Build It Green

2008-09-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. You can find me at Builders Green Source Blog now!

Turn All of Your Lights of With One Switch

2007-06-14T07:50:00.001-07:00

It is a switch that allows a user to turn off all non-essential electronic items in their home from a central switch. Push the button to turn your house on when you get home; push it again to turn it off when you leave. Aiming to make the green way the most convenient way, the House-off Switch was part of a larger project to encourage ‘green’ action among the environmentally disinfranchised.

The project searches for a kind of ‘environmental everyday’ where people take up ‘green’ behaviours because they want to rather than because they think they should. An everyday where ‘being green’ doesn’t imply sacrifice.

A more expensive version of the same concept has a central switch that also allows the inhabitant to leave some items plugged into safe sockets around the house which can be left on for security or peace of mind when everything else has been turned off at the central switch.

Yanko Design

The Bean Screen

2007-06-14T07:47:00.001-07:00

The Bean Screen is a room divider that grows beans.

Traditionally, vegetables gardens are thought of as utilitarian, and the potential beauty of vegetable plants ignored in favor of non-edible ornamentals. I use existing negative space opportunities within the home to minimize the footprint of these products.

These pieces are using ready-made self-watering planters and T-5 fluorescent plant grow lights and the structure is made from Plyboo Strand and aluminum.
Coroflot

No Sponge Left Behind

2007-06-14T07:45:00.001-07:00

Not too long ago, we took a closer look at the sponges in our kitchen and realized something profound. Almost every other product in the cleaning aisle has undergone some kind of evolution, while sponges have been the same for decades. We set out to turn the world of cleaning products on its head – combining design and environmental responsibility to create functional, beautiful, and responsible alternatives.

Twist

Lunabrite Eco-Friendly Lighting System

2007-06-14T07:43:00.000-07:00

Lunabrite is a new system of linear lighting which can be used to guide the users of ways, bridge and other footbridges as night falls and help protect people, pets and property. Lunabrite is completely rechargeable and does not require batteries.

The Shower Hot Water Saver

2007-04-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

A Simple Yet Effective Device, Automatically Used Every Time You Shower That Stops The Waste Of Hot Water, In Effect Saving You Money.

So efficient, that a family of three can save over $75.00 a year in wasted water costs, as well as the cost of heating that wasted water.

People are busy in the morning and most, don't have the luxury of time to stand around waiting for their shower to get warm. As a result, they turn on their shower and leave to perform another morning task, like brushing their teeth, while their shower is warming.

This "ritual" results in a significant water and energy waste because the shower is actually warm long before the user ever "jumps-in". In the tooth brushing scenario depicted above, ShowerStart would pause the shower's water flow after 46 seconds, thus preventing 60 seconds of additional waste. This translates into an annualized savings up to over 2,500 gallons of water, and over $75 in water heating costs.

How much will you save? That's hard to say for certain. There are a number of factors involved including behavior, utility costs and shower flow rate. We are certain however that on average people will reduce their utility bill by $.03 for every gallon of hot water saved. Sounds small at first, but it adds up over the course of a year.

rewci.com

Natural Swimming Pools

2007-04-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

MICK HILLEARY, an industrial designer who builds zoo exhibits and trade show displays, and who expanded into residential pools five years ago, has found that Americans have a clearly defined idea of what constitutes a proper swimming pool.
The “natural pools” that Total Habitat builds are bordered with wood, planted with lush vegetation and free of chemicals like chlorine; they resemble nothing so much as a swimming hole. “It’s natural-looking, like a pond,” Mr. Hilleary said. “But the water looks so clean. People really want to swim in it, more than in a farm pond.”
Natural swimming pools (or swimming ponds, as they are called in Europe, where the concept originated 20 years ago) are self-cleaning pools that combine swimming areas and water gardens. Materials and designs vary — the pools can be lined with rubber or reinforced polyethylene, as in the case of Total Habitat’s, and may look rustic or modern — but all natural pools rely on “regeneration” zones, areas given over to aquatic plants that act as organic cleansers.
total habitat

From Oil Barrel To Side Table

2007-04-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Each model is unique and each design is one-of-a-kind. Check out the web site for the many different transformations from ugly trash into beautiful functional recycled furniture.
stanker

Bagel To Go!

2007-04-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Use an old CD spindle as a bagel transporter. What a neat way to reuse something that was just going to be tossed!

Econo Water Saving Device

2007-02-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

A water saving device for potted plants, inspired by the Namibian beetles system of saving water by cleverly using evaporation and condensation to its advantage. this simple disc is called 'econo', designed to cover the
earth in your plant pot to catch the evaporating water leading it back to the plant, drastically reducing the amount necessary to water it. they calculated that it saves you up to 50% of water.

design 21

N+ew by Rodrigo Alonso

2007-02-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

squirrelbait at Core 77 posted "Santiago, Chile-based design studio Musuc, or Rodrigo Alonso's "happy ideas lab," presents N+ew (No More Electronic Waste). N+ew is a functional object that makes use of discarded electronic devices and parts, granting this toxic trash a second chance at life. This project enlisted the help of technicians and professionals with expertise in metal smelting, counterfoil development and plastic resins. N+ew's development was also supported by Recycla Chile S.A ., the first and only company which recycles electronic waste in South America."
via Core77

Peugeot Dauphin the Electric Vehicle

2007-01-31T13:32:00.000-08:00

Peugeot Dauphin is a pure electric vehicle. It can be charged at home just like a cellular phone and the full charge takes just a little over six hours. For recharging just drive the Peugeot Dauphin for top of the Dock/ Recharging Station. The Peugeot Dauphin was designed/ created to be a smart vehicle with a high rate cost efficient and not to harm by any way the environment. An Electric vehicle with two magnetic motors designed to run almost noiselessly for as far as 300 kilometers on one charge. The electric motors are housed inside the vehicle rear wheels. Two Magnetic motors which are hybrid between electromagnets and permanent magnets. The Dauphin was designed to reach up speeds of 150 kilometers per hour. The reason which the vehicle is to be build with composite materials, carbon staple fibers with matrixes of bismaleimid and Epoxi resin. To guarantee high performances and safety standards with a very low weight structure. The Dauphin communicates wirelessly with your home computer ( internet server ), and you can receive information when ever you need it, maps, directions, phone calls... see it in dauphin incorporated wind-shield monitor and interact with it with the joystick / steering wheel special buttons.
yanko design

Havaleena LED Torch

2007-01-30T17:12:00.000-08:00

A Havaleena “bouquet of lights” – or a single Havaleena – can be used indoors or out to provide illumination for life’s special moments.

The light owes its name to its elegant, lance-like form: “Havaleena” is an onomatopoeic translation of the Spanish word “Jabalina” or javelin. Like a javelin topped with a cylinder of light, the Havaleena’s sleek lines make it unique.

