Tag: brooklyn
June 5, 2017
June Tour: 475 High Performance Building Supply House and Demo
GreenHomeNYC INVITES YOU TO
DISCOVER HIGH PERFORMANCE BUILDING MATERIALS IN BROOKLYN
Join us to learn how leading architects and developers achieve rigorous Passive House standards here in the City. We will tour the 475 High Performance Building Supply warehouse in Brooklyn to learn about the latest products that can lead to 90% reductions in heating and cooling energy usage. Founded and run by architects, 475 provides building knowledge and components to help professionals meet the international Passive House building standards. Guests will be treated to an interactive presentation on green building materials and diagnostic testing that improve air sealing, ventilation, fenestration, thermal insulation, and overall performance. This is a hands-on experience with cutting edge green building materials. It’s the next best thing to being in the Paris Agreement!
After the tour guests are encouraged to join GreenHomeNYC for networking drinks at nearby Threes Brewing
December 1, 2016
Building Energy NYC: Sustainable Solutions for New York City
by Kimberly Stempien
Photo Courtesy: NESEA
April 8, 2015
Green Building Tours: Oko Farms Aquaponics Tour
There’s something fishy going on in Brooklyn, but in the best way possible! Despite predictions of snow, several intrepid GreenHomeNYC members made their way to Bushwick last month for a very informative tour of a local aquaponics farm. Oko Farms was founded by budding entrepreneurs Yemi Amu and Jonathan Boe, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation. It’s currently the largest outdoor aquaponics farm in New York City.
What is aquaponics? In simplest terms, it’s a method of growing fresh water fish and plants within a closed loop system that generates little or no waste. In the course of the tour conducted by co-founder Amu, it became apparent that this highly sustainable farming method can play a vital role in healthy, nutritious food production.
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July 8, 2014
Explore Bushwick Inlet Park with GreenHome NYC
INVITES YOU TO
Date: Thursday, July 24th 2014
Time: 6:30 PM
Cost: Suggested Donation of $5
Join us on Thursday, July 24th for a special after-work tour of the newly renovated Bushwick Inlet Park. Once a brownfield site located on the East River, this park has been transformed into one of the greenest spaces in the City and was recently honored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as one of 2014’s top ten examples of sustainable architecture.
It is now home to numerous playing fields as well as Parks Department offices and various community spaces. Designed by the architecture firm Kiss + Cathcart, with landscape architecture by Starr Whitehouse, the site contains ground source heat pump wells, rainwater harvest and storage, and drip irrigation for the green roof. Half the total energy used by the main building is generated by an onsite solar pv system. The park site encompasses almost 30 acres of land and surrounds Bushwick Inlet, a narrow, protected remnant of Bushwick Creek.
Guests will be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the park’s green amenities as well as an in-depth discussion of the design and implementation of the park’s transformation. After the tour, guests are invited to continue the conversation over drinks at a nearby location TBD.
Space is limited.
June 16, 2014
Summer Brooklyn Bike Tour
Invites You to a Sustainable Bike Ride through Brooklyn!
Join us on Saturday, June 28th for a bike tour and inside look at three of the most sustainable spots in Brooklyn: a sustainable salvage retail outlet, an electronic waste recycling facility, and a yummy green café! Guests will bike to three cutting-edge spaces for behind-the-scenes tours guided by the architects and facilities staff leading each project. Afterwards, we’ll relax for a bite at Habana Outpost, New York’s first eco-eatery. Afterwards, we’ll relax and have a bite at Habana Outpost, New York’s first eco-eatery. Participants are encouraged to bring their own bikes, or may choose to walk the tour route.
Date: Saturday, June 28th 2014
Time: 10 AM – 1:30 PM
Cost: $8 before June 23rd; $12 after June 23
**Optional** Pre-order lunch at Habana Outpost! See menu Choose any meal option worth $8.75 or less and email Erica at erica@greenhomenyc.org with your choice no later than 6/24/2014.
Build It Green!NYC
BuildItGreen! NYC is New York City’s only non-profit retail outlet for salvaged and surplus building materials. Their mission is to reduce the amount of unnecessary construction and demolition (C&D) waste clogging landfills, which contribute to pollution, GHG emissions, climate change and global warming, while offering deep discounts on product resale. Founded in late 2004, their Queens warehouse opened in February of 2005 and their second reuse center opened in Brooklyn in November 2011. Learn more at www.bignyc.org.
