There is nothing more wonderful than feeling that your actions in this life are meaningful and good. That is why I am so happy as a green builder in Brooklyn. I feel my actions better the world now and for generations to come. Another person who I think is doing the same in his own […]
Cambodian Children’s Painting Project Read More »
Here is a great rundown of alternatives to normal decking. It is by a fellow emailer Tim Keating, director of Rainforest Relief. — Re: wood-plastic composite lumbers (WPCLs) a la Trex, Weatherbest, etc.), imho, these are fine for a home but have problems that ‘true’ recycled plastic lumbers don’t have. First, many of these lumbers
In Brooklyn there aren’t that many pitched roofs. You get a lot of them in certain areas, especially Ditmas Park. We have a client in that area who approached us to replace their asphalt roof with the same. We are green roofers in Brooklyn so we come up when people do internet searches. But since
Pitched Green Roof Alternative Read More »
What I love about Brooklyn gardens is that they lend themselves so perfectly to permaculture and edible gardens. Brooklyn gets plenty or rain and temperate weather so it is so easy to create an edible and visual bounty in a Brownstone back yard. And a Brooklyn garden is like a canvas by its very size
Brooklyn Permaculture and Edible Garden Read More »
Brooklyn has a lot of wood floors. The common finish is some toxic varnish. As a Brooklyn green floor installer we don’t use that and are constantly researching more natural floor applications. Our floors are always salvaged and usually need a good sanding and sealing. Recently I was discussing this on an email list and
Natural Floor Finishes Read More »
Well before you go hooking wires up to any LEDs you should first know a little about electricity. First of all there are two main forms of electricity in commercial use today. (All of which are dangerous even if you know what you are doing. So with that in mind do not attempt to play
AC/DC the shocking difference Read More »
An LED driver is a self-contained power supply that has outputs matched to the electrical characteristics of your LED or array of LEDs. There are currently no industry standards, so understanding the electrical characteristics of your LED or array is critical in selecting or designing a driver circuit. Drivers should be current-regulated (deliver a consistent
Here is an article from LED Professional January 30, 2009 – Gallium Nitride (GaN), a man-made semiconductor used to make LEDs (light emitting diodes), emits brilliant light but uses very little electricity. Until now high production costs have made GaN lighting too expensive for wide spread use in homes and offices. However, with funding from
Low–Cost LEDs to Slash Household Electric Bills Read More »
As a Brooklyn green contractor we actually generate more garbage than a non-green contractor! More garbage!? You ask. The truth is yes. Bag for bag we cart off more garbage from our sites than non-green job sites. But how could this be?! The reason for this is that we BRING ON a lot more ‘garbage”
Green Job Sites Make Garbage Read More »
In this post, I’m going to diverge from the format of my past several entries a bit and explore strategies for installing green roofs on pitched surfaces. The International Green Roof Association (IGRA) states that roofs with up to a 30 degree pitch can be outfitted with a green roof, and that “traditional” green roof
Installing a pitched green roof Read More »