Havaleena can be customized –even personalized—through its versatile light diffuser system. Made of clear acrylic, the top of the Havaleena can be adapted to any color by changing the vellum filter inside the tube. Users can also create their own messages: “Thank you!” “You are the light of my life!” “Marry me…” are but a few examples of phrases that can be printed onto paper and used as filters. This makes the Havaleena a perfect gift for special occasions.
tayodesign

CARE by Stella McCartney

2007-01-29T13:06:00.000-08:00

"We already know and love Stella McCartney for her modern fashion designs and naturally sexy scents. And now she's introducing CARE by Stella McCartney, a unique luxury line of certified organic skincare, formulated with 100 percent organic active ingredients and zero percent petrochemicals or silicones. Inspired by Stella's personal philosophies, clear vegetarian principles, and commitment to help protect the environment, CARE by Stella McCartney, is a unique range of ethical and effective skincare products that combines the ultimate in pampering and nature to give your skin everything it needs, and nothing it doesn't."
sephora

Heat Your Home With Java Logs

2007-01-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

Save the planet by drinking coffee! Java Logs (made from recycled, used coffee grounds) burn hotter, cleaner and brighter, and last longer than real wood. They produce 85% less carbon monoxide than other manufactured logs. And they burn with a pretty, natural flame and a non-chemical, non-coffee aroma that’s mild and sweet. Each 5-lb. log burns for 21⁄2-3 hours.
Java Products

Make your own seed starting pots!

2007-01-19T12:55:00.000-08:00

No more trays and pots to buy, wash and store! This nifty mold turns strips of ordinary newspaper into biodegradable seed starting pots that you plant right into the garden. Hardwood form lasts for years. A real money saver.
burpee

The Recy Car is Biodegradable

2007-01-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

"There was a scent of green power at the last Los Angeles Auto Show. The exhibition welcomed a vehicle design contest whose criteria was the environmentally sustainable design. The Recy roadster caught our attention among other entries. The car is marketed as “a fast, fun Mercedes-Benz for the ecologically minded consumer who demands a smart, elegant alternative to the traditional roadster.”

The look of the car is interesting, as it reminds us wooden yachts. But above those musings, the vehicle has interchangeable, fully recyclable body coverings, and uses wood, alloy, glass and rubber materials said to be 100% recyclable. The only drawback: The propulsion. The Recy car just relies on a BlueTec diesel engine.

There was a scent of green power at the last Los Angeles Auto Show. The exhibition welcomed a vehicle design contest whose criteria was the environmentally sustainable design. The Recy roadster caught our attention among other entries. The car is marketed as “a fast, fun Mercedes-Benz for the ecologically minded consumer who demands a smart, elegant alternative to the traditional roadster.”

The look of the car is interesting, as it reminds us wooden yachts. But above those musings, the vehicle has interchangeable, fully recyclable body coverings, and uses wood, alloy, glass and rubber materials said to be 100% recyclable. The only drawback: The propulsion. The Recy car just relies on a BlueTec diesel engine."
cocolico

Venturi Electric

2007-01-17T11:28:00.000-08:00

"Soaring gas prices, economic crises, wars, omnipresent pollution, irreversible changes in the climate… Our world is going through a period when the stakes in terms of energy form the very basis for worldwide chaos. While admitting that no solution for energy production can be perfect, we must become fully aware of the imperative need to limit our own personal consumption of energy.

Eclectic, the first autonomous vehicle in the history of the automobile, opens up a new era in the field of mobility : reserved for daily driving in urban areas, its low energy consumption makes it the most economical environmental vehicle ever built.

Innovative and astonishing, Eclectic is much more than a simple vehicle ; it is a production and storage plant for renewable energies, either solar or wind based. Charging of these energies, which is intermittent in certain regions, can also be complemented by electrical recharging."

Venturi

PAPCoRN compostable table ware

2007-01-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

PAPCoRN offers design of contemporary, environmentally friendly compostable table ware.
The unique design is suitable for everyday use and special occasions and comprises everything from sushi-sets, serving plates, takeaway boxes and packaging.
PAPCORN is a team of two industrial designers:
Anne Bannick
Lene Vad Jensen, MDD

All the materials used are compostable. We work in the latest plastics, which are based on renewable resources such as wheat, maize and lactic acid. All these products have a limited environmental impact, from beginning to end and form part of nature’s own cycle. We aim to combine good design with a vision of reducing environmental damage.
PAPCoRN's collection of sushi set, reception set and dinner set are not for sale at the moment.

EcoForm Garden Pots

2007-01-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

Say good-bye to ugly plastic pots! Sweetwater Nursery LLC is happy to introduce a smart alternative: EcoForms. Perfect for home and garden, these all-natural pots are made from by-products of renewable and sustainable crops. They contain no wood or petroleum ingredients, do not deplete natural resources, and decompose in the landfill. Suddenly, gardening is both easy and guilt-free.
EcoForm

I am tooting my horn!

2007-01-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Bamboo plywood is made from 100 percent rapidly renewable bamboo, using adhesives that are both strong and emissions free. Bamboo plywood can be cut and sanded using conventional woodworking equipment. It can also be glued or mechanically fastened using the same materials and fasteners commonly used with wood. Bamboo is a low resin, open grained material that takes stains and finishes exceptionally well.

Bamboo plywood comes in both an amber and natural light tone and is laminated to produce two different surface grains, edge and flat. The edge grain appears as 1/4" strips and the flat grain appears as 3/4" strips on the surface of the Bamboo plywood. It is then finish-sanded to a smooth 180 grit. Whether you are planning a small remodel or a national retail expansion, we have the bamboo material to do the job.

Our Durapalm® palmwood comes from plantation grown coconut palms, which are in abundance throughout much of the world. Palms produce nuts for up to 80 years, then non-producing palms are removed and replaced. Coconut palmwood can vary greatly in color and density. We use only the hard, dark palm for our look and durable surface. Durapalm® palmwood flooring and palmwood plywood are made from multiple layers of palm, creating both stable and durable flooring and plywood products of great beauty.

As the rainforest continues to be tapped for timber needs, coconut palms have been an overlooked and under utilized resource. We hope that through our work, palmwood will one day be recognized as a valuable building resource and help reduce rainforest harvesting.

Combining cosmopolitan style with energizing contrast colors and exceptional durability,NeopolitanTM flooring and bamboo-ply is Smith & Fong's latest offering from the bamboo forest.
Builders GreenSource

Even kids want in on the act of being eco-friendly

2007-01-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

This large shelving unit was designed to maximize the amount of display area while creating a variety of spaces. By making the shelving sections irregular and asymmetrical it opens up the possibilitites for a less traditional display of objects. You can now fit your tall toys amongst books.

Designed to provide versatility in any home, this open-ended utility table is perfect for any room. Clean lines and contrasting tones of dark and light bamboo are used to show volume and accentuate the negative space. The smooth surface is finished with BioShield Organic Herbal Oil. The small end table is comprised of a number of additional folds that create pockets for storage. Made of amber and blonde bamboo ply.
Modern Tots

Recycled Tire Link Doormat

2006-12-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

Recycled rubber doormats were introduced after WWII, made from discarded truck tires. Rubber strips are linked by rustproof steel wire in an open-weave design that allows dirt and debris to be scraped off at the door. Safe for floors—and a great example of environmental recycling! Washes clean with a hose. Made in USA. $8.97
whatever works

Plastic made from plants

2006-12-29T09:38:00.000-08:00

Zelfo is an eco-logical, wood like, mouldable material processed solely out of plant fibres and water by means of a sustainable process.

