Since the Occupy Wall Street events this fall I have immersed myself in information that questions existing paradigms and searches for solutions to current problems. I’ve always done this, and as a green builder I do it on a daily basis, but the recent Occupy Wall Street events has given my ongoing education a focus and timely reference [...]
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On 10/11/11 Eco Brooklyn, a green builder and supporter of a better America and world, went down to the Financial district to check out Occupy Wall Street. Nearly 30 days ago, a diverse group of citizens took to the street in NYC, and marched down to Zuccotti Park, formerly “Liberty Plaza Park”, placed in [...] As a New York green contractor the truth is that our work is very much about things not in NY. Each time we salvage wood from a dumpster we aren’t saving a NY tree. We are saving a Canadian of Brazilian tree. As a company we may be acting locally but our vision is [...] A typical thing happened today in the life of Eco Brooklyn. One of our workers noticed a dumpster full of wood and called it in to the office. I dispatched our “Rescue Truck”, Eco Brooklyn’s veggie oil pickup, to go salvage the wood before it was carted off to the dump. This wood has [...] 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 [...] The concept that us humans screwed up the world is pretty well accepted and most ecologists are hell bent on undoing the damage and restoring nature. However I came across an interesting idea today that throws this on its head: there is no such thing as a pure nature and we need to redefine nature so that it INCLUDES the [...] I just read the book “A Natural System of House Design, An Architect’s Way” by Charles Woods. I was interested in it from Wood’s involvement with Malcolm Wells, a great natural architect and the pioneer of earth covered building. Before I start my review I need to make clear that I see Woods as [...] A couple years ago I was looking into the cold blue eyes of a lying, money grubbing man. He also happened to be a neighborhood contractor. And he said to my face in all seriousness, “I am a green contractor.” Having seen the future of contracting he had started to use low VOC paints and he [...] I see the Brooklyn Farmers’ Market as the antithesis of a Twinkie. The Twinkie is always the same. It lasts forever, is full of chemicals and is made on some distant planet. And never does it create a healthy sense of community. The Brooklyn Farmers’ Market on the other hand is possibly the most powerful community force [...] 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 [...] You’ve got the efficiencies of building mounted wind turbines and then you’ve got the efficiencies of karma. In response to a recent Environmental Building News feature story about the inefficiencies of building-integrated wind turbines comes this subtly hilarious examination of the efficiencies of building-integrated prayer wheels. Now of course if you are a Tibetan [...] I had an interesting call just now. A developer called me wanting me to go check out a brownstone he had just bought and wanted to renovate. He buys a lot of properties, renovates and sells. He didn’t know about Eco Brooklyn but somebody had given him my number and said we did good [...] There is a myth in Western society that growth is a positive thing. If your company grows it is considered a sign of success. Growing ones wealth is thought to be a universal desire. But growth is an energy without morality. We are the ones that make it moral. It is not good or [...] |
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