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Paul Gleicher on Design
That Is Healthy for You and the Earth

/ Photography by Linda Bell Hall

There’s probably no better way for an architect to learn how to create an eco-friendly home than to take the plunge and redo every aspect of his own house – keeping the environment and his family’s health in mind. New York architect Paul Gleicher realized this when he and wife Lisa Sharkey decided to turn a gut renovation into a green renovation. They learned as they went, instilling their townhouse with elements that benefit both the eco-system and their own well-being.

They were so satisfied with the results and had compiled such a knowledge base that Paul added a green practice to the services his firm offers. He and Lisa have even put out the book Dreaming Green, which explores green projects – big and small, urban and rural – throughout the country and offers details on how readers can take the plunge themselves.

Paul and Lisa don’t shy away from a project. Before this townhouse, they had already done several renovations on previous homes. “As an architect, it’s something I love to do,” Paul shared. “My wife and I actually look for places that have fallen into ill repair. It gives me the greatest opportunity to improve them.”

The rundown 1885 townhouse they found certainly fit the bill. It had been turned into a multi-family building and was mostly vacant. All the original detail had been stripped out of the space over time. With a total overhaul in order, they had the chance to do a modern renovation.

But something else going on in the lives of the couple would lead the project in a new direction. “While we were buying the building,” Paul explained, “my wife and I met a couple, Jim and Nancy Chuda, who started the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition. Their child had passed away at an early age from cancer related to toxins in the home. It was very moving to us.” Paul and Lisa had always lived a natural lifestyle and this experience led them to think, why not take it a step further? “I said, we’re embarking on a gut renovation, let’s in fact do a green one. It could be another avenue for my own practice … and what better opportunity to learn than to do it for your own family?” Paul said.

But this was 2005 and today’s green fervor had not yet hit America. “I would ask vendors at trade shows, ‘What do you have that is green?’” Paul laughed. “They’d say, ‘Well … we have these green-colored fabrics or these green cushions.’ They didn’t even know what we were talking about.”

So, the project began with extensive research. They persistently explored more trade shows, scoured the Internet and slowly discovered everything they’d need to know to make a home green.

As the couple built up their knowledge base, they compiled what they were learning. This became Dreaming Green, which serves not only as a how-to book but also as a much-needed list of the resources they worked so hard to find.

What did Paul and Lisa learn? What is involved in creating a green home? For one, there are personal health issues. Another area of concern involves keeping waste out of landfills by using “reclaimed” supplies. Using materials from responsible, renewable sources is also important. Lowered energy usage and alternative energy are other aspects of eco-friendly homes. Generally, these overlap. What is good for the environment tends to be good for us. In terms of health concerns – which are a major factor for many of Paul’s clients – going green has great benefits for one’s physical well-being. What might surprise some people is how many health risks there are in home design. Kitchens have come under scrutiny because wood cabinets can contain formaldehyde. This and many floor finishes and wall paints can all “off-gas,” bringing harmful, possibly carcinogenic, toxins into your home’s air for quite a long time.

So Paul learned how to choose materials for construction that enable homeowners to breathe easy. For some prominent walls in the house, he discovered a type of clay from the western U.S. that can go right over sheet rock instead of plaster or paint. It is a healthier, natural material that is actually anti-microbial and absorbs humidity. Plus, “If you get a ding in it, you can simply work it out with a sponge. That is great if you have kids or for a highly-trafficked area.”

Flooring made of wood from eucalyptus trees does not off-gas and is an example of a renewable, responsible material. While an oak tree takes about 80 years to mature, the trees used in Lyptus flooring require closer to 10. So you can get many times the amount of wood from the same sized growing area – and it provides a denser floor. 

Another eco-friendly addition to the townhouse that has become a “sexy thing” of late, shared Paul, was the vegetative roof. “We found mountain grasses that grow about three inches thick and only add about 15 pounds per square foot to the roof,” he said. “This looks really nice and it has major advantages for the home and the environment.” On sunny days, the grass absorbs a lot of the heat beating down on the roof. This keeps your house cooler… and could even help the whole city. Some studies suggest that if everyone had a green roof, the temperature in Manhattan could decrease by five degrees. On the flipside, the grass absorbs about 80 percent of the rainwater. This prevents sewer overflow getting into the rivers.

Paul also learned ways to utilize natural light and situate windows so that, depending on the angle of the sun, the home is heated naturally in winter and kept cooler in summer.

A major discovery in Paul’s journey - which readers can see in the photos of his townhouse and in the other projects in Dreaming Green – is that you don’t have to sacrifice style. “We didn’t want anyone to come into our house and say, ‘Oh, this is a green house,” he said. Instead, people visiting the bright, airy, stunning space are simply amazed by its simple beauty. 

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