Patented early in 2000 by a team based in Austria, it was not until Zelfo Australia that this material was developed for commercial production.

Suitable for use in various products because of its aesthetics, strength and ease of use. Due to its novel moulding process, rounded corners are easily incorporated into forms. We can of course also produce sharp edges.

True biodegradability* of the various fibres is also a bonus. The various fibres, such as hemp, flax, sugar-cane and waste paper are NOT blended with any resins or glues ensuring the eco-message is adhered to in full. This does not affect the strength which has been shown to be superior to many other types of plastics and wood.
Zelfo Australia

Bamboo Fibre and Timer Sofa

2006-12-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

Working with solid hardwood, premium U.S. leather hides and other material, Maria recognizes that ecology demands the use of sustainable resources. Thus begins her research and development that culminate in her patent pending BambooTimbre furniture. BambooTimbre is made from rapidly renewable bamboo plants, with bamboo culms flattened, layered and bonded in defined patterns for structural integrity.
Maria Yee

Recycled Glass for Mulch and Pavers

2006-12-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

Landscape2go

Ultimate Tree Houses

2006-12-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

Design Team: HNTB; Brad Bell Studios

Beyond the typical four walls, floor and ceiling, a tree house is the adventure, the experience, a child’s escape from an adult’s structured world. The concept of “tree house” often evokes thoughts, memories, history, and imagery of childhood and parenthood: activities and learning, the act of construction and personalization, nature and our relationship to it. But, traditional form and materials often confine the limitless imagination. The leaves of the tree provided the basic form for our design. Through the use of parametric 3-D modeling software, the basic “leaf” surface was generated, and transformed into the “wall panels” that create the tree house. Precision in fabricating the components, as well as being able to accurately quantify the construction materials, makes these very organic, expressive forms, feasible to assemble and install. To represent the personalization of the tree house, area school children crafted their own “leaves” to be hung inside the house. The leaves draw the eye upward and engage you with wind, sound and sky.

Design Team: Sebo Shim & R. Kelly Giddens, The BECK Group

The design allows the patron to directly participate in the actions of a butterfly or similar insect as they become the “Pollinator” and move within the three tulip blooms. This concept creates both a visual and educational experience. The tulips are connected by a wheelchair accessible ramp and elevated pathways, as well as steps to provide movement between the blooms, simulating pollination. Bolted, plywood ribs stand 11 feet tall and represent “nectar guides” radiating from the tulip center which will draw “Pollinators” to the flowers. The plywood ribs are in-filled with painted wood slats just as visual cues such as color in flowers attract certain “Pollinators”. The slats are also angled specifically to create and control the visitors’ view from within the tulips.
Dallas Arboretum

Under Sea Resort

2006-12-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

The UnderSea Resort and Residence is going to change how travelers spend their leisure time. The change will be so dramatic that it will be compared to the Wright Brothers and the birth of aviation. For the first time in history, millions of people each year will be able to directly experience the wonders of life beneath the ocean without the necessity of scuba gear and oxygen tanks. Further, they will be able to remain under the ocean indefinitely, just like the marine life they are watching.
The UnderSea Resort and Residence will foster and expand openness and respect for our own ecosystem, which is currently under attack by the indiscriminating and daily butchering of marine life. In keeping with that respect, our company will donate a percentage of profits to promote education in the area of marine biology. However, the Undersea’s biggest contribution may be that it will give a great opportunity for humankind to learn that marine life is as caring and loving as we are with our own loved-ones.
UnderSeaResort

Electro Scoot

2006-12-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

The result of a collaboration between GRO Design, Tim Modelmakers and Korff & Van Mierlo, the Scoot is powered by a lightweight lithium ion battery requiring only six hours for a full charge that will see you good for a range of between 40 – 50 km. The Scoot can also travel at up to 30 km/h and, as it’s categorised as a motorised bike, it doesn’t require a number plate as is exempt from road taxes.
electroscoot

Eco Pod Home Recycling Center

2006-12-18T17:03:00.000-08:00

The home recycling center with compaction and collection. Designed by BMW Designworks, the ecopod will clean up the way you recycle with its eco-chic design and functionality. After dropping an aluminum can or plastic bottle in the top opening, press the ecostep to hear the sweet sound of compaction. As the ecostep releases, the redeemable container automatically falls into the enclosed collection bin. Open the door and remove the bin for collection or redemption. Glass, paper and other recyclable items can be stored in the removable bins inside the top lid.
eco pod

CNN Reports Algae-filled Hummer wins 'green car' contest

2006-12-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

The GM vision for the futuristic Hummer concept includes an algae-filled body shell, designed to shed oxygen, that also opens up like leaves on a stem to catch sunlight when parked.

The concept sketch, which was produced by GM's West Coast Advanced Design Studio, shows the Hummer riding on an aluminum shell and powered by a hydrogen tank and fuel cells.

"This design team said, 'We've done hybrids. We're doing fuel cells. What's the next step that actually improves the environment?'" said Frank Saucedo, director of GM's California design lab.

Saucedo said the GM team had deliberately chosen the polarizing Hummer brand for its imagined environmental remake.

"People think of it as a military vehicle, as a suburban SUV, but really these types of vehicles -- the SUVs and the early Jeeps -- were for people who worked in the outdoors, environmentalists, naturalists and outdoorsmen," he said. "This is just us coming full circle."

GM said this week that its entire Hummer lineup would offer biofuel engines, capable of running on renewable fuels such as biodiesel, over the next three years.

The GM entry in the Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge won out over a number of equally ambitious vehicle sketches from other automakers.

None of the sketches are even close to the full-blown concept cars that automakers roll out at the industry's major trade shows to generate buzz for their brands.

Toyota Motor Corp. suggested an electric-powered, tandem-style vehicle with wicker seats that the occupants could opt to pedal through stop-and-go Los Angeles rush-hour traffic.

DaimlerChrysler AG's luxury Mercedes-Benz unit suggested a diesel-burning convertible with wood panels that could be easily replaced and recycled.

CNN

Tagei

2006-11-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

The word Tagei means versatility in Japanese, and what better way to describe this fabulous line of furniture that converts from table into bench designed by Brooklyn designer Akemi Tanaka

trioBike

2006-11-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

A carrierbike is a fantastic invention for transporting the kids in. But once the kids have been delivered in day care/kindergarten and you are working the pedals, it is probably one of the most useless inventions. With the Danish designed trioBike, you can easily take of the front carrier and change the carrierbike into a bike and a pushchair. The trioBike also gives couples the possibility, of one delivering the kids and the other picking them up. With each of you having your own bike, one can put on the carrier, deliver the kids and take it off at the institution. Later on the other can ride to the institution, put on the carrier and ride home with the kids.
trioBike

Happy Turkey Day

2006-11-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted all week. I've been sssoooo sick. Here are a few to make up for it and to make up for the fact that we are taking a trip and will be back next week. Happy Turkey Day!

