October 2, 2013
This Saturday – The Annual Fall Green Buildings Tour
Tickets are going fast
When: 10:00 AM
Where: Brooklyn
Westbeth – A Sustainable Home to the Arts
When: 12:00 PM
Where: Manhattan, West Side
NRDC’s LEED Platinum Commercial Interiors – High-Efficiency, Cost-Effective Building Design
When: 2:00 PM
Where: Manhattan, Flatiron District
MiMA Tower & Clinton Community Garden – A Very Green Westside Story
When: 9:00 – 12:00 PM (Building tour and garden tour)
Where: Manhattan, West Side
The Solaire, Liberty Lux and Liberty Green – Luxury Meets Sustainability in Battery Park City
When: 1:00 – 3:00 PM (three buildings)
Location: Manhattan, Battery Park City
Sign up today right HERE
September 18, 2013
Join us for our Annual Fall Green Buildings Open-House!
GreenHomeNYC INVITES YOU TO OUR
ANNUAL FALL GREEN BUILDINGS OPEN-HOUSE!!!
The tours are an opportunity to visit a varied collection of buildings and green sites to learn about the energy efficient and sustainable building methods directly from building professionals such as the architect, engineer, developer or owner. You’ll experience firsthand the inner workings and design details, as well as the challenges and accomplishments that were faced by the professionals involved with these projects. This year’s tours will feature: Living Building design, passive homes, wind turbines, geo-thermal pumps, solar PV transport hubs, e-waste recycling plants, affordable housing retrofits, and more!Date: Saturday, October 5th 2013
Time: Between 10AM and 3PM
Tours Typically Last About One Hour Unless Otherwise Noted
Cost: Varies per tour
June 14, 2013
GreenHomeNYC – New York Times Building Tour
Join GreenHomeNYC on Friday, July 12th, for very special afternoon tour (1-2pm) of the New York Times Headquarters, located at Times Square on 8th Avenue. This guided tour will take guests behind the scenes of one of New York’s most recognizable office towers to see how this 52-story, 1.5 million sqft building was designed and built with numerous environmentally sustainable innovations.
Key features include:
Open-air garden with 50-foot-tall paper birch trees;
Double-skin curtain walls featuring ceramic sunshade rods;
Highly advanced dimmable lighting system;
On-site co-generation; and
Underfloor air distribution system
(more…)
June 6, 2013
Science Class Atop Hands-On Urban Farming
Our tour of The Greenhouse Project, lead by Manuela Zamora, Director of Education Programs and Sidsel Robards, Director of Program Development and Events, provided an exciting look at how New York City public schools are educating our children about science and the environment through hands-on laboratory experience.
Science is taught through the lens of urban farming, focusing on biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, and the living environment. Students engage in choosing growth media; selecting and planting seeds; combining plant-nutrients and water; monitoring plant growth; harvesting; monitoring NFT systems, VIG systems, vine crop systems, fish growth, and the fish farm; composting; controlling pests; measuring captured rainwater; predicting the weather; and more.
The Sun Works Center greenhouse at P.S. 333 will be the first rooftop environmental science lab among New York City public schools. It will provide a year-round space to teach kids about environmental sciences, climate change, conservation, food production, health and nutrition, and sustainable development. Given the success of The Greenhouse Project, 14 new greenhouses are being introduced into New York City.
The greenhouse is comprised of solar panels, a hydroponics growing system, a composting station, a rainwater catchment system, a weather station and an aquaponics system. This greenhouse is projected to grow 8,000 pounds of produce per year, including cucumbers, strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and squash. The harvest will be used for classroom snacks, cafeteria food, after school programs and more. Worms in the composting station will decompose leftover lunch scraps.
Two raised soil beds will teach younger students about how plants such as carrots, chives, celery and beans are traditionally grown. As many as 400-600 plants can be grown at any given time. Because pesticides are not used anywhere in the greenhouse, ladybugs will protect plants from pests such as aphids. In the aquaponics system, Tilapia will yield food and fertilizer for plants. About 40,000 gallons of rainwater are collected and filtered per year for cooling and irrigation.
Thank you to Ms. Zamora and Ms. Robards for leading this tour of the Sun Works Center greenhouse and demonstrating how students can get their hands dirty in the science of sustainability.
June 1, 2013
424 Melrose Street: Passive House in Process
As a part of our Spring 2013 SustaiNYC tours, architect Chris Benedict of Chris Benedict, R.A. showed the GreenHomeNYC community her latest project– a 24-unit apartment building in Bushwick that is designed to meet Passive House standards. Passive Houses are airtight buildings that are designed and built under rigorous conversion standards to dramatically minimize energy use. Thoughtful building design and infrastructure are at the core of a Passive House, so it was a treat to tour the building mid-construction and explore the details firsthand.
