Grist Magazine points us at the Lofty Ambitions that energized a NYC couple to renovate an 1850s Brooklyn warehouse into a 2004 green building that combines modern style with energy and resource-conscious design. This month, "Brown and Boyle will finally declare their project complete. The building houses six loft units complete with radiant heating, natural ventilation, Energy Star appliances, a rain-water collection system, a high-efficiency condensing boiler, and vast expanses of super-insulated, floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Solar energy provides nearly half of all the building's electricity."

An inspiring feat, in a city where people regularly complain that too-high costs, complex building codes and old buildings make it too difficult to go green.