Recycled Cardboard by A4Adesign

2006-11-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

Honeycombed-board is made of recycled paper and water-based glue, and can itself be recycled. During the production phase, all unused pieces are collected and reintroduced into the manufacturing process. The honeycomb is one of the most compression-resistant structures in nature, and can support up to 400000 N/mq pressure. That is why such extraordinarily light materials can resist such strenuous conditions.
A4Adesign

Grow A Home

2006-11-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

Click on photo to watch video

Architects Mitchell Joachim and Javier Arbona along with an environmental engineer Lara Greden have designed a house that will grow from a few seedlings into a fully developed double-story, water recycling and energy-efficient house. They have designed a house that will grow from a few seedlings into a fully developed double-story, water recycling and energy-efficient house in only FIVE years.
"If solar power and recycled building materials just aren’t green enough for you, the brains behind the Fab Tree Hab might have the perfect pad. Architects Mitchell Joachim and Javier Arbona, along with environmental engineer Lara Greden, have designed a house that will grow from a few seedlings into a two-story, water-recycling, energy-efficient abode. The Fab Tree Hab, a mix of ancient and ultramodern technology, isn’t merely environmentally friendly. It is the environment.

Instead of building a home out of green materials, the trio figured, why not construct a living, breathing house? “Something that’s alive and thriving,” Joachim says. They hope to plant the first house within five years, but for now, they’re working with Israeli arboriculture firm Plantware, testing techniques for growing the lattice-like weave of vines and roots that will form the walls.

Despite its odd exterior, the house will look normal on the inside. The walls, packed with clay and plastered over, will keep out the rain, and modern technology will be welcome. Yet there are still a few practical kinks to work out. Joachim wonders, for example, how a planning board will react to a house that constantly expands.

Each house will take at least five years to grow, depending on the climate, but Joachim envisions the structures being grown and tended to on a farm. Customers could pick a finished tree habitat and then have it transported to and replanted on a lot within 100 miles. Here, a look inside and out at what’s sure to be the greenest house on the block."
via Popsci

Drain-Water Heat Recovery

2006-11-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

After space heating, water heating is the second most costly energy demand in homes, accounting for 20-30% of energy consumption. Likewise, drain-water is easily one of the largest overlooked sources of energy savings in commercial and commercial enterprises. Approximately $40 billion dollars goes down the drain in North American each year.

When warm water goes down the drain, it carries away valuable energy with it. Ninety percent of the energy used to heat water in a home can be washed out to the sewer. Drain-water heat recovery (DWHR) systems can re-capture some or most of this valuable energy and use it to preheat cold fresh water. There are many ways that DWHR units are deployed in commercial and industrial installations, while there is one primary and simple method for residential installations.

Renewability

Harnessing Tidal Streams For Energy

2006-11-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

This tidal stream concept is designed for deep water, such as the 60m deep Pentland Firth - too deep to economically mount turbines rigidly to the seabed and too rough for surface floaters to survive. Instead, the turbines are mounted on semi-submersible spar buoys tethered to the seabed gravity anchorages by swing-arms.
A key feature is that the turbines use technology and components developed from the wind industry, that already exist and that have been developed over the last 20 years. It is only the support structure that is truly new and innovative.
The turbines in operation float submerged in the middle of the tidal stream, free to swing and heave in the turbulent water flow. Loads are several times those on a wind turbine, and the sheer size of the turbine, combined with the 60m water depth, make any kind of fixed structure almost unthinkable. But provided a seabed anchorage can be made, and the problems of cable flexing and hook-up solved, then a semi-submersible concept such as this becomes entirely plausible.
Shown below is a view of a 7 x 4 array (ie 4 diameters - 160m across the stream and 7 downstream) of 4 MW SSTs in the Pentland Firth, ie 22 turbines, 88 MW per square kilometre. So tidal turbines of capacity equivalent to a 1200 MW nuclear power station would take a sea area of 14 square km. In contrast, 88 MW of wind farms would occupy roughly 4 times as much upland or sea area and generate two thirds of the energy

In operation, these turbines will be silent and unobtrusive compared to wind turbines. They will produce up to 50% more energy per installed kW and do it predictably. Because the rotors turn so slowly (10 m/s or so compared to 60 m/s for a wind turbine) they are likely to present no more danger to sea fauna than the keel of a yacht (and much less than the danger of propellor impact from ships). If anything, the bases will provide shelter for seabed creatures that would otherwise be swept away by the tidal flow (in fact marine growth on the turbines themselves is likely to be a major reason for maintenance work).
Tidal Stream

2006-11-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

I guess I jumped the gun on my previous post, GAIAM offers windmills at a fraction of the price. Like this one for $1,795.00.
Whisper currently offers three turbine models that are designated by the square footage of blade sweep. Nothing measures outpot potential better than blade size. Big generators can't deliver when connected to a small blade. Whisper is trying to start an honest industry trend here.
All Whisper turbines are delivered with the capable and good-looking E-Z wiring center, which includes a completge monitoring package with easy-to-read LED display, circuit breaker input for wind, a brake switch for the wind plant, and a bult-in diversion controller with sufficient wattage to handle the turbine output.
GAIAM

Design Like You Give A Damn

2006-11-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

The greatest humanitarian challenge we face today is that of providing shelter. Currently one in seven people lives in a slum or refugee camp, and more than three billion people-nearly half the world's population-do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation. The physical design of our homes, neighborhoods, and communities shapes every aspect of our lives.Yet too often architects are desperately needed in the places where they can least be afforded.

Edited by Architecture for Humanity, Design Like You Give a Damn is a compendium of innovative projects from around the world that demonstrate the power of design to improve lives. The first book to bring the best of humanitarian architecture and design to the printed page, Design Like You Give A Damn offers a history of the movement toward socially conscious design and showcases more than 80 contemporary solutions to such urgent needs as basic shelter, health care, education, and access to clean water, energy, and sanitation. Featured projects include some sponsored by Architecture for Humanity as well as many others undertaken independently, often against great odds.

Design Like You Give A Damn is an indispensable resource for designers and humanitarian organizations charged with rebuilding after disaster and engaged in the search for sustainable development. It is also a call to action to anyone committed to building a better world.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will support the work of Architecture for Humanity.
Design Like You Give A Damn

Blow away your electric bills

2006-11-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

A new small residential wind generator from Southwest Windpower will give homeowners a new weapon in the fight against rising electricity costs. Skystream 3.7™ is the first fully integrated wind generator designed specifically for the grid-connected residential market.
A combination of new technologies, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, resulted in a product that quietly produces electricity for a fraction of the cost of current technologies. Skystream’s low cost and low profile provides homeowners an affordable energy supplement that’s appropriate for installation in many residential areas around the country. With no batteries, Skystream 3.7 connects directly to the home to supply power. When the wind is not blowing, the home is powered by the electric utility. Depending on the local utility, excess electricity can be sold back to the utility or used at a later date.
Southwest Windpower

will ferrell earth to america

2006-11-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

I bring you this not for political reasons, but simply because Will Ferrell makes me pee my pants. Enjoy.

Calendone Perpetual Wall Calendar

2006-10-31T13:23:00.000-08:00

Designed by Pino Tovaglia, the Calendone calendar features large black numbers on a white background and is perfect for home or office. Best part: you never have to replace it!
My Own Space

Volatile Organic Compounds

2006-10-31T11:58:00.000-08:00

Indoor air is three times more polluted than outdoor air,
and according to the EPA, is considered to be one of the top 5 hazards to human health. Paints and finishes are among the leading causes.
Paints and finishes release low level toxic emissions into the air for years after application. The source of these toxins is a variety of VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) which, until recently, were essential to the performance of the paint.
New environmental regulations, and consumer demand, have led to the development of low-VOC and zero-VOC paints and finishes. Most paint manufacturers now produce one or more non-VOC variety of paint. These new paints are durable, cost-effective and less harmful to human and environmental health.
Zero VOC - Any paint with VOC's in the range of 5 grams/litre or less can be called "Zero VOC", according to an EPA standard. Some manufacturers may claim "Zero-VOC's", but these paints may still use colorants, biocides and fungicides with some VOC's. Adding a color tint usually brings the VOC level up to 10 grams/liter, which is still quite low.
Here are several companies offering low VOC and Zero VOC paints and finishes.
Aglaia - Natural finishes for many applications, from high quality wall paints to specialty paints for plasters or glazing.
Livos - Organic paint, stains, oils and waxes made using all natural ingredients. Coatings are linseed oil and citrus oil based, non toxic, low VOC and are designed primarily for wood.
Tried & True Wood Finishes - Line of zero-VOC, all natural, food-safe, biodegradable wood finishes. Distribution is primarily through mail-order catalogs.
Weather-Bos - Line of natural stains, finishes and paints. Blends of natural oils and resins designed to adhere to the wood, forming a monolithic bond.
Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company - non-toxic paint made with milk protein, lime, clay and earth pigments.
Sawyer Finn Natural Milk Paint - non-toxic milk paint in powder form, wide choice of colors.
Silacote - made from natural mineral compounds, for use on masonry, concrete and wallboard; interior/exterior.
Anna Sova - natural paints from milk casein, titanium dioxide and food-grade ingredients.
Green Planet Paints - natural clay paints for interiors using unique Mayan clay pigments.
Yolo- A line of natural paints.
Devine Color- A line of natural paints.

The End of the Line

2006-10-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

With one of the world's longest beaches, Chittagong is Bangladesh's biggest port. Half of the world's supertankers are disassembled here. When the tide is high, vessels are driven at full speed toward the shore. Once the water recedes and the ships rest along the muddy beach, the salvage crews move in, emptying the vessels of everything on board. When the tide is high, vessels are driven at full speed toward the shore. Once the water recedes and the ships rest along the muddy beach, the salvage crews move in, emptying the vessels of everything on board. Conditions in the shipyards are dangerous. Many workers are barefoot and without gloves, carefully avoiding razor-sharp metal, hot steel, and pollutants. For all its hazards, the ship breaking industry employs, directly or indirectly, an estimated 200,000 Bangladeshis. The scrap metal stripped off these vessels supplies 80 percent of Bangladesh's steel. Eventually nothing but tiny fragments remain, buried in the mud. From dawn to dusk, local women and children scavenge the beach, collecting these small shards of metal to sell to Chittagong's local merchants.
Foreign Policy

Fabric made from recycled cassette tapes

2006-10-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

Sonic Fabric

In Vitro Orchid

2006-10-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Unless you have a biotechnology lab in your basement, sprouting an orchid at home is virtually impossible. But the In Vitro Orchid, above, from Japan, comes close to making it happen.
The tube houses a tiny sprout in a sterile environment, to protect it from deadly fungi, and allows it to grow in a nutrient-rich gel medium. It just has to be kept somewhere that is bright (though out of direct sunlight) and not too cold (above 50 degrees). No need to water or, well, do anything. Just don’t pull the stopper. The youngster will take about a year to reach the top of the tube. Then it will be time to replant.
The In Vitro Orchid is $32 from the Gardener, 1836 Fourth Street, Berkeley, Calif.; (510) 548-4545.
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

The Rotating Home – high efficiency, high tech and dial-a-view

2006-10-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

Built largely of glass and steel, the house is powered by an electric motor and has some interesting abilities not normally on offer with a conventional home – if you’re keen to soak up some rays, you can program the room you’re in to follow the sun. The maximum speed of the house is one revolution every thirty minutes, a speed offering a kaleidoscope-like usage of ambient light. “Living in the house has been where we’ve learned the most – until you experience that nature’s cavalcade of lights between sunset, morning, evening and then dusk, you can’t fully visualise what’s possible. This is a unique solution for people who want to appreciate where they live and I suspect there are many rewards in the design of rotating homes that we’re yet to discover. And even when we’re at our tenth or one hundredth home, we’ll still be learning things. Some aspects of the view have naturally become favourites says Everingham. “We always turn the living room towards the river at night, and I’ve found I’m more interested in working with a particular view than chasing the sun, so I’ll move the house to where I want it and then let it sit.

Given the interest the project has generated within Australia, Luke will be building more rotating homes. “I have looked at what’s required to build rotating homes and I have realised that the best way for me to move forward is to find a national and perhaps international partners to work with,” says Everingham.

“If you started from scratch, it’d cost a million dollars Australian to build one and you’d be hard pressed to know as much as we knew about the process at that point, let alone what we can add having lived in the house and seen the possibilities of what is possible in the future.”
via Gizmag

Hydrogen Car and Filling Station

2006-10-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

The H-racer is the smallest and coolest hydrogen fuel cell car in the world! Witness the power of new energy technology in the palm of your hand. That's right - this car does not need batteries! The car uses a real fuel cell and its own on-board hydrogen storage system.
The Hydrogen Station will provide your H-racer with an unlimited supply of clean energy. To create free hydrogen fuel at the flick of a switch, just add water to the station's tank! Fueling is animated by a special blue light display.
Horizon Fuel Cell

Recyclers Raft

2006-10-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

"This unique green-designed air mattress turns recycling into fun for the whole family!
Insert your empty two liter bottles into the polyester duc shell, and you have an environmentally friendly air mattress that's surprisingly comfortable, easy to transport, and so unbelievably durable even dogs can use it without harming it's bouyancy!
We're so sure of the quality we offer a full two year free replacement warranty.
There's no need to blow up this raft, so there's never a need for a plastic patch kit and messy glue.
Never worry about sinking from a puncture again.
Stop buying an inflatable poof raft every year! Never throw a punctured air mattress in a land fill again!"
Recyclers Raft

Paper bag

2006-10-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Quite literally a unique product: this is an allround waste-paper basket for home and office, made from left-over billboard-posters, and packed with a rubberband cut from motorcar tyres. Each paperbag is unique, with patterns and colors that refer to exisiting brand identities.
The manufacturers view left-over billboard as a resource to manufacture a product to will help recycle even more paper. Due to the flat packing, this product also saves energy during shipping.
Futureproofed

Harvest Sunlight

2006-10-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

The Hybrid Solar Lighting (HSL) technology uses a solar concentrator to collect and distribute sunlight into the interior of a building via plastic optical fibers. Sunlight Direct is proud to be the exclusive provider of Hybrid Solar Lighting systems in the United States and abroad. Learn more here at Sunlight Direct

EnergyGreen-conscious design is affordable

2006-10-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Do you want an environmentally friendly home but think you can't afford one? Think again -- maybe you can, says Jim Lingenfelter of Five2Five Design Studio LLC in Indianapolis.
All green-conscious home design requires is a spirit of thrift and a willingness to sift through junkyards, consignment boutiques and discount stores with a creative eye.
"You don't have to tear that house down and start from scratch," Lingenfelter said.
Be a savvy scavenger
Rather than buy new furnishings, salvage something that otherwise might be scrapped.
"You can find some really great classics in secondhand area locations," said Kate Salzman of CSO Architects.
Nikki Sutton of Axis Architecture spent hours combing trash bins, back alleys, garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores for inexpensive -- or free -- finds.
"I had to borrow my parents' truck for two weeks, and I took a different way home every day," she said.
A child's bedroom illustrates just how effective such a strategy can be.
A former entertainment center turned dresser/table procured for $4 and a petite filing cabinet purchased for $3 came from garage sales. A yellow chair had been abandoned in an alley.
"It just needed some Windex and some scrubbing," Sutton said.
Don't limit yourself to local finds. Kipp Normand, real-estate development manager for the not-for-profit Southeast Neighborhood Development Corp., discovered a narrow bed in a dilapidated house in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
"He just spray-painted it and called it a day. It's awesome," said Sutton, who topped the piece with bed linens from Target.
The bottom line for the room? $110, maybe.
read more here

Porocom Stones

2006-10-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

Porocom 'porous construction material' is an environmentally friendly material that reduces sound pollution. This Porocom Stones variation is made from decorative pebbles combined with a binding agent made up of a thermosetting powder coating which is a residual product from the coating industry. The panels are to be used as a decorative surface with sound absorbing performance.
Material Explorer

Wind Shaped Pavillion

2006-10-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

The Wind Shaped Pavilion is a design proposal for a large fabric structure that can be used as a public or private pavilion. As a lightweight fabric structure, the wind slowly and randomly rotates each of the six segments around a central open support frame. This continually alters the shape of the pavilion, while at the same time generating electrical power for its nighttime illumination.
Micheal Jantzen

Ceiling and Floor Heating

2006-10-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

With over three million square metres of REVOLUTION XP installed over the last 30 years has provided, a lifetime of maintenance free warmth and comfort.
Installed directly under our control REVOLUTION XP radiant elements carry a comprehensive 10 year warranty with recognised approvals in Australia and 17 other countries throughout the world.
Heating elements can be installed during construction or as a retro fit. This system is ideally suited to aged care and buildings without natural gas supplies.
REVOLUTION XP saves on energy costs by making highly efficient use of electrical energy as 100% of all electricity is converted to heat.
In comparison, slab heating looses up to 40% heat energy by conduction through ground rather than radiate into the room. Hydronic heating can loose as much as 35% heat energy through heat transfer from the heating source, to the radiant panel then to the room.
By installing REVOLUTION XP your energy bills can be reduced by up to 40% whilst having the versatility of being able to control each room individually.
Invisible Heating Systems

Good Egg Footstool

2006-10-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

A versatile Good Egg footstool is handmade from 100 percent recycled paper pulp egg cartons and colored with water-based fabric dye -- no varnish or lacquer is used. As a footstool it can be used upright or on its side for a relaxing rocking motion; it also makes a sturdy base for a coffee table. To clean, just vacuum. Place out of bright light to preserve the intensity of the color.
eco-artware

ecospace contemporary garden studios

2006-10-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ecospace green roofed studios are available as modular or bespoke sizes with 'plug on' modules to extend the live/work area. The sustainable timber framed structures are raised above the ground using our innovative adjustable bearing shoes to minimise site disturbance.
Configurations and window positions can be easily altered to respond to the particular site. The ecospace provides flexible living with shower and kitchen pod options together with mezzanine level chill out pads.
With emphasis on fast track installation, the ecospace is fully insulated, heated and ready to use within matter of days without compromising quality and attention to detail.
ecospace

100 Percent

2006-09-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

In another affirmation of environmental concern, 3form has implemented a new program for recycling and reusing materials removed from installations. A bidirectional process, ecoresin™ panels having reached end-of-life status because of remodeling are saved from unnecessary landfill use and prepared for reuse. Low impact/high design. 100 Percent is a new design driven material that leaves a low environmental footprint. Made entirely from post-consumer recycled hdpe, it is waste transormed into high designed and engineered panels.
3 Form

Building Green

2006-09-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

This large, generously illustrated manual is an excellent primer on owner-designed and site-inspired building. Snell, who wrote the eco-friendly The Good House Book, and Callahan, a more conventional but highly experienced builder and contractor, take readers step-by-step through the creation of a charming little guesthouse, demonstrating a variety of "green" techniques along the way. They start with an introduction to building fundamentals and how alternative materials can provide the necessities of housing: structure, climate-control and separation from as well as connection to the outer world. Next comes a mini-course in design. But the bulk of the book is hands-on: the nuts-and-bolts of siting; foundations; flooring; living (plant-covered) roofs; and cob, cordwood, straw-bale and modified stick frame walls—although the book's minimal treatment of electricity and plumbing, and how to integrate them with unfamiliar materials like cob or straw-bale, disappoints. Snell's tendency to decry the sins of modern architectural practice can become exasperating, but doesn't diminish the value of his extensive experience-derived knowledge; and the grace and beauty of the authors' building project, featuring Callahan's fine finish work, is inspiring. The abundance of color photos detailing the construction process, supplemented by examples from indigenous buildings around the world, is particularly helpful.

Green Building

The Colani Rotor House

2006-09-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

The Bathroom
The Kitchen
The Bedroom

An avant-garde project by the design guru Luigi Colani and HANSE HAUS, which dealt intensively with the topic of house shapes of the future. Thanks to the rotor technology – in the living room the functional areas of the kitchen, bathroom and sleeping area are rotated – a space is created from 36 m² of actual living space which feels much larger. This saves space, and is functional and economic. This study cannot yet be built in series in this form. However, a prototype can be viewed at the works location Oberleichtersbach.
link-Hanse Haus

Eco Friendly Modular Carpet

2006-09-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it’s human nature to miss the long view. But Roger Milliken, chairman and CEO of Milliken & Company, is one of the rare few who sees both the forests AND the trees. In his 60 years of visionary leadership, he’s nurtured the planting of tens of millions of trees. In fact, our headquarter campus is a nationally acclaimed arboretum dedicated to cultivating and sharing information about noble trees for future generations.
link- Milliken Floor Covering

form3design

2006-09-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

Bamboo side table and lounge chair at form3design

Living Stones Felt Furniture

2006-09-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

link- Living Stones

Dome Homes Offer Unmatched Energy Efficiency

2006-09-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

Timberline Geodesic Homes have been constructed in all 50 states and many foreign countries. Built in all types of climates, Timberline Geodesic Homes offer unmatched energy efficiency. Timberline Domes use 30% less surface area to enclose the same amount of volume as a box type structure. This means there is less area for heat to escape or outside air to penetrate. In addition, the spherical shape of a geodesic dome provides for natural and efficient interior air circulation. The natural aerodynamics of the dome means that cold air blows around the home instead of hitting a flat wall and penetrating to the inside.
link- Timberline Geodesics

Good Green Homes

2006-09-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

What does "green" have to do with our homes? In essence, green building-or sustainable building-means being smart about how we use energy, water, and building materials so that we can live well without needlessly damaging the environment. Creating a good green home isn't just about conservation, about using less or saving more-although that's certainly part of it. It's about creating better homes that are easier on the environment, less expensive over the long term, and more delightful to come home to. That's the message Jennifer Roberts wants to share in Good Green Homes, the ultimate new guide for people who want to live in comfortable, healthy, environmentally conscious homes.

