Feb 19, 2008 7:16 am US/Eastern
Run-Down Brooklyn Townhouse Goes Green
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
What looks like an ordinary construction site is actually one of the more aggressively green building projects in the city. Brooklyn 90-year-old townhouses fell into disrepair after years of neglect. Now in true green fashion, they are being resurrected as a speculative real estate venture, and being rebuilt in a completely environmentally-responsible manner.
Emily Fisher and Robert Politzer are the respective developer and contractor for the project.
"I live a block from here and everyday my husband and I would walk by and say 'We should really do something with that building'," Fisher said.
And so they did. Emily hired a contracting firm with solid experience in building green, used eco-friendly supplies sourced from Brooklyn-based "Green Depot," and set out to build the first city residence to be certified by the American Lung Association.
"Health House is a program that emphasizes energy efficiency, energy performance and healthy indoor environments," Politzer said.
"And now we're determined to replace the toxic, disrepair gunky mess that it had become with a beautiful new green building that will be an example of what 21st century building tech can do to make a beautiful efficient healthy home," Fisher said.
That means energy efficient radiant floors, a water-based system using a lower heating temperatures to warm soy based foam insulation, double paned state of the art windows, low VOC paints, caulks and adhesives, and eco-friendly flooring.
One of the more interesting challenges was restoring the building's brick shell. About 70 percent was salvaged from the original structure, but had to be cleaned. An environmentally-safe solvent was used to power wash, and most waste water was reclaimed.
"As more and more products come on line, as there is more green building, there's more green product, the products are improving, the performance is improving and the cost is coming down," Politzer said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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