Brooklyn's Progress
August/September 2005

One of the most developed areas in the world, Brooklyn is home to a growing number of environmentally-conscious businesses.  In an effort to highlight these forward-thinking corporations, Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment (the Center) hosts an annual “Sustainable Brooklyn Bike Tour.”  

“More Brooklyn businesses seem to be looking for new ways to take themselves off the power grid and away from non-renewable energy sources.  We are excited to showcase these practices to the public,” noted Annie Clark, the tour’s organizer and employee of the Center.
 
On May 14, 75 bikers gathered to kick off the 10-mile tour.  Stops included Scarano Architects to learn about their environmentally-friendly designs, and Brooklyn Children’s Museum where their “green” building, slotted for completion in 2007, will feature interactive exhibits about renewable energy and green architecture.  The tour also made stops at Rheingold Gardens apartments on the former Rheingold Brewery Brownfields site, where solar panels and a greenroof save $6,000 annually on energy bills, and Brooklyn Brewery, which has converted 100 percent of its electric load to windpower at its Brooklyn plant.  

These featured businesses and the tour’s high attendance reveal Brooklyn as not only the most populous NYC borough, but also the most progressive. 

Kimberly Webster is the Manager of Development & Public Affairs for the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment.