My manager Jack and I were talking about the direction of Eco Brooklyn today and we were trying to put into words the concept of Eco Brooklyn’s services.
Jack came up with a genius term: Urban Off Grid.
That is exactly what Eco Brooklyn does. We create urban off grid houses. This does not mean you aren’t hooked up to the grid but you aren’t a slave to it.
Should the grid fail you won’t be too worried because you can work pretty well off grid too. And likewise the grid is very much less burdened by your house consumption and waste production.
For example an urban off grid brownstone in Brooklyn, which is what we specialize in, would have solar PV so that when the grid goes down you still have some electricity.
The urban off grid brownstone would have solar thermal hot water heating so that if the gas grid ever went down you wouldn’t worry about your boiler not making hot water. You would get hot water from the sun.
If there was ever a food shortage your edible garden would provide vegetables and fruit. And this isn’t necessarily about Armageddon. What if the local organic store is short on veggies one week? No worries, your snap peas are coming into season…
Likewise you’d have honey from your bee hive and eggs from your chickens.
And on the waste side your off grid urban home would be less of a burden to the grid. Your home produces less rain water because the green roof and garden suck it up, thus diminishing the sewer overflow problems.
The gray water reduces waste water ever further. And the back yard toilet composting reduces it even more.
There is no reason a Brooklyn brownstone needs to be connected to the sewer system.
All water and waste is more usefully used on site. Think about that! It is a revolutionary and simple idea with powerful benefits to the world.
Basically if the end of the world came it would not be the end of the world for an off grid urban dweller. And until the end of the world comes the current off grid brownstone owner in Brooklyn greatly reduces the burden on an outdated and underfunded grid.
The Brooklyn electric, gas and sewer system are old and in need of a overhaul, which it is not getting. The NY state grid is even worse. And the US grid is worse yet.
Apart from these practical issues, there is the great sense of empowerment in having an off the grid urban home. That way you can take advantage of the great advancements of modern society – standardized national electric/gas/sewer – while staying grounded in millennium old tried and true methods that bring you closer to nature and allow freedom.
This is what Eco Brooklyn helps achieve! It is a Build It Forward practice. It is a smart practice.