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November 17 2020
Confronting the Conventions of Customary Practice
In the context of a traditional building process, technical drawings possess an ephemeral quality; they pose as artifacts of reference upon facing a building’s realization. However true that may be, Ziger|Snead designer Ty Skeiky firmly believes in the visionary qualities of drawing. His undergraduate thesis, Making the Break & Breaking the Break Line, strives to examine…
September 14 2020
How Gallery Design Influences How We Interpret Art
The experience of Art is always constantly affected by the context it is in. At a micro context there is a three-way link between Art, the Viewer, and the Gallery. The discussion at our team’s weekly Friday at Four meeting documented two Galleries with differing design intents and how each space molds the experience of the Art within.
Chichu Art Museum designed…
June 12 2020
Z|S Participates in #nostophomeoffice
While browsing ArchDaily’s instagram, we happened across a call for submissions for #nostophomeoffice, an international project calling on architects to submit a plan drawing of the one room being used as their workspace at home during the time of the Covid-19 quarantine. The project was born from an introspective look at our current environment, and has an ultimate goal…
February 6 2015
ii journal, Volume 3: Applied Geometries
The Ticket Booth is featured the latest issue of the International Journal of Interior Architecture + Spatial Design: Applied Geometries. Written by Ziger/Snead architect Keith Peiffer, the article considers the function of the Ticket Booth, both its physical form and design concept, as a symbol. Expressive geometry and hybrid fabrication techniques instigate larger conversations…
April 9 2012
Wind Maps and the Importance of Making Data Beautiful
Take a look at these Wind Maps created by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg over at Hint.fm. They are stunning and accomplish digitally what we try so hard to do in the architectural field, which is to clarify data to the point where it is both useful and enjoyable. The concept can be applied to weather data, as done here, or to any other field that asks users (read 'occupants')…
February 24 2011
Baltimore's Lebow Clothing Factory: Past, Present and Future
(This post is part of a history and existing conditions investigation of the Lebow Clothing Factory - Currently being under construction to house the Baltimore Design School by Ziger/Snead)
Baltimore is filled with beautiful old buildings. Factories. Homes. Warehouses. Educational Institutions. Municipal buildings. Even the occasional prison. There is a great urban landscape…
September 23 2010
Ellen Dunham-Jones: Retrofitting Suburbia
"The big design and development project of the next 50 years is going to be retrofitting suburbia..." -- Ellen Dunham-Jones, TEDTalk June 2010
The TEDTalk above features an interesting presentation by Ellen Dunham-Jones about the future of suburbs. She touches on the formation, growth and predicted decline of the suburb in American culture and theorizes about some of the societal…
September 4 2010
Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Programs
US State governments are applying their own incentives above and beyond Federal incentives for buying energy efficient appliances. Above is a simple to use website from the Department of Energy where you can go to find out about the rebate programs in your state. There is less and less reason not to toss out those very old inefficient appliances, especially when you add up…
March 1 2010
Bio-based insulation made from Mushrooms
Greensulate, a product said to hit the markets in 2010, is a bio-base alternative to rigid insulation made from paper, rice hulls, and mushroom fibers. The product is still undergoing testing but the outlook for this new product is very good. The insulation takes advantage of the mycellium, the roots of the mushroom plant that have incredible structural and insulation…
February 14 2010
Doing Well by Doing Good? - A Research Paper on the Economic Value of Green Building Certifications:
"Doing Well by Doing Good? Green Office Buildings" by Piet Eichholtz, Nils Kok and John M. Quigley is a research paper produced by the Center for the Study of Energy Markets at UC Energy Institute in Berkeley. This very interesting paper:
(Abstract) This paper provides the first credible evidence on the economic value of the certification of "green buildings" - value…
January 22 2010
The Biggest Loser (of infrared radiation)
What if the google street view car were recording in infrared, too? What would that do for public awareness of energy inefficiency from leaky building envelopes? Even more than energy meters running backwards, this could provide a concrete image of heat loss, that might encourage the use of tighter standards like the Passive House certification?
