This weekend we get a special treat: we’ll be taking delivery of over 250 tropical plants and installing two indoor living walls. It’s the culminating step in a complete renovation of Area Yoga Studio in Downtown Brooklyn and promises to transform the character of the space. Arranging and installing the plants presents lots of […]
A Green Wall in Brooklyn Read More »
Green building and eco-sensitive design is currently at the forefront of our modern ethos. What this means for the green builders, contractors and architects of NY, and the world, is a period of dramatic change and challenge is ahead if not already begun. A change in the way we think about new buildings and construction,
The Living Building Challenge- Winner of the 2012 Buckminster-Fuller Challenge Read More »
We at EcoBrooklyn engage in a number of exciting green building projects and experiments throughout the year, but with the hot months ahead at the top of our list is the natural pool for the show house and with its completion so close we can almost feel the cool, energetic, life infused water on our
I read the book Design Revolution, 100 Products That Empower People by Emily Pilloton to see if any of the designs could apply to a New York green contractor. The book is organized into eight sections: Education Enterprise Water Energy Mobility Food Well-being Play There were plenty of great ideas that could be applied to a
Design Revolution Book and a New York Living Machine Read More »
Being a New York green contractor involves pushing two very important elements through DOB code approval: 1. composting toilets 2. gray water and rain water for flushing toilets. We recently tried to get composting toilets approved for our Passive House in Harlem but it got shot down. We will persevere trying to get it legalized in NYC but
Gray Water Use in New York Read More »
Here is a great Gray Water Study done by some college students that addresses the main concerns of residential gray water reuse. It is strange that gray water is such an under developed industry since it is such an important part of green building everywhere. Eco Brooklyn is currently designing three gray water systems for residential New
The book “Complete Guide to Water Gardens Ponds and Fountains” gives you everything you need to know to build and run a small to medium sized water feature in your yard. The book lays out every detail in clearly worded and well organized sections with plenty of supportive photographs and images. It is focused on
Water Gardens Ponds and Fountains Book Read More »
As part of our service in the green renovation of a brownstone Eco Brooklyn looks at the brownstone plot in its entirety. This means we don’t just gut and renovate the interior. We also look at how the interior effects the exterior. As a NY green contractor we look at the whole system, from the
NY Native Trees, Holistic Green Building and Water Read More »
We have a gray water system installed in our Brooklyn green show house. Unfortunately we were using the Brac system, which sucks. We were having so many problems with it that we took it out and made the house conventional until we design our own system. Until then all waste water goes down the drain
New York Gray Water Cost Savings Read More »
In Eco Brooklyn’s brownstones we are still weighing the options of using rain water or gray water for flushing the toilets. So far we have always decided on doing the gray water, letting the rain water drain into a dry well in the back yard. Here are two sketches Joe Schafer my water engineer drew up to
Gray Water or Rain Water Read More »