Lower East Side Ecology Center E-Waste Recycling Center
The Warehouse hosts a unique and innovative community-based program that allows residents to dispose of unwanted or broken electronics in an environmentally responsible way. The program started in 2003 and offers free collection events in neighborhoods throughout the city, accepting computers, monitors and peripherals (printers, keyboards and mice) as well as TV’s and cell phones.
This tour will take guests behind the scenes of the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s electronic waste recycling warehouse. The drop-off center can accommodate nearly 260,000 pounds of e-waste and accepts deliveries from homes, small businesses, and nonprofits from all over the metro area. Guests are welcome to bring unwanted electronics, like old cellphones and batteries.
Habana Outpost
Habana Outpost Brooklyn has green features in almost every facet of its operations. There are solar panels to generate electricity. A “sunlight chandelier” channels outside light into the restaurant. There’s a rainwater collection system that sanitizes, filters, and stores water. A human-powered blender does the mixing. The electric lighting system features state of the art fluorescent bulbs. The picnic tables are made from recycled plastic and sawdust. The plates, cups and cutlery are 100% biodegradable or compostable.
Sign up today!
Space is limited and tickets are going fast!
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…)
February 21, 2012
GreenHomeNYC Volunteers Participate in Home Energy Audit
GreenHomeNYC volunteers got an exciting opportunity to learn about energy audits by participating in a home energy audit demonstration by members of Power Concepts’ Energy Division. The group preformed an ASHRAE level-one audit on a four-story Brownstone in Park Slope. While GreenHomeNYC does NOT offer energy audits, this was an excellent opportunity for our volunteer conservationists to join in on a thorough audit and better understand cost-effective energy saving measures firsthand. Here’s what they learned: A typical ASHRAE Level 1 energy audit includes a visual inspection of the boiler room, the apartments, and the building envelope. An audit identifies where why and a building is losing energy, and how to address the problems to increase resident comfort and save money. From the one day site inspection, Power Concepts prepared a brief report for the building’s residents detailing various measures the building could take to improve comfort and reduce energy costs. Read more about the building and our audit after the jump!
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March 30, 2011
Make-your-own Solar Panel Workshop
Tracy Fitz of the New York Solar Energy Society and John Burke of the Maine Solar Energy Society are teaming up again this April 30, to host a repeat of their successful seminar on how to construct a photovoltaic solar panel. Learn the fundamentals of photovoltaic power in this hands on workshop hosted by City Solar and The Commons in Brooklyn. The workshop will be held at 388 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Registration is $125 and space is limited. For more info on this event, contact City Solar at 347-254-0019 or info@citysolar.org.September 29, 2010
Mind In the Gutter
Minds in the Gutter, literally. Join Kate Zidar, Coordinator of the Stormwater Infrastructure Matters (S.W.I.M.) Coalition, who will do a Chalk Talk at 1pm. Meet at the S.W.I.M booth where she will frame where Third Street is in terms of the bigger drainage picture and discuss how the features of the street and sidewalk relate to the sewers below. As a group, we will do a “chalk talk”-style quick draw of the opportunities to manage stormwater right there in our midst. Then, participants will be invited to team up with a clipboard and create a more detailed Green Infrastructure drawing for display and discussion!
September 27, 2010
Open House Green Buildings Tours
GreenHomeNYC hosts the NYC Green Buildings Open House on Saturday, October 2nd, for the For the 8th consecutive year! The NEW New York is complementing a day of Green Building Open Houses located throughout the five boroughs. Guests can visit a variety of green buildings, accompanied by the owners, designers, and engineers who built them. Since 2007 GreenHomeNYC’s tour has been organized as the New York City edition of the National Solar Tour due to our role as the New York City Chapter of NESEA. NESEA is a regional membership organization that promotes sustainable energy solutions by advancing a multi-disciplinary network of professionals, sustainable energy solutions for the built environment, and proven results in the field. Visit this link to see what open houses will be open in your neighborhood and around the city.
The solar installation atop the Monti building generates more than the amount of electricity needed during the day and sells it back to the grid. During the weekends, the almost the full amount generated is sold back as most of the commercial tenants are not using their offices during that time!