Human Impacts Home
We will open up the rooftop, basement, backyard and storefront of our headquarters in South Willamsburg for green building education!
About the project
The Human Impacts Institute (HII) is a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, NYC, whose mission is to inspire engagement and action in environmental issues and healthy community development through hands-on education, creative outreach, and coalition building. In 2011, HII provided over 250 hours of education and outreach programs--reaching over 14,000 people in NYC and other communities.
The Human Impacts Home Retrofit project will be NYC’s first low-income, green building demonstration and education site in Southside Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This project will use the rooftop, basement, backyard and storefront of the low-income co-op, which houses the Human Impacts Institute headquarters, as an education and training space to inspire people’s engagement and action on energy efficiency and sustainability. HII will showcase low-cost and hands-on “green building” ideas to all New Yorkers with an emphasis on the South Williamsburg neighborhood. This site will be open to the public for site visits and educational programs, educating both consumers and business owners.
The Steps
Currently, HII is developing initial architectural plans and engineering proposals with donated services from architecture and engineering students. We have also acquired an expert panel of architects for the plan reviews that come to us with expertise in materials reuse, passive houses and energy efficiency, green building, and more. We are also developing partnerships with community groups, NGOs, and government institutions for the project. Once we have a draft proposal, we will also be meeting with the coop board for review and input.
- Purchase safety fencing that will surround the roof perimeter to ensure that we can develop the roof as a space for sustainable green building demonstrations. These will include solar modules, diverse green roof examples, composting demonstrations, and rainwater harvesting, among other components.
- Addition of a staircase for safe access to the roof.
In addition, the project will partner with City and State “green” incentive programs to help community members better understand the application process, as well as the on-the-ground experiences of the program.
Why we‘re doing it
The city is planning to reduce 30 percent of total energy usage by 2017. With building sectors accounting for 75 percent of NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions and eating up $15 billion in yearly energy costs, and 55 percent of the city’s buildings constructed before 1940, there is an increasing need for old buildings in NYC to go green.
While there is a prevailing perception that green is more costly, we are promoting low-cost, practical retrofit demonstrations. The demonstrations will incorporate innovative, yet simple design/technologies, materials for reuse/repurposing. Through these demonstrations, we also hope to maximize incentives for institutional involvement.