Category Archives: sustainability

                    In this past Sunday’s New York Times Real Estate section there was an article titled “Everybody Inhale” describing the challenges that our city faces with the expected surge in population over the next couple of decades. However, it is a rich irony that planners sit over beers in a Brooklyn bar contemplating how Manhattan should grow larger and taller with nary a mention of the city’s other four boroughs. This sadly supports a long held cultural view that New York City is solely defined by Manhattan. Last summer the poster … Continue reading →

              On January 24, the EPA Gowanus Canal Public Information meeting was held in the auditorium at PS 58 in Carroll Gardens. Walter Mugdan, the EPA Region 2′s Director of the Emergency and Remedial Response Division announced that the agency was on schedule with the remedial investigation and feasibility study of the Gowanus Canal Superfund site and that the proposed plan, which will identify the Agency’s preferred cleanup option, will be unveiled later this year. Once the proposed plan is published, there will be a public comment period followed by a selection of the … Continue reading →

As a way to summarize and recap the final two days of Greenbuild and the conference overall, I’ve outlined a number of recurring ideas and themes that appeared in a number of speeches, discussions, talks and conversations throughout the conference. – Cradle-to-gate: as in that part of the Life Cycle of a material or product that occurs from the point of its extraction as a raw material to the point where it arrives in a building site, including any manufacturing or processing. This concept was discussed in a number of instances and mentioned by architects, engineers and product manufacturers as … Continue reading →

Day 1  Wednesday’s highlights included the opening of the Exhibition Halls. It seems as though every company imaginable that is involved in the design, building and construction industries has some sort of display. DiRTT, Centria, and Richlite’s stand out, as well as the number of engineered and composite wood products.  Also, standing out is the sheer number of people, businesses and organization participating in this 2011 Greenbuild. Downtown Toronto is teeming with Greenbuild participants with their badges and bright green tote bags.  The Living Building Challenge was the subject of a particularly interesting and insightful Education Session in the afternoon. … Continue reading →