While most of us are looking forward to a relaxing weekend, others are working hard on our behalf. Right now they are pushing hard to pass an improved version of the net metering bill through the Senate. This allows your average Brooklyn brownstone owner to put solar panels on their home and actually sell the […]
New York net metering fix Read More »
Here is a great picture of a green roof installation for a Brooklyn brownstone. I like it because it is simple. There are a lot of ways to install a green roof on a Brownstone. They simply have to meet the low weight requirements but apart from that you can do it many ways. This
Brooklyn Green Roof Detail Read More »
Did you know that in addition to carbon dioxide, humans release as much as 150 volatile substances from our bodies, including carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, phenol, and hydrogen sulphide?! I got this from the book “How To Grow Fresh Air – 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office” by Dr. Wolverton. Since we
How To Grow Fresh Air Read More »
Diana Wells’ book “Lives of the Trees” is a veritable folkloric historical encyclopedia for the common folk about trees. If you ever wondered what the Apple tree had in common with Shakespeare, where the tree originated, what political impact it has had on Europe, and why the Golden Delicious is just a marketing name after
Lives of the Trees Read More »
There are a number of ‘green’ product listings and databases on the web; Greenspec at BuildingGreen.com and Pharos, for example, but most (if not all) of them require a paid annual membership. One good source of free information on green products is Oikos.com. More than 2,500 companies are listed in a searchable database. Others are
Green Building Directories Read More »
I copied this from my email. Worth reading and writing. Greetings! This is the moment that supporters of legalizing beekeeping in NYC have been waiting for. The Department of Health is proposing changes to it’s Health Code that would once again make honey beekeeping legal in NYC! Between now and Wednesday, February 3rd, you
Here is a cool insight into nature. It is by Michael Pollan. He also talks about the Polyface Farm which is run by “grass farmer” Joel Salatin. Joel is interviewed a lot in the Food Inc Movie. Check out the talk below, follow the links above. All very cool stuff. Not directly connected to green
Permaculture, Pigs and Bees Read More »
The book “New Green Homes” by Sergi Costa Duran, Liliana Bollini and Ethel Pohl is a focused book. It is an architects visual study of modern homes around the world. They claim the homes are green but I didn’t really see that. What I did see was a study of a very specific architectural style,
New Green Homes Book Read More »
I’m seeing two styles in green building. One I call the Hobbit house and the other is the Glass Box house. One looks like the past, the other the future. Here are some examples of the Hobbit house. Hobbit Houses are: low tech, low embodied energy, dark, local materials, high thermal mass, part of the
Hobbit Houses and Glass Box houses Read More »
This is the season of phone calls from clients needing Eco Brooklyn’s help with their brownstone extensions. The problem is always the same: they are cold. They call us up because we are Brooklyn brownstone insulation specialists. Here are my observations having seen and fixed extensions for a while now. There are two types of
Brooklyn Brownstone Extentions and the Stack Effect Read More »
