The NYCMEDP runs a number of ongoing service, outreach, and research programs.  The NYC Waste Match, for example, is [...]]]>

Eco Brooklyn has partnered up with the NYC Materials Exchange Development Program, a great non-profit that keeps reusable materials out of the trash by connecting people with unwanted materials to others who can reuse them.

The NYCMEDP runs a number of ongoing service, outreach, and research programs.  The NYC Waste Match, for example, is a free service that can help green builders salvage materials efficiently by connecting us directly with businesses and individuals doing demolition and construction.  Waste Match also helps these people save money on disposal costs while building an environmentally friendly image.  Salvage is a win-win situation, and we hope that more people will choose to reuse materials now that the NYCMEDP is providing an easy way to do it.

Check out our member page on their site!

Large corporations pay premium prices  for professional PR services.  We’re a small New York green builder with a big mission: to turn New York green.  Our job is a [...]]]>

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a teleclass hosted by Marissa Feinberg, founder of Green Spaces, on writing pitches for social entrepreneurs and non-profiteers.

Large corporations pay premium prices  for professional PR services.  We’re a small New York green builder with a big mission: to turn New York green.  Our job is a mix of green building and educational outreach.  Having a good pitch is crucial to getting our story as much exposure as possible.

A “pitch” refers to the quick-and-dirty description of a story and why it matters.  Writers, for example, will pitch stories to editors, but in this context we talked about how small businesses would pitch stories to journalists in order to have their work featured.

A good pitch will:

1. Consider the style of the intended journalist and publication.  Before pitching a story, you should look through headlines and topics they’ve already covered to get a sense of what they’re looking for.  You should determine, for example, whether the publication has a local or national audience and focus your story accordingly.  Why should this publication/journalist feature your story?

2. Tie into timely, relevant events, such as recent news stories, upcoming holidays, or industry trends.   Why is your story important now?

3. Have a calculated effect on people’s behavior.  What do you want people to do differently, after having read your story?

I went into the class knowing absolutely nothing.  Thanks again to Marissa, for your patience.  I know a lot of other innovative thinkers could use help getting their ideas out there.

The first pitch night event is tonight!  Check out the event info.

When: Friday, November 11, 2011, 4:30 PM Where: 156 West 130th Street, Manhattan.

The New York Passive House community is kicking off the weekend of International Open Passive House days at Ecobrooklyn’s project in Harlem. The house is well [...]]]>

Come check out our Open House and Blowerdoor test at our Harlem Passive House renovation.

When: Friday, November 11, 2011, 4:30 PM
Where: 156 West 130th Street, Manhattan.

The New York Passive House community is kicking off the weekend of International Open Passive House days at Ecobrooklyn’s project in Harlem. The house is well underway and the Triple pane Rieder windows are in, the walls are insulated and sealed. This 3 family brownstone renovation is primarily using reclaimed building materials and only buys new when needed or crucial to make the house as efficient as possible (windows, mechanicals, airtight tapes and membranes). Everything else – studs, floors, walls – is salvaged.

Gennaro Brooks-Church, Director of Eco Brooklyn, and his team have been going strong and are ready for the blowerdoor test, last time we were able to find some mayor leaks so please join us and help us find the last few leaks.

Note that this is still a construction site, so dress appropriately and be ready to sign a liability waiver.

A detail of the air sealed ceiling of the Manhattan passive house renovation

What better time of the year to let your green out?  Climate Week NYC offers such a wide variety of events at varying locations and times to fit everyone’s interests and schedules.  For [...]]]>

Climate Week NYC offers up to 8 events a day.  And many of them relate to green building in unexpected ways.

What better time of the year to let your green out?  Climate Week NYC offers such a wide variety of events at varying locations and times to fit everyone’s interests and schedules.  For a complete listing of events up until next Tuesday the 27^th, click here http://www.climateweeknyc2011.org/events.  However, I have compiled a list of events that are especially relevant to those interested in Green Contracting.  I’ve included events related to materials in green contracting, green roofs, energy efficiency, sustainable events in Brooklyn, and a sustainable lifestyle in general.  The events that I have included are all free and open to the public, but some do require reservations (check the website for details).

Climate Week NYC, pic taken by TheClimateGroup

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

• The Bottom Line on Climate Change: Transitioning To Renewable Energy.  8:30 am-6:30 pm.  Wollman Hall, The New School, Eugene Lang Building, 65 West 11^th st, 5^th floor.  FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. Reservations required.

Energy reduction, and using alternative energy sources are a large part of green contracting.  This event includes government officials, scientists, politicians, business leaders, and professors.  This mix of people should result in a very practical and unbiased discussion that will be focused on real-world ways of implementing clean energy into everyday life.

• The Albedo Effect.  6-6:30 pm.  Cubana Social.  70 N 6^th street between Wythe and Kent, Brooklyn.

This very short event will fit even the busiest of schedules.  This event is a performance of dance and film representing an urban heat island.  The performance includes ways to reduce this heat island that are relevant to green contracting.

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SATURDAY 24, 2011

• Reflecting the Stars. All day, pier 29, Hudson River Park, West 11^th and Bank Street.

This event uses steel pipes with LED light bulbs inside of them to recreate the night sky in Manhattan.  These steel pipes were chosen to juxtapose the lightbulbs because the steel pipes will turn rusty quickly while the lightbulbs will continue to look new.  The type of material to use is an important choice in green contracting.  This event showcases one of the ways to juxtapose materials.

• Cooling a roof.  9-3 pm.  Henry Street Settlement, 466 Grand Street. 

