Review
Global Dimming
Here is a sobering documentary on what is called Global Dimming, the effect of pollution particles blocking the sunshine on the planet. Ironically global dimming helps block the sun’s rays and thus REDUCES Global Warming. But the moral of the story is not very positive. This documentary apart from being fascinating is also a very [...]
PS 58 Window Grille Stupidity
This is probably my farewell post to what I think is one of the stupidest building I’ve seen in a long time. I say it is a farewell post because I don’t have much hope for rectifying the problem and am moving on.
I’m referring to the 2009 installation of window grilles onto the PS 58 [...]
Rebuildersource.coop
I just go a call from Joel Frank, one of the three members of the Rebuilder Source cooperative in the Bronx. They accept donations of building materials and resell them at good prices. The drive behind them is mostly idealistic: one of making the world a greener place by reusing materials.
He was just reaching out [...]
EPA discusses Spray Foam
A few weeks ago the EPA held a webinar on the safe use of spray foam insulations titled “What You
Need to Know About the Safe Use of Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF)”. We at Eco Brooklyn are not crazy about spray foam so we watched what the EPA had to say closely.
Their view in a nutshell [...]
Saving Water and Energy in a Brooklyn Brownstone
Modified hot water return systems in a green brownstone make a lot of sense. You want to minimize the amount of wasted water that normally goes down the drain while you are waiting for the water to heat up, thus the use of a hot water return, but you modify it from the normal hot [...]
Less Is More – Wabi Sabi
The book of short essays “Less is More” collected by Cecile Andrews and Wanda Urbanska, tackles a subject dear to my heart: Voluntary Simplicity, the act of voluntarily making your life simpler, less cluttered, more frugal and quite simply… simpler.
I don’t think the book does a very good job at it though. Firstly, a book [...]
Brooklyn Modern Book
The book “Brooklyn Modern” by Diana Lind, published by Rizzoli, is a real inspiration to any green builder or contractor in Brooklyn because it shows great examples of creative, green renovations of Brooklyn buildings.
Most of the renovations are not intentionally green, although some are, but the home owners are part of a Brooklyn breed of [...]
Re-nest and the process of green building
Architect and writer Julia Brooke Hustwit came by our Brooklyn Green Show House for the first in a series of articles she is writing on the house for re-nest.com. You can check out the first one here.
We spoke a lot about how the green building process differs from normal building. Just the word “process” seems [...]
Stop Buying Wood
Eco Brooklyn has one rule: we don’t buy new wood. We buy damaged wood, salvaged wood, unwanted wood, and overstock from other Brooklyn contractors. We collect it from dumpsters.
But we won’t buy new wood. Period.
It is the thorn in my carpenters’ side. When they are under pressure to perform (which is always), time is tight, [...]
Reality Sandwich
Here is an interesting site called RealitySandwich.com. Although it is not Brooklyngreen building related, it does touch a lot of the elements necessary to be a good green builder. Before being a green builder we are universal citizens. Check it out. Cool.
100K House
A reporter was over at the Brooklyn green show house last week and I was talking about the importance of Brooklyn green contractors being affordable to middle class people in order for our goal of turning Brooklyn green to be successful.
She mentioned another green developer who had built a house in Phili for $100K and [...]
Gasoline Alternatives
Eco Brooklyn is growing as a company and needs to buy another vehicle. As a green contractor we are not crazy about adding to our carbon footprint. So lessen the impact we’ve started looking into alternative fuel options and fuel efficiency.
The best web site for this is FuelEconomy.gov
We started by first looking at the vehicles [...]
Simple Shelters
There is a little book called “Simple Shelters: Tents, Tipis, Yurts, Domes and other Ancient Homes” by Jonathan Horning. It is part of a group of books called Wooden Books that the NY publisher Walker & Company puts out.
From the web site, Wooden Books are Small Books with Big Ideas:
“Historically, in all known cultures on [...]
LED lighting is (almost) there
Here is an interesting cost comparison between LED, CFL and incandescent. I have not checked the numbers but they seem pretty accurate. They clearly show that over the life of the bulb it makes a lot of sense to buy LED.
What the numbers do not show are the quality. I’ve tried a lot of the [...]
Transportation Miles Per Gallon
This web site has a great list of all mechanical modes of transport and their passenger miles per gallon (number of passengers the vehicle can hold multiplied by its MPG. For example a 20 MPG car that can hold 4 would be 80 passenger MPG).
