The other day I passed by a Manhattan condo renovation and saw they were throwing out good stuff: metal studds and flooring. The contractor told me it was a 3,000 sq.ft. condo that right before the current gut reno it had just been gut renovated! It had high end everything: Poggen Pohl German kitchen, slate […]
Waste, Toxic Homes Read More »
A few nights ago Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News answered a question about whether the oil disaster would increase the price of oil. He answered that it wouldn’t as the spill was such a small amount of oil relative to actual usage. He said all the oil that has spilled so far is just
22 Million Barrels a Day Read More »
Brac Graywater Systems is the graywater system we have in the Brooklyn Green Show House. We bought it because we were not fully educated on the graywater needs a Brooklyn brownstone has. Unfortunately it was a huge mistake. We do not think the Brac Graywater unit is intelligently designed. In fact it is over designed. Apart from
Brac Graywater Systems Nightmare Read More »
Check this PowerPoint out. It is cool. It shows images of the earth and other celestial entities. It gives a really great perspective of our place in the universe, both as a small spec in a vast ocean and as a very beautiful, fragile gem. EnglishAstronomie2
Our Planet in Perspective Read More »
We’ve been looking for a chlorine alternative for our Brooklyn brownstone gray water systems. Chlorine is not ideal because it gives off fumes. I’ve also read that when the chlorine molecules bond with the soil particles it alters the chlorine into a form called Chloramine that causes cancer. This is a concern if using the gray
Bromine as a Chlorine Alternative for Gray Water Read More »
Brooklyn homes were originally built without insulation. We often come across a situation where we are doing a green renovation of a Brooklyn building but not gutting it completely. This creates an insulation problem. We want to add plenty of insulation but that is hard if you are working with existing exterior walls. In this situation I
Insulation Detail For Exterior Walls Read More »
Check this video out of the BP oil spill.
BP Oil Spill as Seen From Under Water Read More »
An extensive green roof is a green roof that is less than 6″ thick. As opposed to an intensive green roof that is more than 6″ thick. Because of the thickness of the growing medium an extensive green roof can only support sedum and drought tolerant small plants. The reason for this is the limited root space
Extensive Green Roof Read More »
This week was the moment of reckoning for Eco Brooklyn. We are constantly doing things to improve our green building techniques but it is rare that we see the numbers to either back up our claims or damn them. But this week we did, in the form of my son’s blood level tests. One of the biggest
Lead Levels in Brooklyn Children Read More »
The boat Plastiki is a boat built entirely out of salvaged plastic. I presume it is a play on the original boat called Kon-Tiki that THOR HEYERDAHL built out of reeds. You have to check out their site. Check out the pictures and the vids. They are on such a high that it is really