This event is perfect for those of you who want to know more about green roofs and how to install them.  This event is hosted by NYC CoolRoofs, which is an NYC government collaboration between the department of service and building.

• Moving Planet- Sustainable Flatbush.  11am-3pm.  Church Avenue Communal Garden at the Flatbush Reformed Church, 890 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn. 

This event is perfect for getting to more about sustainable efforts in Brooklyn.  Sustainable Flatbush is also doing some really interesting things, such as setting up their own off-grid solar system, called SunBike.  The rest of the event will focus on the use of plants in urban spaces, from urban gardens to green roofs.

• Moving Planet NYC.  11:30am-4pm.  Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, East 47^th at 1^st ave,

This event is being included not really because of its direct relevance to green contracting, but because of its sheer size and importance.  Moving planet is being organized by several NYC groups as well as 350.org, an organization committed to reducing C02.  For more information, check out their website, http://movingplanetnyc.blogspot.com/, http://www.twitter.com/Moving_Planet, http://www.twitter.com/350

• 2011 Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) Annual Meeting.  5-9pm.  CUNY Institute for Sustainable cities, Hunter College.  695 Park Ave.  Registration required.

This event is hosted by NESEA and GreenHomeNYC, which is the local chapter of NESEA.  This event is unparallelled among climate week events for its networking opportunities.

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SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

• NYC Sustainable Lighting Tour.  7pm, Central Park.  download a special tour map.

Although this event goes on everyday, it is an especially good event for a relaxing Sunday, especially after a busy week of attending climate week events.  This event is hosted by the NYC DOT LED Pilot Project.  Although this project is mainly concerned with installing LED lights on streets, LED lights can be used in green contracting as well.

Other events on Sunday are repeats, such as Reflecting the Stars, and Cooling a Roof.

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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

• Meditations on a Warming Planet: An Audience Participation Performance.  6-8pm.  Sheep Meadow, Central Park.  West Side, between 66^th and 69^th.

Unfortunately some of the most interesting events today are out of budget for the average person (upwards of $600 per event).  But there is this nice free event to connect you to nature, while allowing for some audience participation as well.  Although this event is climate themed, and therefore not directly related to green contracting, the overarching goal of the environmental movement is to prevent climate change (as well as some other things).  So sit back in Central Park and enjoy the big picture.

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Unfortunately the last day of climate week events has no free events.  But, in case you are willing to pay I’ll include some interesting events anyway.

• Transportation Transformation.  8-10:30am.  $10 for members, $20 for non-members.  ConEd Headquarters, 4 Irving place.

While transportation is not explicably linked to green contracting, green transportation is a part of a sustainable lifestyle.  Explore three different green transportation firms that are starting to make an impact on how we drive, park, and bike in New York City.

Check it out here.

Check out their blog post on Eco Brooklyn here.

August forum: Working with contractors (AIA credit)August’s forum will discuss working with contractors in both residential and [...]]]>

Green Home NYC is featuring Gennaro Brooks-Church as a guest speaker. He will be speaking on two key concepts he coined: Build It Forward and the Zero Brownstone. More info below on the event next week.

August forum: Working with contractors (AIA credit)August’s forum will discuss working with contractors in both residential and commercial projects. Along with teams of architects, designers, and specifiers, the future of green construction is in the contractors’ hands. Please join GreenHomeNYC on August 18th to hear how these innovative people are greening our skyline, one building at a time.

When: Wednesday – August 18, 2010. 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Trespa, 62 Greene Street, Manhattan
Please RSVP . Space is limited.

We are providing AIA credit for this forum ($15), click here if you are interested.

Our speakers are:
Gennaro Brooks-Church, NY Licensed Real Estate Broker, Certified EcoBroker®, National Sustainable Advisor Program, LEED AP and Passive House Consultant Trainee, directs Eco Brooklyn. He coined two important building concepts: Build It Forward and the Zero Brownstone. Build It Forward is where all building must be made to last at least one hundred years, be a desirable gift to future generations and not drain existing resources. The Zero Brownstone is when a brownstone is renovated using no new materials, creating no waste and the end result is a home that uses no energy.

http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/sustainable-brownstone-101/

The general gist is that green building can be affordable. They say Eco Brooklyn “practices guerrilla green-building techniques”  to achieve this, which involves a lot of dumpster diving and salvage.

We try to set up more formal ways of collecting material but it [...]]]>

Here is an article on Eco Brooklyn in today’s NY Times Blog.

http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/sustainable-brownstone-101/

The general gist is that green building can be affordable. They say Eco Brooklyn “practices guerrilla green-building techniques”  to achieve this, which involves a lot of dumpster diving and salvage.

We try to set up more formal ways of collecting material but it is not easy. I had an agreement with a contractor who was renovating a brownstone that instead of cutting the wood joists and throwing them out he would take them out whole and give them to me. He saves on dumpster fees, the wood is saved, and I save money while being green. Triple bottom line – people, planet, profit.

I hadn’t heard from him so today I drove by his job site to see how his progress was. I was met by a dumpster full of cut joists. Very discouraging. I see a lot of waste and am used to it. People don’t know any better. But I get bummed when people blatantly waste when there is an alternative. Forget about saving the planet for a second, the irony is that being green would save the contractor money.

This contractor inertia means a lot of our salvage is done without formal supply streams - dumpster diving, catching contractors at the moment they take out the material, getting an inside garbage tip from a worker etc.

We’d much rather not have to be so guerrilla. But unfortunately it is one of the few green building options for now.

To read the dialog click here.