The Bees Knees

Last year I visited the Monti Building in Brooklyn, as part of GreenHomeNYC's Green Building Open House tours.  This is a great example of a building that gives as good as it gets.  For one thing, it is home to a variety of small local businesses and artists, so it is supportive of local economy and culture.  

For another, it utilizes a variety of energy efficient technologies (you can read more about those here), including several which can be found on the roof--  a 9 Kw solar array that provides for most of the buildings day-time electricity needs. . .a 4000 sf, low maintenance green roof. . .

. . .and walkways that make use of permeable pavers, both of which help with storm water management.

But I think the most delightful of the building's features are the roof top beehives!  Urban bee keepers are important members of the local/urban food economy.

Another delightful feature of this building is that it is a Birds of Brooklyn site! This is "...an audio art project [that] aims to reconnect city dwellers with the natural sounds of the area and raise awareness about declining bird populations in urban environments."

That just sounds like fun to me!