Chris and her team have designed 424 Melrose Street to be as airtight as possible, using modeling software such as PHPP (Passive House Planning Package) to calculate energy balance and facilitate building decisions. Each part of the building– including the walls, floors, windows, and the roof– are expertly designed with selected materials to maximize insulation. While optimizing solar energy and heat from appliances and occupants within the building, the team is also working to reduce the size of heating and AC systems. (more…)
May 28, 2013
Ever thought that there might be life in the East River?
This year the Lower East Side Ecology Center will open its office and learning center at the East River Park Fireboat House.
The site will contain an aquarium connected to the river to prove that “there are actually things living in the East River.” Through initiatives such as environmental education programs, greening, and composting, The Lower East Side Ecology Center works to promote a more sustainable New York City.
As part of GreenHomeNYC’s SustaiNYC Spring tours, Daniel Tainow, Education Director, led a tour of three sites affiliated with LESEC.
On top of the Fireboat House is a Xero Flor Green Roof, made up of squares of sedum for insulation, absorption of rainwater, as well as other benefits of a green roof. “We will cut holes in the tower in order to install a spiral staircase that will make the green roof more accessible. This will also encourage passive air movement throughout the tower.” In the past the tower was used to hang hoses to dry after use. Solar ivy (tiny solar panels designed to mimic the appearance of ivy) will be hung to generate solar energy.
(more…)
May 5, 2013
Join us for our Annual Spring Green Buildings Open-House!
On May 18th, discover what makes New York City one of the greenest metropolises in the world. See first-hand what is being done to further develop our sustainability and resiliency for the future. The one-day event will take guests behind the scenes to see sustainable sites throughout the city. Tours will highlight cutting edge innovations in building energy, water management, waste management, urban agriculture, and more. Date: Saturday, May 18th 2013 Time: Between 10AM and 3PM Cost: Varies by Tour Choose from a number of exciting tours! 424 Melrose Street – A Passive Multifamily in Brooklyn
Having designed energy efficient projects since 1996, Architect Chris Benedict brings the concept of passive building design to Bushwick with her latest project at 424 Melrose Street. The 24-unit apartment house is designed to comply with the stringent passive house standard while being completed at the same price as typical construction by thoughtfully rethinking the infrastructure of the building. The building also features a solar heated domestic hot water system. The building is currently under construction, so guests will be able to tour the site and get a first hand-look at the guts of the building.
Lower East Side Ecology Center – Urban Compost Tour
This tour will take guests behind the scenes of the newly renovated Environmental Learning Center. Guests will learn about the sustainable features of the building including it’s green roof system and oyster gardens, and will discuss the future green improvements in ventilation and solar power. We will also tour the compost site to see how food waste collected at the Union Square Greenmarket and at the Ecology Center’s community garden are turned into composting using an in-vessle system and windrows.
(more…)
April 25, 2013
GreenHomeNYC Spring Tour: Lower East Side Ecology Center
Check out the first of our upcoming May 18th Spring Building Tours! Date: Saturday, May 18, 2013 Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm Place: Lower East Side Ecology Center, East River Promenade, New York, NY 10002
Cost:$8 before May 12th, $12 after
Click here to RSVP
Join us as we tour the LESEC offices and newly renovated Environmental Learning Center.
Since 1987 the Lower East Side Ecology Center (LESEC) has offered community-based recycling and composting programs in New York City. Today, the Ecology Center offers free public compost collection and education, electronic waste recycling, stewardship of public open space, and environmental education.
(more…)
March 18, 2013
April Green House Tour
Join GreenHomeNYC for a special tour of the Greenhouse Project Science Laboratory at PS 333 on the Upper West Side!!
The Sun Works Center for Environmental Studies at the Manhattan School for Children [PS333] is the flagship Greenhouse Project Science Laboratory and serves over 700 Kindergarten through 8th grade students, in addition to training educators from around the city, the region, and the world. The greenhouse laboratory operates as an integrated part of the school’s curricula and prepares children to exceed New York City’s science standards.
The lab accommodates up to 35 kids and is available every day of the school year. Students experience science through interactive technologies such as hydroponic vegetable farming, solar panels, a rainwater catchment system, a weather station, worm composting, and a kitchen corner.
The tour will be Wednesday, April 24th at 3:45pm. Guests will be shown the rooftop greenhouse comprised of solar panels, a hydroponics growing system, a composting station, a rainwater catchment system, a weather station and an aquaponics system.
Where: Sun Works Center for Environmental Studies at the Manhattan School for Children, 154 W 93rd Street, New York, NY 10025
When: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 from 3:45 PM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
Register HERE