Join Us
There are two ways to join our organization: employment or internship.
Employment
We are a quickly growing green building company looking for passionate green builders to join our team. We want to turn Brooklyn into a green utopia and we need the best green builders in the world to do it. We have huge idealistic long term goals and we will achieve them with people who are also big thinkers, idealistic and willing to be with us for the long term.
We are looking for people who:
Love green building, who study it, practice it, live it and breathe it.
Have solid experience in traditional building as well as alternative green building.
Are green builders regardless of whether it is cool or not.
Are smart financially but are not in it just for the money.
Passionately believe it is the only moral and logical thing to do.
Think the world has been mistreated for too long and that building green is now a mater of survival.
Want to turn every Brownstone into a Greenstone – gray water, green roof, solar PV and thermal, salvaged materials, LED lights……
If this sounds like you then join us!
We need managers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, laborers, gardeners, painters, green roof installers, radiant floor installers, weather sealers, dumpster divers, educators, solar PV installers, solar thermal installers, gray water system installers, high efficiency boilers experts, clay applicators…..but first and foremost we need people who are green builders to the core.
We are new, hungry and idealistic so we bid competitively to get work that changes the world for the better instead of bidding high and not getting work. As we grow so will salary for those who believe in our company and are loyal to it. We are the most innovative green building company in Brooklyn and clients are seeing that.
We have several jobs going on right now – green walls, green roofs, gray water, insulation, radiant flooring, salvaged wood, eco plaster and clay walls.
If you aren’t hard working and passionate about green building above all else then don’t contact us. if construction is a way to finance your real passion then don’t contact us. If you are in construction until you find something better don’t contact us. We aren’t interested but passionate green builders.
But if our company sounds like something you could really, really get excited about then please send us your resume (no attachments) and a short paragraph about why you are a green builder. Our email is “info at ecobrooklyn dot com”.
Internship
As well as being a Brooklyn green contractor, Eco Brooklyn offers the New York community a chance to gain exporsure in the best green building practices for brownstones and townhouses in the Brooklyn and NY area.
The internship program came out of the need to accommodate the many people interested in being part of Eco Brooklyn and what we do.
No skill is necessary. A good attitude and a willingness to help and learn is all you need.
Internships are unpaid and you will be expected to work hard in a fast paced environment. It is learning through full emersion in real world green building environments. Interns work on real jobs with real deadlines and expectations.
Institutional Internships
We ally ourselves with local schools and organizations to help increase students’ exposure to green building techniques. We welcome any interested institution to contact us.
Two examples of our internship partners are International Center for the Disabled and Sustainable South Bronx.
Individual Internships
We welcome individuals looking to increase their green building experience.
Our training program for individuals is a minimum 80 hour commitment but we strongly encourage a longer commitment. 80 hours is long enough to see if green building is for you but not enough to learn anything extensive. The time investment can be all in one block or spread out longer. Work days are Monday to Friday. Hours are 8-4:30.
Depending on your interests and what we are doing at the time we will assign you to different jobs. Past interns have helped install green roofs, lay salvaged floor, lay tiles, install radiant flooring, deconstruct a building, and salvage materials from dumpsters.
Because green building is still construction with all the physical labor that entails, the work is not glamorous and we expect you to sweat. If you don’t like normal construction then you probably won’t like green construction. But if you appreciate a day of hard work – organizing tools, painting, sanding, scraping, sweeping and cleaning – with the knowledge that you are helping the world be greener then this internship is for you.
Recommended reading is “Your Green Home“.
What is the Eco Brooklyn Green Building Certification?
Green building is not about certificates. Green building is an attitude and work ethic. But people need some way of quantifying your “level” of green building experience, for example during a job interview. So “graduating” interns can put on their resume that they completed the “Eco Brooklyn Green Building Certification Training.” (There is no actual certificate).
This training is different for everyone depending on the tasks they do but we hope all interns come away with a respect for salvaged materials and an understanding of how important it is to build green.
Above: Giving instructions on how a high efficiency boiler works in the Brooklyn Green Show House.
Comments
I am definitely interested in your training program. I am a registered architect in NY and got my LEED AP certificate a year ago.
Regards,
Stephanie
I just found your conscientious, inspiring and trail-blazing company through its website and would like to participate in your company’s Green Building Certificate 40-hour internship program.