The most efficient are trains. They get great passenger miles per [...]
350.org and Turn Brooklyn Green
350.org is a site worth knowing about. It is at the helm of a very sensible movement to get the CO2 levels of the world back down to 350 part per million, which is a safe level. Right now they are at 387 and it isn’t very clear whether they will keep going up or [...]
Vermont Natural Coatings
We’ve had a good deal of experience with natural wood applications and the Polywhey product by Vermont Natural Coatings is one of our favorite natural alternatives for wood and surface applications. You can’t buy PolyWhey in Brooklyn (yet, ask Green Depot and Bettencourt if they can start carrying it) but you can easily order it [...]
Reuse Building
Reuse is the new IT word. I see it becoming the next stage of green building. It is a reaction to over consumerism and a humbled economic situation where people want to buy less new and reuse old more.
I am happy to see this trend. I’ve always been uncomfortable with the green building movement that [...]
Natural Wood Flooring Finish Option
We’ve been using PolyWhey Natural Wood Finish from Vermont Natural Coatings for a lot of our salvaged floors and we are very happy with their product.
First of all you can apply it in a closed room without barely any smell. It is really low VOC and the VOC that is present is not noxious at [...]
Congresswoman Joan L. Millman
As a green builder in Brooklyn we have very definite views on how development should unfold in the neighborhood. This ties us willingly or not to the politicians since they have influence on development.
Today I got a generic brochure in the mail from Congresswoman Joan L. Millman and out of random curiosity I decided to [...]
Great Stuff Foam Sealant
Since weather sealing Brooklyn brownstones is a large part of our business we are very into finding good products that seal all the cracks. The best solution on a practical level is Great Stuff Foam sealant by DOW Chemical.
We use a lot of it. We use it around windows, doors, and in pretty much any [...]
Fiberglass Window Frames
We like the technology of fiberglass door and window frames for Brooklyn brownstones. It is less toxic than vinyl, more insulating than wood, and longer lasting than any of them. Or at least as long lasting as any of them.
Fiberglass frames are also better than aluminum frames. Aluminum is one of the best heat conductors [...]
Habitat ReStores
Since we are in the salvage and reuse business for all our building we are always on the look out to get good salvaged stuff in the New York area. Here is a great place: the Habitat ReStores. It’s not exactly in the NY area but it is close. We’ve not had the opportunity to [...]
High Efficiency HVAC
As green builders in Brooklyn we are always looking for small heating and cooling units for green, well insulated, brownstones. You don’t need something super large if the brownstone is built along the Eco Brooklyn lines. Just something to take the heat away during the couple days in August.
And because many of the good HVAC [...]
Demo Bags – Trash Bag Alternative
One of the most revolutionary things to happen to our company was the discovery of Demo Bags, a contractor garbage bag alternative. It is revolutionary because it is so simple yet so profound. We are a green construction company in Brooklyn. We salvage, reuse, and recycle like obsessed neurotic 1950’s house wives if they did [...]
Gennaro Brooks-Church is a Sustainable Building Advisor
I just graduated from the nine month training by the National Sustainable Building Advisor Program. The program is for working professionals so the benefits of the class come just as much from the content as from other students.
The students were construction leaders from many fields: HVAC, environmental remediation, architecture, furniture, design and a lot more. [...]
Urban Miners LLC
Urban Miners is a salvage company out of Connecticut. It is run by Joe DeRisi, a very knowledgeable ecologist in the salvage industry.
His business model caters to the middle class. It isn’t a boutique model catering to a select few. If he pulls materials out of a middle class 1920’s home he wants the [...]
101 Things I Learned in Architecture School book
The book 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School by Matthew Frederick is a great little read and it even endears yourself to Architects.
On the job site Architects from my point of view as a green contractor are not liked that much. They get in our way. A green builder is a very educated builder [...]
Green By Design Book
The book Green By Design, Creating a Home for Sustainable Living by Angela Dean is a good exploration of green design and the process behind it.
In green building the process is just as important as the end result. A beautiful home is not beautiful in the green builder’s eyes if the materials are not sourced [...]
Mini House Now Book
The book Mini House Now is a picture book of small houses, specifically houses with less than 1080 square feet. They are all free standing houses, most of them in the country side but one or two surrounded by other houses.
The pictures are great. Do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph [...]