I had been avoiding the movie Food Inc for a while. I’ve seen lots of animal rights movies: they are depressing. They make me angry because of the barbarity and frustrated because I feel helpless. But one evening I was feeling especially brave. It turns out the movie is UPLIFTING! Sure it jumps all over […]
Food Inc and Green Building Read More »
The correct way to finish off a brownstone is to put lots of insulation and then a concrete slab, right? Correct maybe but not the greenest way. Concrete creates way too much CO2. The greenest way and a great alternative to concrete is to put lots of insulation and then an EARTHEN floor. Yes earth,
Earthen Floor Brownstone Read More »
Today’s modern home is loaded with toxic and polluting substances designed to make domestic life easier. The cost of these commercial, chemical-based products can be high — long term health concerns for the family, and environmental pollution caused by their manufacture and disposal. In the US, for example, 1 in 3 people suffer from allergies,
Natural Green Cleaning Read More »
I was just speaking with an Eco Brooklyn intern who is an architect for a non-green firm in Queens. She was lamenting a current job she is working on where they are tearing out beautiful cherry wood details to turn the building into crap rentals. All my workers have similar stories and one of their
Waste, Reuse and Cheese with Worms Read More »
“Sustainability is like teenage sex. Everybody says they’re doing it, very few people actually are doing it. Those that are doing it are doing it badly.” -Aussie architect Andrew Maynard Here at Eco Brooklyn we definitely aren’t getting enough sex. Lucky for us green building turns us on almost as much and we have plenty
Quote of the Week: Sustainability is like teenage sex… Read More »
Here is a sobering documentary on what is called Global Dimming, the effect of pollution particles blocking the sunshine on the planet. Ironically global dimming helps block the sun’s rays and thus REDUCES Global Warming. But the moral of the story is not very positive. This documentary apart from being fascinating is also a very
The way Brooklyn brownstones are currently renovated does not work. It does not work for the environment nor for the inhabitants’ comfort and utility bills. Eco Brooklyn is focused on redefining how a brownstone gets renovated. We use the Brooklyn Green Show House as an example of a renovation template that works for the triple
Brooklyn Green Brownstone Renovation Template Read More »
Green building means a lot of things to many people. As a green builder I think long and hard about the definition of green building for our company. I’ve boiled it down to four key concepts: good for the planet long lasting energy efficient holistic Any green building practice has the basic tenet that it
Green Building Defined Read More »
I just had a contractor come visit our Brooklyn Green Show House. He was up from Virginia visiting family and decided to check it out. He isn’t a green builder but wants to move in that direction. Where he’s from he says there is very little green building interest and he is very frustrated with
Hitting Eco Brick Walls With Clients and how to Overcome Them Read More »
Here is a video of green architecture ideas from around the world. They are very 1970’s, pot smoking from outer space sort of structures IMO. But they make me think about green architecture possibilities in Brooklyn. Our canvas is the brownstone. What normal contractors paint on it is currently pretty standard stuff. I ask myself,
Brooklyn Green Architecture Read More »
