Category: Cities

A few weeks ago, GOforChange visited the Furbish Company headquarters to tour their newly-renovated Lucky’s building, a green office space south of downtown. This Brooklyn warehouse was originally used as a wood mill, then became a convenience store warehouse in the late 1970’s. It is now home to several sophisticated systems and practices of ecological design and efficiency. As the developer and owner of Furbish Co., Michael Furbish approached the project by honoring the building’s existing integrity. He added only what was needed to update and enhance the structure’s inherent environmental sustainability.

Working with a hydraulic engineer revealed that the building was sitting on 8-feet of water, which quite often would spring up through the floor in the basement. Most people would see this as a problem, but with careful calculation and several hundred feet of tubing, a geothermal system was installed to assist with more than 70% of the building’s cooling needs.

Heat for the building is provided by a solar hot water system that transfers heat gain from the sun to a storage cistern that sits on the roof. Continued

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Working Wonders, located in Mt. Washington, MD, is an online haven for eco-friendly furniture and accessories of all kinds for home or office. From flooring to lighting to cabinetry to beds, it’s a green marketplace for all kinds of shoppers. With one of their primary concerns being indoor air quality, Working Wonders offers organic textiles, sustainable woods, recycled metals and glass, and renewable fuels. Perhaps most useful are the easy-to-follow product descriptions, all of which include between one and eight icons, identifying the ways in which that product has qaulified as green, the categories being: reduces waste, conserves natural resources, improves air quality, saves energy and/or water, better production practices, better shipping practices, better community relations, and manufacturing location.

The musician owners of a 1960s-era house are planning extensive renovations to the living spaces on the first floor. They are committed to using low-impact, non-toxic, sustainable materials. They also desire to wean themselves off fossil fuels, so energy efficiency is a high priority.

As part of a long-range master plan by Gabrielli Design Studio , the first phase was a small addition to the kitchen. Built by Greenbuilders on the existing foundation of a dilapidated screened porch, the structure is post-and-beam with infill strawbale walls and fiberglass-clad windows . The green (planted) roof drains to a chain drain and a rain barrel.

The new room brings daylight deep into the kitchen, while sweeping views upwards along a steep hillside to the sky. The straw walls are clad in lime plaster, the floor is the existing concrete, finished with a natural, plant-based stain and beeswax.

The next phase was going to be a kitchen renovation. But the new room has changed the character of the existing kitchen so dramatically, the owners may not need to renovate it for a long time.

Working with this family has been an inspiration. During the year we worked together on this project, they also chipped away at wasteful practices all around the house. Using tips from friends and from green websites such as Lime , they reduced their electricity use by 64%! What a difference a little curiosity and a lot of motivation can make in a household’s budget, as well as the health of our planet.

Klockner is a green building company out of Takoma Park specializing in design / build projects including upscale additions, renovations, and custom homes. With an extensive knowledge base on green products and construction methods, the firm offers services in budget development and project design.

Wind Power at the Inner Harbor from Planit on Vimeo .

Planit Agency , an advertising company that works with Baltimore City on sustainability marketing campaigns, has begun a fun initiative to raise the media and citizens’ public awareness. Planit’s motto is "ideas transform," and we couldn’t agree more! Their choice of using Baltimore’s iconic Power Plant for this clever, visual way of asking, "Why Not?": priceless.

Haven’t had a chance to tell you about it yet but thought some of you would still find hearing about the Design Center Meeting relevant and news worthy. Held at the end of June at the Load of Fun Studios on North Avenue and loosely organized by the AIA, we discussed the whats and whys and purpose of a Design Center in a city like Baltimore. Mostly attended by architects, a couple of artists, journalists and school-teachers we talked about how to improve urban conditions and provide outreach to city residents. Other topics included how to enact “cross-fertilization of all design disciplines” and inspire action within our post industrial city. You can view in more detail the discussion and people involved at: http://alterurban.com/bdc.htm