Grand Opening of D.C.'s First Eco Store
by Justin Thomas, Virginia 
on 02.13.06
Last week, Washington D.C. saw the grand opening of Eco Green Living, its first multi-product eco-store. The store is located at 1469 Church Street, N.W., in downtown Washington, D.C., one block north of the "P" street Whole Foods. The new store specializes in organic and non-toxic products, and guarantees that international products do not come from exploited labor. It gives D.C. area residents access to a wide variety of organic clothing, cosmetics, baby products, appliances, green building supplies, sustainable floors, and fair trade jewelry and chocolate.
The store is heated with an eco-friendly duct sock made of a washable canvas that distributes heat without metallic ductwork. The owner, Keith Ware said the maintenance of the duct is easy: "I can unzip any section and throw it in the washing machine."
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Although I have yet to check out Future Green, I am a resident of Baltimore and have been regularly shopping at BlueHouse.
http://bluehouselife.com/
Check it out, it has a great selection of eco design products and they have an organic coffee and tea bar. Good stuff, I am hoping it does well.
I know i've been selling lighting too long when I can tell what the part number of that chandalier in the background is(a YU5157IB from Quoizel).
This is great news. I always read about these sort of shops in other cities, so I am really happy that DC will finally have an 'eco-chic' shop. I'm just surprised this is the first I have heard of it.
I don't understand the eco-friendly angle on the duct sock. I saw one in use over the weekend in a high school gym and frankly I'm baffled by it. I noticed the comment about how it's easy to wash and maintain but who maintains their ductwork? Ductwork, especially metal ductwork, has always seemed to be trouble free and maintenance free. This sock duct or duct sock seems to be a product in search of a market. and I can't see how it could be less expensive either from a material standpoint or a labor standpoint. Anyone, any ideas?
It appears that this store is no longer called Future Green (the link included in the article takes you to a shop in Wisconsin).
Just found this: www.eco-greenliving.com
It's the same address. Maybe they changed owners?
Will:
Duct socks or Fabric Ducts save most money on the labor side, they are much easier to install than a metal duct. Fuel savings are big too, much more light weight than metal ducts. the porous ones dont sweat , which can mean big savings when pricing vs a dual wall metal duct. metal ducts dent, rust/corrode, and do get dirty on the inside over time, but no one sees it... still causes poor indoor air quality. there is a metal duct cleaning industry, but its pricey and most of the time the bulding needs to be vacant due to fumes. the socks also just zip together, dont need to paint insulate, or seal them. the socks have their applications but cannot be used for return ducts (for obvious reasons). I have had good succes with a brand called KE Fibertec, they helped to size it and can provide more information than i could possibly try to.... hope this has helped shed some light.