We're picturing a new kind…
December 10 2009
POWERleap Flooring
Radiant Heating: GCS Modular Radiant Flooring Panels
The laminate flooring is a modular, hydronic radiant floor system which is designed for easy installation, simplified maintenance and energy efficiency. Like most energy efficient radiant floor systems, GCS panels heat space using a network of plastic tubes circulating preheated water (or a glycol/water solution). Think…
November 23 2009
Energy Generating Train Station, Tokyo
"Kohei Hayamizu has a bold vision for the future: a city that is in itself an electric power station. A place where all its roads, bridges and sidewalks generate electricity from the vibrations produced by the cars and people that move over them." - Vimeo.com
Producing energy by walking on Shibuya station. Tokyo, Japan. ????????? from UNUChannel on Vimeo.
November 22 2009
Natural Swimming Pools: The Sustainable Pond
Natural swimming pools (NSPs) by THE FLORIDA POOLS are a way to blend the sustainability and natural beauty of a pond with the functionality of a swimming pool. NSPs use biological filtration in lieu of the more common chemical or chlorine water cleaning systems used in most artificial swimming pools.
The pools generally consist of a swimming area and a filtration area which…
November 20 2009
Eco Friendly Apps
An ongoing guide to some eco friendly apps for your IPhone or ITouch. This is by no means a complete list so feel free to add any good ones that I missed!
CycleTracks Free!
A new app released by the SanFrancisco Transportation Authority based on the assumption that people don't always go where you think they do. Cyclists upload date about their trip including time of day…
October 18 2009
Eco-Goats and the Clearing of Invasives
(Eco-Goats and the Clearing of Invasives is part of an ongoing series of posts about a planned LEED-NC 2.2 Platinum project in Baltimore Maryland called The Center for Parks&People at Auchentoroly Terrace)
The Parks&People Foundation had a big problem. The site for their planned LEED-NC 2.2 Platinum project, after many years of being unused, was overgrown by vegetation…
April 22 2009
Vertical Food Gardens
Recently the Baltimore Office of Promotion and Arts hosted a Baltimore Infill Survey to track proposals for solutions to the many vacant lots that are scattered across the city. A recent look at the current entries show quite a few focusing on community gardens as a viable solution. And why not? A garden would provide food as well as a gathering spot for the community around…
February 13 2009
The Human Body's Heat Plume
Sometimes I forget that we live in an ocean of air. I take for granted that the open space in front of me, or filling our buildings, has a profound affect on my very existance. The gasseous medium we swim through affects thermal comfort, energy movement, and air quality through complex molecular interactions described most accurately by fluid dynamics models but that are relatively…
October 24 2008
Phytoremediation-a safe alternative?
Recently I had the benefit of sitting in on lecture about using plants to treat environmental problems. The lecture was given by Dr. Lee A. Newman, who has been conducting research in the area of phytoremediation for the past 16 years. Her work at the University of South Carolina focuses on using plants as a safe alternative to clean contaminated lands.
Phytoremediation was…
October 9 2008
IES Sketchup Plugin: A Quick Tool for Building Performance Simulation
Integrated Environmental Solutions Ltd (IES) has developed a building performance simulation plug-in linking 'Virtual Environment' to Google's Sketchup that 'empowers energy, carbon, daylight and solar analysis, and much more to be undertaken at the touch of a few buttons, right from the earliest stages of the design process, where the maximal difference to sustainable design…
September 7 2008
Energy Certificates: Nutrition Facts for European Buildings
Energy Certificates, also called Energy Passports, are documents that profile the energy performance of existing and new buildings within the European Union. The program was initiated as part of the EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings in January of 2006 and will be mandatory throughout the member countries. The goal is to provide greater transparency of energy…
September 2 2008
FerroFluids: Physics is Beautiful
Immanuel Kant, in 1790, described beauty as 'sensory, emotional, and intellectual,' a synthesis of data which we as humans process when evaluating objects. More recently Abraham Moles, Frieder Nake and Jurgen Schmidhuber, leaders in the field of aesthetics and information theory, described beauty as 'the option with the shortest description, given the observer's previous knowledge…
August 14 2008
Environmental Racism: Baltimore's Toxic Tour by Urban Environmentalist Glenn Ross
Baltimore has a vocal champion for urban environmental issues. His name is Glenn Ross and he has only recently embraced the label of 'environmentalist.'
