The Future of Architecture
Photo: Tom Bonaventure/Getty Images
There’s also speculation about recreating processes like limestone formation -which usually takes nature thousands of years- that eats carbon from the air.
Nanoarchitects are aiming to speed the process up to a matter of days. They believe it could be done simply by coating the walls of buildings with tiny droplets of engine grease. The grease would be laced with a common salt such as magnesium chloride. When the magnesium reacts with carbon dioxide in the air, a solid magnesium carbonate pearl begins to form.
This serves as the seed for the growth of white, wheatsheaf-shaped carbonate crystals. The large surface area of a droplet of grease maximises the interface between the magnesium and the atmospheric carbon, speeding up the rate of the reaction. Within days, the grease would be transformed into a sparkly crystalline coating similar in appearance to heavy frost or snowfall… A green city…would look like Narnia under the White Witch, crystal white and beautiful. The carbon choking our planet could become a harmless decorative feature.
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Cycle-Through Windows Emerging
While it seems most establishments with drive-thru windows are in agreement that bicycles are forbidden, and refused service, Washington-based restaurant Burgerville is leading the way to change that. All 39 of their stores now allow cyclists in their drive up lanes, giving free smoothies to the first batch earlier this month.
The intention of our Bike Friendly Service program is to create a consistent policy and experience for our guests in the drive thru. To support this program, a cross-functional team, including members from Hawthorne Burgerville and community members from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, have designed and are beginning the implementation of the first phase of the program.
Link via BikePortland
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Recycled Milk Bottle Lights
[YouTube - Link]
I made these plastic milk bottle lights by embedding LEDs in the caps, hanging them from a bent section of pipe and hooking them up to an Arduino microcontroller.
Not happy with an on-off switch, I thought they might look mesmerising with a rotary control knob turning them on in sequence. It works! They make great low lighting to wind down for sleep, and they’re great to hang in the hall for parties too.
There are complete build instructions on Instructables.
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10 Inspiring Green Office Blocks
If you’re going to spend 8 hours a day at work in the office, it might as well be somewhere healthy and inspiring. Unfortunately the characterless and insipid glass edifices that so blight our inner cities are far removed from being either attractive or motivating, never mind sustainable. But there is a distinct wind of change breathing fresh life into the workplace with a new breed of elegantly designed sustainable offices. It may sound inconceivable, but these are the sort of places you actually might not mind spending the best part of your week in. StaoilHydro headquarters (pictured) is just one.
The futuristic new HQ of Norway’s StaoilHydro features five separate wings piled on top of one another in a seemingly haphazard manner. It saves energy by utilising renewable geothermal heat in its district heating and cooling system. Hot water (or cold depending on the depth from which it is extracted) is pumped out of a nearby disused coal mine straight into the offices’ radiators. Once the water in the radiators has cooled, it is pumped back into the mine to be naturally reheated by the Earth.
Link – via thrivecore
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Green or Greenwash?
Green is in, and big corporations left and right are jumping on the bandwagon … but are they really trying to be environmentally-conscious or is it just a case of "greenwashing"?
WebEcoist takes a look at the world’s worst offenders – take, for example, BP:
BP’s ad campaign with the theme ‘Beyond Petroleum’ led the public to believe the company was headed in the direction of cleaner, renewable fuels. But, it turned out the company was spending more money on advertising than on green efforts, leading Treehugger to ask, “What does BP stand for these days? Beyond Propaganda? Bye-Bye Planet? Bad Pollution?” After all those greenwashing ads, BP went and dropped $3 billion to buy into oil from the Alberta Tar Sands. Each barrel of oil out of the tar sands generates about two thirds of a ton of CO2, meaning BP’s 200,000 barrels a day will generate about 127,000 tons per day.
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Green Roofs: Style + Sustainable = 17 Sweet Designs
Green roofs have become about more than just sustainable architecture – they have become new, long-unused canvasses for artistic expression and creative design.
This collection of green roof designs shows the possibilities of not only environmental architecture but of making something beautiful out of one of the most ubiquitous bare surfaces in the world – the roof – as we move into the future of sustainable design.
We’ve always thought we had roofs covered. They had to be barren, hostile places the rain and the wildlife slid from before they could do any damage. Nature had no place on our roofs. Except…we couldn’t have been more wrong. A green roof may required a little extra engineering behind the scenes, but it’s far better than its non-living counterparts for regulating house temperature, filtering out pollutants, scrubbing the surrounding air, controlling stormwater run-off, absorbing sound and many more factors that impact our quality of life. A green roof is a healthy roof.
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Moss Carpet
If you love being outdoors and the feeling of grass under your toes you’ll be pleased to know that you can bring that feeling into your home. Nguyen La Chanh’s Moss Carpet is a miniature lawn that thrives in humid conditions, making it the perfect addition to your bathroom. The carpet’s base is made from plastezone, a decay-free foam and is landscaped with ball, island and forest moss.
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Plastic Could Make House Lights Obsolete
Could flexible organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, be the future of lighting? Don’t worry; I don’t understand that sentence either. Keep reading for a jargon-free explanation.
On General Electric’s research campus in Niskayuna, NY, there is a machine that prints lights. This machine is so good at its job the lights it creates could make traditional lamps and lighting fixtures obsolete. In what sounds to be a relatively simple process, the semitrailer-size machine coats an 8” wide plastic film with chemicals and seals it with a layer of metal foil. When an electric current is applied to the plastic sheet, be prepared to throw on a pair of shades as it emits an ethereal blue glow.
Light from the sheet is produced using compounds known as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). OLEDs are currently used in television and cell-phone displays and have been embraced by large
manufacturers such as Siemens and Philips.
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Sustainable Water Bottles
Brand Image has set out to change the way we drink bottled water. In an effort to enhance the consumer drinking experience and create a sustainable alternative to plastic bottles the designers have created the 360 Paper Bottle.
It’s the first 100% recyclable paper container and is made entirely from renewable resources. The paper packaging is food-safe and can hold a variety of liquids, making it the perfect alternative to traditional water containers.
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Algea BioReactor from Recycled Bottles
[YouTube - Link]
Who knew that you can grow your own oil using microscopic waterlife in up-cycled plastic bottles… Pretty neat energy project.
– via blog
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Watercone
Watercone is a polycarbonate cone with the capacity to purify up to 1.5 liters of water a day with just a little solar energy.
All users have to do to create drinkable water is pour dirty or salt water into the cone’s black base, place the cone atop it in the sun. As the water evaporates upwards it condenses on the cone’s inner wall and tricles down into a seperate trough. To access the clean water simply lift the cone and pour.
Link – via treehugger
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Classic Gas-Guzzlers Reborn
In Wichita, Kansas, Jonathan Goodwin says that may no longer have to be the case:
Goodwin is making a name for himself -- and his company, H-Line Conversions -- by turning gas-guzzling behemoths like Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, Jeeps and other big American cars into clean-power machines.
The first thing he does is remove the old inefficient engine -- even if it's a brand new vehicle -- and replace it with a diesel engine that can run on biodiesel.
"It's the transformation of what I call old technology to new technology," Goodwin says.
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