The book “Energy Efficient Buildings: Architecture, Engineering, and Environment” by Hawkes and Forster is a little misleading in its title since it only covers large educational and commercial buildings for the most part. The residential buildings it covers are also large multifamily structures. It does not address smaller buildings at all and the title should make some …
I just read Ecocities by Richard Register. His definition of an eco city is: •An ecologically healthy human settlement modeled on the self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems and living organisms. •An entity that includes its inhabitants and their ecological impacts. •A subsystem of the ecosystems of which it is part — of …
BBox radio did a cool interview of Eco Brooklyn Director, Gennaro Brooks-Church. We discussed all sorts of things in the field of radical green building – Net Zero, Passive House, Guerrilla Green Building, Build It Forward and much more. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Last week we met the representative from Kawasaki Greenhouses to check out their new green roof product. It is a pregrown green roof mat that is light-weight and easy to handle. They grow the sedum on coconut jute, which is basically like a stringy organic fiber sponge. The end result is very similar to mats …
I got an email from Jetson Green today with the title “Factory-Built Homes Are the Future”. This is quite the statement. With few exceptions throughout history homes have been built on site by hand. The idea that a home is built in a factory with high tech machines and then plopped down on the site …
Eco Brooklyn recently completed a number of jobs in a building where there were children living. We renovated three children’s bedrooms, two bathrooms where they bathe, and two play areas. Doing this increased our focus on using non-toxic materials and building in a manner that created no dust. A toxin free green building process should …
Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth and founder of 350.org, can either be seen as an optimist or a pessimist; it just depends which way you look at it. He can be an optimist because he believes the human race can survive climate change, but he is a pessimist because he believes that global warming will …
Over the past few years biking has become an increasingly popular mode of transportation in New York City. More than 200,000 people bike everyday in New York City. There was a 26% increase in the number of cyclers between 2008 and 2009. Here at Eco Brooklyn, a number of our employees ride to work and …
Recently the City University of NY (CUNY) has developed a NYC Solar Map. The features of this map may very well create more opportunities for green contractors, like Eco Brooklyn, to increase installation projects. Many people may be surprised to hear that although the NY climate is nothing like the desert southwest, there are plenty …
When I first started mentoring interns one of the first things I told them was that they always had to leave their work area cleaner than when they came to it. Over time this metaphor became the most powerful thing I think I can teach them. Leave your surroundings cleaner than when you arrived….. If …
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