You see, Mr. Ross had spent the previous 20 years dealing with sanitation, public health and decent housing as a community activist on the behalf of his East Baltimore community (and other similarly distressed Baltimore neighborhoods)…
August 5 2008
ECOTECT (Building Performance Simulation Software)
ECOTECT software is designed to aid in the simulation, analysis and optimization of high performance buildings and systems. It is especially useful in the design and delivery of sustainable 'green' projects because it allows architects and engineers to test, evaluate and respond to a variety of strategies. The design and performance analysis tools also take advantage of cutting…
August 4 2008
Ivanhoe Reservoir: Solving a problem / Illustrating another
Problem
Ivanhoe Reservoir (Los Angeles, California) has a problem. Bright sunlight, chlorine and natural bromides combined together to form the carcinogen bromate and now Ivanhoe Reservoir is contaminated. The only way to effectively remove the chemical is to drain the entire body of water and clean the bottom surface to remove all the bromate. In the meantime, the Department…
July 9 2008
An Overview of SPeAR by ARUP
SPeAR, the Sustainable Project Appraisal Routine, is a sustainability performance evaluation tool developed by ARUP for use in their projects. The software was developed by ARUP as a way of breaking down sustainability into constituent parts so that issues could be dealt with on a discrete per instance basis rather than as a conceptual ideal. ARUP has used SPeAR on several…
July 9 2008
What is (Plug) Load Analysis?
Plug analysis is a method of understanding the energy needs of an individual, family or group. It is an essential part is selecting, sizing, and designing an appropriate renewable energy system for a building. The method is especially significant because of the relatively high cost of many renewable energy systems. Sizing the system to meet needs ensures that no excess…
June 30 2008
Greenwashing: Thoughts and How It Is Changing the Industry
Greenwashing is everywhere these days. It is hard to pick up a magazine without being introduced a myriad of products, services and opinions that are tainted green in one way or another. Let's be honest, it is good to be associated with the latest trend. At the moment it happens to be sustainability. I for one hope that it not only stays in all of our consciences, but simply…
June 6 2008
Air-powered scooter leaves city centres cleaner!
An inventor has created what he claims is the world?s first motorcycle powered by fresh air. His work is more than derestricting your 50cc scoooters, it is more of trying to restrict a jet with wheels! If you want to know more how people get more power from their scooters, there are many articles that can serve as a guide. Check your local governments laws first.
Jem Stansfield…
May 27 2008
Walk Score - New Web Site Helps Locate Walkable Communities
A fellow architect here at Ziger/Snead tipped the green team off to this great new web site. Go to www.walksite.com, type in an address and watch as it tallies up amenities within walking distance to calculate your "walk score."
Testing out our office's location near downtown Baltimore revealed what I already know -- We're in a real walking neighborhood with all kinds of shops…
May 20 2008
Where did all those balloons come from?
Enjoy this commercial is produced by the Alliance for Climate Protection. It has a refreshing twist on the old carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas emission message... a highly visual one. I bet if people saw black balloons filled with greenhouse gas coming out of their appliances the world would have no problems with global warming. At least folks might think twice before leaving…
May 19 2008
Catholic and Sustainable?
Absolutely! In a wonderful example, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) used the concepts of sustainability to renew the vision of their community. In clear and purposeful words the Sisters proclaim:
"[that] Today's IHM community is at a unique and historical moment. Through research, discernment and study, we came to a renewed vision for bringing…
May 17 2008
James Fallows on China's Pollution Problem
The arrival of a new Atlantic Monthly is an eagerly awaited event in my household. Well written articles on a variety of domestic and foreign issues, a nice collection of book and entertainment reviews, listings of esoteric current events and a letters section full of inside-the-beltway politicos battling things out in public all generally make the magazine a cover to cover…
April 9 2008
The Terrifying Beauty of Waste
Artist Chris Jordan photographs mounds of discarded soda bottles, piles of crushed cars, scrap heaps, discarded cell phones, heaps of sawdust and old computer circuit boards. They all do a good job hamming it up for the camera, looking as composed as the subject of French pastoral landscape painting or a Dutch still-life :
The images also force the viewer to reckon with…
April 6 2008
Earth Tubes
This ultra-low tech energy saving system first caught Greenline's attention when a mechanical engineer proposed one for a Ziger/Snead building.
With contemporary buildings so well sealed from the outside, indoor air quality suffers from a lack of fresh air. As a result, national building codes began to require that hvac systems bring in a minimum amount of outside air to maintain…
April 4 2008
Cogeneration - Have Your Electricity and Heat it Too.
Cogeneration has been in the news a bit more lately and it seemed like it was time for Greenline to offer a primer.
