conserve energy [...] I came accross the concept of the “Triple Bottom Line” Business Model the other day. It is something I have done most of my life but never knew there was actually a concept out there that people train in and talk about. The Triple Bottom Line is People, Planet, and Profit. They stand equal [...] Getting a good contractor is not always easy. If you find one ask for references. If they make you feel uncomfortable about this that should be a warning sign. When you call the references ask these kinds of questions: * Can I visit your home to see the completed job? * Were you [...] I came across these really funny commercials by Ameriquest Mortgage Company. They are worth checking out because they’ll give you a laugh. But the real joke is the tag line: “Don’t judge too quickly. We won’t.” It turns out their lack of judgment swindled all sorts of people into getting mortgages they couldn’t [...] |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Eco Brooklyn - All Rights Reserved |
|||||