I have just completed the Eco Brooklyn Green Building Certification Training and I would like to thank all the management and crew at Eco-Brooklyn for their guidance, patience and willingness in allowing me to assist them in their work and sharing their knowledge and experience which enabled me to gain a better understanding of what sustainable construction is.
Although green construction is in many ways similar to conventional construction practices and procedures, I was able to see that there are significant differences, such as in how and from where materials are procured, using non- or less-toxic agents in various procedures, and using recycled and/or salvaged materials, notable even in one of the simpler construction tasks such as house gutting, where questions arise as to whether or not to salvage flooring, fixtures, plumbing, etc, as I experienced first hand myself when removing a cabinet/drawer unit and disassembled the drawer sliding mechanism for salvage, and also began removal of flooring to be re-used, taking care to minimize or avoid damage to the flooring, instead of
merely tearing it out by any means possible.
In the short week of my internship with Eco-Brooklyn I was able to assist with and learn various tasks in the business from materials organizing to floor tiling , cutting slate shingles, house gutting, materials salvaging, roof inspection, and client consultation. In addition I was able to witness installation of efficient and clever structural components such as radiant flooring and a solar tube, the latter of which draws natural sunlight from the roof of a building to floors that are below the building’s top floor.
I was present when the photos that appear in the post about the solar tube on this website were taken and was also permitted on the roof of the building to view the skylight at the top of the solar tube and I know first hand that the bright light emanating from the bottom of the tube is natural sunlight (actually, there was cloud cover outside when the photo was taken, no less!) only, without electricity or special effects.
The approaches employed by Eco-Brooklyn in its outreach to the community by educating the community about the company’s practices and philosophy are brilliant in cultivating clientele and the company’s programs such as the internship and English language education are very intelligent ways to build an effective labor pool.
The work can be physically exerting and not very pretty at times (it IS construction, after all) but it is always done with a consciousness and conscientiousness that not only may be, but, may have to be the future standard in the construction industry if the industry and, for that matter, the planet (and everything that lives on the planet) is to have any kind of viable future.
Again, I’m grateful to Gennaro, Jack, Carlos, Daniel, Lucas, Martin, Pedro, and anyone else I forgot to mention (sorry!) for showing me the ropes (as much as could be shown in a week, anyway) and for this unique opportunity to participate as I did in the operations of this forward-looking company.
I am extremely interested in becoming an “intern” and learn more green building strategies. I have been a LEED AP since Dec 2008 but have thought Green for years and years. I am currently working as a Project Architect in Westchester County, unlicensed at this point but training toward it.
I hate to waste!
My two-week internship at Eco Brooklyn was a great experience.
During my time working on the Eco Brooklyn show house I increased my practical building skills and learned so much about sustainable building practices. I particularly enjoyed witnessing the problem-solving unique to construction with the concept of “build it forward” in mind. Participating in this internship not only offer me a solid introduction to environmentally responsible building methods but has inspired me to think about how these practices can become a societal norm.
I am a current, and very new, student to Interior Design. My goal is to build green and I would love to get all of the experience that I can in the field. How do I go about getting involved in your program?
Thanks
Emily Sumner
I am very much interested in training/”interning” with Eco-Brooklyn. I am a Registered Architect from Brooklyn and currently unemployed. Through out my life I have consciously and subconsciously practiced sustainable and green living. I am preparing for my LEED study, but I am more interested in working hands-on with Green Building methodologies than just concentrating on memorizing green credits. Working hands-on will allow me to experience real-life green building and at the same time allow me to contribute my time to making Brooklyn more Green. How can I get involved?
Thank you.
Paulom
I am really interested in becoming an “intern” and learn more about Sustainability and green building strategies. . Currently, I am a Asocc. AIA, Queens Chapter; also attending the ‘Certificate in Sustainability’ Program at Baruch College.
I am currently working freelance in the Architectural and Construction field in my own.
If you have some project I can get involved, please contact me. THanks,
M. Claudia Pinto
I am an architectural lighting designer, I have my LC, and have worked on several LEED projects, including a Gold Level Leed for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation. I’m very interested in doing your internship, sounds like a great opportunity. I’ve also worked as a carpenter and have my own tools. Hopefully sometime in August, Sept or October?
Hi. I am recently certified in building Auditing, BPI certified, and I would love more information on working with you.
This program sounds great.