Good Green Homes

Glowing Mushrooms Water Thirsty Plants

2006-09-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Made from handblown glass, these watering spikes are both pretty and practical. By day, they’ll deliver up to a cup of water right at the root zone. When evening falls, phosphorescent speckles inside the glass begin to glow, producing 2 to 4 hours of soft illumination. For best effect, place in an area with little ambient light.
on sale at Gardener's Supply Company For 3 for $9.99

World View LED Lights

2006-09-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

World View is a virtually weightless lighting fixture. Constructed from a cluster of 91 LEDs suspended from a silver helium balloon and anchored by a spool at floor level, World View proves the simplest, most humble materials can reach great heights.
link- AfroditiKrassa

The Armchair Environmentalist

2006-09-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

Extract from the chapter on Gardening

If you’re a gardening novice - a virgin when it comes to planting methods and pest control - let’s start with some of the basics about the lovely, lush, living things we call plants. Proper experienced gardeners divide garden plants into all sorts of categories: perennials and annuals, herbaceous and woody, complicated things we didn’t worry about here. The good news is that all of them have simple needs: water, air, and sunshine. Given half a chance, they will grow and thrive. They want to live long enough to reproduce, which is why they produce flowers and fruit. Our aims and theirs usually coincide, you see, so the trepidation people sometimes feel about gardening just isn’t necessary.

Gardening is one of the best de-stressors around because it gets us to tune in to the rhythms and signals of the natural world. That is, as long as we don’t start a cycle of endless drives to the garden center and subsequent frantic ‘getting things in.’ Keep it simple. Gardening is about nurture. It’s creative, like water-colour painting in three dimensions, and it will calm your spirit and focus your mind.

If you’re totally new to gardening, here are two little projects to show the wonderful vigor of plant life.
Cut an extra-thick slice from the top of five or six carrots, a good inch or so of green and orange. Place cut side down in a saucer, on a little gravel or sand if you have some handy, and add half an inch of water. Put the saucer on a windowsill, keep the water topped up, and wait. Soon you’ll see delicate fernlike leaves begin to unfold. I love this because the leaves are pretty (carrots are related to Queen Anne’s lace and other garden flowers) and because it’s such a great demonstration of the life force in even a tired bag of supermarket veg.

The second project will help you visualize what takes place beneath the soil when you actually get outside. And you’ll end up with a tasty, nutritious salad! You can sprout many different seeds, but I recommend ordinary green lentils. Soak a small teacupful in cool water overnight, drain in a sieve, then keep them in the sieve (you can also buy a special sprouting jar) and rinse them with cool water twice a day. Cover with a cloth or keep them in a dark place, and watch what happens! A tiny pale root tip will appear on the first day. When the roots are as long as lentil is across, rinse again and toss with vinaigrette and chopped onion and celery. Raisins or cubes of cheese are nice, too. Lunch is served!
Armchair Environmentalist

Solar Powered Outdoor Path Lights

2006-09-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Chandler Platinum Solar Light Set - 18 pk. Made with stainless steel, Alpan's Chandler Platinum Collection solar lights will make a beautiful addition to any home. The white LED bulb is bright and permanent and will never need to be replaced. There are no wires to install, allowing easy placement anywhere on your lawn. Built-in sensor automatically turns on the light at night and turns off during the day. Features Solar light set, 18 pk. Made with stainless steel White LED bulb is bright will never need to be replaced No wires to install Easy placement anywhere on your lawn Built-in sensor automatically turns on the light at night turns off during the day.

Washing Up Brush

2006-09-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

Washing-up brush
The Soap-brush from Menu kills two birds with one stone: It saves detergent and protects the environment in this way, and it looks smart on the kitchen table. Pour water and some drops of detergent into the soft rubber dish, put the spring with the steel washer in the dish, and place the brush on top. By pushing the brush up and down a couple of times, you generate ample foam for managing the washing-up. The handle is provided with a band of soft rubber ensuring a firm grip even with wet hands.
link- menu

16 Pousse

2006-09-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

16 Pousses is a zinc frame that hides a water tube. Frame your own little garden and watch nature grow indoors. Then rediscover the long lost childhood pleasures of sowing, waiting and harvesting. Playing the novice gardener again…
link- C.Quoi

Tabletop Greenhouses

2006-09-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Get a great start on the growing season. These German-Austrian made cold frames are the finest in European design. Weather-resistant with 3.4mm thick double skin thermo polycarbonate panes and a sturdy aluminum frame. Two adjustable wind-proof ventilators per window. Add-on units available to let this frame grow with your garden. Dimensions: 39.37in. x 35.43in. x 15.74in. height. Add-on unit extends the Cold Frame 1000 by 39.37in. Two windows and two wind proof ventilators per window. Pictured with optional Add-on unit (JWAO). The JUWEL double-skin panes are unbreakable and injury proof even with extreme cold. Uniform light distribution due to ideal refraction of light, UV-resistant & guaranteed yellowing proof.
link- A.M. Leonard

Eco Smart Fireplaces

2006-09-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Igloo is a rectangular shaped fireplace. It is a freestanding piece of furniture designed to accept the EcoSmart flue less burner. The EcoSmart® Fire Igloo is designed for installation in units, apartments, houses, and commercial premises including offices, bars & restaurants. The Igloo comprises a toughened glass frame for the back and sides with a “disappearing” effect and a non-combustible floating shelf (corian) that has a cut-out to accommodate a Top Tray (which is fitted flush with the shelf surface) and then the EcoSmart® burner is inserted.
link- EcoSmart

Bath Ball Faucet Filter

2006-09-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now you can take a relaxing chlorine-free bath without having to fill the tub with your showerhead. Simply attach the Bath Ball Faucet Filter under the tub faucet with the sturdy vinyl strap. Water flows into openings in the top as the KDF filter media releases water that's 95% chlorine-free. You'll notice the difference in water quality with your first bath. 4" diameter.
Bath Ball Faucet Filter

The Firefly Human Powered LED Nose Ring

2006-09-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

"The Firefly nose ring is a magical jewelry piece. As you breathe, delicate luminous pulses will glow, giving your face an extra shine… Using a most delicate fan structure, the air movement created while exhaling is transformed into electric energy, thus lighting up a led light."
link- Core 77

