Above: A tomato plant growing out of the sidewalk at the green show house. You can’t get more local than that! MNN.com, a pretty cool “Mother Nature Network” featured Brooklyn as a green destination of the week. Eco Brooklyn was mentioned in the article: “Brooklyn residents can now stretch out in new green-friendly living quarters […]
Eco Brooklyn Featured at MNN.com Read More »
Green building is not mainstream. The systems and habits are not in place. Doing a green job is part construction part education part experimentation because once you start thinking off the grid there are very few reference points to guide you. I had a plumber walk out of my job today before even giving a
Proper Guide of Doing Things Differently Read More »
I’m experimenting with a transparent heat transfer wall. It would be a transparent wall attached to the outer south wall, leaving about one inch between them. The out wall would be painted a dark color. Ideally it would be black but that would be too much of an eye sore. So dark brown would be
External Transparent Heat Transfer Wall Read More »
Above: Facade with planter and recycled joists. Originally the top facade of the building had a lot of rotted wood. And there was a great view. So in the heat of the summer I tore down the wall and planned on adding a wall of glass. It would have been magnificent. But then as the
Adding Solar Gaines and Recyclables to Facade Read More »
“Building Forward” is a concept I coined to define Eco Brooklyn’s building philosophy. Eco Brooklyn is a green building company. That is a given. But as I renovate these hundred year old Brownstones in Brooklyn I communicate with the artisans who labored over them a hundred years ago and I realize how much they have
Build It Forward Discussed Read More »
One technology I have my eyes on is developed by Isomax. They build homes that require basically no heating or cooling at all, regardless of where the house it. How do they do it? They use a series of air and water tubes and ducts to pass heat and cold around. They have tubes in
Zero Energy Houses Read More »
A “new” construction style coming out of Germany creates houses that barely need energy to run. They don’t even have heating systems. In the dead of winter they might need a little space heater but that is is. What is the secret? Insane amounts of insulation, triple pane windows, fanatic air sealing, smart solar design,
Passiv Haus (Passive House) Read More »
We have a cellar half of the ceiling on the south side being open so that large amounts of light stream in and make a very nice living area. First we dug out the cellar 3 1/2 feet: While digging we found a giant stone which I decided to keep and put under the stairs,
Installing the concrete slab Read More »
I have a moto that I live by when building: Fanatic Insulation. I’m not sure if I coined the phrase but I think I did :). We use weather barrier, caulk, insulation, foam, flashing etc like there we’re building an antarctic deep sea submarine. How do we Insultation a House ? Considering some European standards,
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As seen from the stoop of the green show house. Nice!
Brooklyn on a Crisp Winter Day! Read More »