The Ban Beater Grey Water System

2006-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

The all new easy to use Grey Water Recycling System
Recycle your water and start saving your money!
What is grey water you ask? Any water that has been used in the home, except water from toilets, is called grey water. Dish, shower, sink, and laundry water comprise 50-80% of residential "waste" water. This may be reused for other purposes, especially for but not solely watering of non-edible plants, washing cars, windows and the outsides of buildings.
link- Ban Beater

Klean Kanteen Sippy Cup

2006-09-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

"Finally! A safe, non leaching sippy cup alternative for toddlers. The Klean Kanteen 12 oz Sippy Cup is a stainless steel bottle (no epoxy coating on the inside) coupled with a non-leaching #5 polypropylene adaptor and #5 polypropylene sippy spout. The Stainless Steel Sippy Cup is Here! Know that your toddler is drinking clean, pure water without the risk of Bishphenol-A, a potent hormone disruptor found to leach from hard, plastic (particularly #7 polycarbonate plastic) Works with the Avent Sippy Spouts The adaptor works with the Avent sippy spouts (two included) and is dishwasher safe. All caps and lids fit all sizes of Klean Kanteens so this is a bottle that can grow with your child. Outgrown the sippy lid? Simply a sports cap or stainless steel flat cap. Wahoo! Parents celebrate. We take such care in what we feed our littlest ones. Now we take the same care in the purity of their water and other beverages."
Just $15.95
Klean Kanteen

Bamboo Fiber Speakers

2006-09-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

" Osaka, Japan-Panasonic Electronic Devices Co., Ltd. has developed the high sound-quality speaker adopting the 100%-banboo-fiber diaphragm, in partnership with Research and Development Center of Bamboo Resource, Doshisha University.
The newly developed speakers are expected to reproduce higher sound-quality than the speaker with the diaphragm using high-technology fiber, and to reproduce natural original sound. Since a bamboo growing up fast is used as raw materials for them, they are environmentally-friendly from the point of view of resources protection compared with the diaphragm using a high-grade wood pulp including a needle-leaf tree."
link- Panasonic

Dying It Green

2006-09-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

"Ecopod is a revolutionary design in coffins made from naturally hardened, 100% recycled paper. The time and consideration gone into the concept and design of the Ecopod we feel has culminated in a product with much to offer.
Made from 100% ecologically sound materials the Ecopod is the ideal product for a non toxic burial or cremation. Perfect for use in greenfield sites. "
Ecopod

This really is not about building green so much as it is about simply being green. The idea of planning ones funeral is usually not something most of us want to think about but if you actually knew what they do to your corpse just to prepare it for display and burial you would jump out of your seat! To me the idea of having an eco friendly funeral is really quite appealing- when I'm dead toss me in a cardboard box and throw me in the ground so that I can dissipate back into the earth.
Remember Me is a book that has a gentle but interesting and readable look at the way the business of death is changing in the US (and beyond).

"This intriguing survey of America's rapidly mutating funeral customs probes the one force mightier than death: consumerism. Journalist Cullen explores the innumerable ways in which funerals are being personalized, publicized, economized, commercialized, trivialized and, perhaps, humanized. Among the many offbeat memorials she unearths are funerals with Hawaiian, tango or Harley-Davidson themes, as well as beer-themed caskets, eco-friendly funerals, "human diamonds" manufactured from a loved one's ashes, and a Colorado town that celebrates a do-it-yourself cryonics pioneer with its Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival, now a major tourist attraction. In the middle of it all, she finds, is an uneasy funeral industry, squeezed at the bottom by cheap Chinese caskets and the vogue for no-frills cremation and challenged at the top by finicky boomer customers demanding more elaborate and symbol-laden rites (one poignant graveside dove-release attracted a passing hawk, with off-message results.) Cullen isn't much given to muckraking or dark pensées; "Death is a big, huge bummer" is as morbid as she gets. Her set-piece retrospectives on the guests of honor at unusual send-offs sometimes seem dully eulogistic. But for the most part her vivid reportage and wryly sympathetic tone feel anything but embalmed."

Ukao Grass Furniture

2006-09-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ukao’s material of choice is bamboo, a proud member of the grass family. There are over 1,500 species of bamboo worldwide, yet only the Moso species (Phyllostachys pubescens) is currently used for our furniture pieces. Moso bamboo grows up to fifty feet in height and six inches in diameter, with a culm, or wall, thickness of an inch or more. Unlike traditional hardwoods, bamboo typically grows to maturity in 3-7 years and is renewably harvested over and over from the same mother root system for decades.

link- Ukao Grass Furniture

Card Board Design Honeycomb Shaped Furniture

2006-08-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Cardboard, made from a natural renewable resource, has one of the best environmental records, manufactured using high percentages of secondary fiber (including old corrugated containers, kraft paper, old newspapers and even straw), thereby diverting these materials from the municipal solid waste stream.

In 2002, more than 23 million tons of all cardboard were recovered and recycled in the U.S.. in addition, the use of cardboard board has led to a significant source reduction of raw materials.

The adhesives used for gluing these materials are derived from from
natural sources. the end result is fully recyclable and ecologically friendly product.

cardboardesign

Tree Tents

2006-08-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

Artist Dré Wapenaar's TREETENTS - "The story of my tents as they relate to campsites, however, started with the TREETENTS which were originally designed for the ROAD ALERT GROUP in ENGLAND. This group of activists fight against the excessive constructing of highways through forests. During their protest they cover themselves and hide and live in the trees to fight as long as possible against the rushing violence of the chain sawers. The TREETENTS would provide a comfortable place for them to stay during their habitation of the forest and prevent the trees from being cut down."
via Make

Aussie Outdoor Furniture

2006-08-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

"Introducing the original and unique Aussie Outdoor Furniture, made from 95% reclaimed materials, utilising recycled 44-gallon steel drums and kiln-dried reclaimed timber. The result is a range of funky, practical, environmentally friendly chairs, bar stools, and drink cooler bins with timber tops, suitable for outdoor use around the barbeque or on the patio, as well as indoors. Ideal drinking furniture!"
Aussie Outdoor Furniture

INTERVIEW: Koen Olthius of WaterStudio.nl at Inhabitat

2006-08-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

An interview by Jill at Inhabitat-"To wrap up our disaster-resistant design theme this week, we would like to conclude with an interview of an exceptional architect who is paving the way in designing for a future water world. Koen Olthius of Waterstudio.nl says that despite our civilization’s history of trying to drain and fight against wet landscapes for the past thousand years, our best move for the future would be to “let water in and even make friends with the water”.

You have to trust an architect who has grown up in a landscape completely engineered for water. Roughly a third of the Netherlands lies below sea level, and is home to over sixty percent of the country’s population of 15.8 million people. The Dutch have spent the last few thousand years constructing dikes, pumps, and drainage systems in a constant battle to keep the encroaching North Sea at bay. On my recent trip to the Netherlands, I was fortunate to get the chance to sit down with architect, to discuss amphibious dwellings, floating foundations, and his experiences designing for water landscapes worldwide."
Read more at Inhabitat