So what exactly is "congeneration?" In general terms, it's system which provides both heat and electricity from the same source of fuel. Such systems often take advantage of what would normally be wasted energy. In a typical power plant, for example, nearly…
March 23 2008
Bicycle Testimonial
Mary Beth Kelly?s story is as inspirational as they come.
In June 2006, she and her husband Dr. Carl Henry Nacht were bicycling home from dinner on the Hudson River Greenway in Chelsea when an NYPD tow truck turned sharply into the bike lane at 38th Street and 12th Avenue. Despite signs telling drivers to yield to pedestrians and cyclists, the tow truck did not slow down as…
March 23 2008
Google Earth for Air Emissions
(above) Air Polluters in Baltimore - Can you guess where the Constellation Energy plants are?
Now along with mountain ranges, roads, restaurants and tourist destinations, you can search for air pollution production levels around the United States! That is right, the EPA has created an dataset for Google Earth which allows you to map the six principal air pollutants by producer…
March 23 2008
What is Energy Recovery Ventilation? And why should I care?
Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) refers to the recapture of energy typically lost through the building ventilation process. Conditioned air that is routinely being exhausted from both residential and commercial buildings contains significant energy in the form of heat or coolth and humidity which is lost into the exterior environment. As part of a preconditioning process…
March 23 2008
376.59 Miles Per Gallon Car Sets World Record (in 1973)
The Toyota Prius is a nice car and as long as you comply with your states child restraint requirements, it's a perfectly safe car to drive. It also tops in fuel efficiency according to the EPA. (See their list of best and worst mileage cars in America for details.) Still, it doesn't hold a candle compared to our contender. In a world where anyone can sell anything, there's…
February 18 2008
Defining Sustainability: Five Statements
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs."
-World Commission on Environment and Sustainability (Brundtland Commission, 1987)
"A dynamic process which enables all people to realize their potential and to improve their quality of life in ways that simultaneously…
February 18 2008
Glimakra House: Sweden's First Svanen Certified House
The Gilmakra House is the first of many new residences designed to meet the Nordic Svanen Miljomark certification of environmental and social sustainability. Features of these homes include super insulated envelopes, earth tubes to precondition outdoor air, solar electric / hot water panels, super efficient appliances, insulated glazing oriented to take advantage of solar…
February 18 2008
Green Restaurant Association
The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) is a national non=profit organization which provides research, consulting, education, marketing and community organizing services to restaurants and a variety of other food service companies. Their mission is to "create an ecologically sustainable restaurant industry." The organization was recently highlighted in a New York Times article…
February 11 2008
The San Francisco Federal Building: A High Performance Sustainable Workplace?
The U.S. Federal Building in San Francisco is one of the General Services Administration's (GSAs) most visible attempts at designing a high performance government building. The project is one of many started following the 1993 adoption of the "Design Excellence Program," in which the federal government sought to "reach into the private sector to find top quality design talent…
February 10 2008
Biodiesel Univerity Mobile Classroom
The Biodiesel University is a mobile classroom which has been retrofitted to run on biodiesel and will travel around the country educating people about sustainable energy options. The project is the brainchild of Dan Goodman of the Digman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. Also collaborating on the project is the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)…
February 9 2008
e² on PBS: The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious
For those of you interested in sustainability in a global sense (triple bottom line etc), we would like to highlight the ongoing PBS series called e². The television series is touching on multiple topics to show a general state of sustainability today and forecast its future. Subjects of the program include: design, energy, water, food, transportation, and places. There is…
January 22 2008
Smith House: A Passive House in Illinois
The Smith House, located in Urbana Illinois, is an all electric house built to the German Passive House Building Standard. To achieve the passive standard, architect and owner, Katrin Klingenberg, created a clean, efficient and comfortable house design using many of the passive house design strategies used in German model buildings. She describes the house as a "simple shed-roofed…
January 20 2008
Waldsee BioHaus: First Certified Passive House in the U.S.
In 2006, the Waldsee BioHaus became the first building in the United States to be certified with the German Passive House Building Standard. The house, built at the German Concordia Language Village of Waldsee in Bemidji Minnesota, uses about 85% less energy than a house designed to meet the Minnesota Energy Code. For that reason, the project's architect, Stephan Tanner, notes…
January 15 2008
Eco Boulevard de Vallecas: The Air Tree
(above) The Madrid 'Air Tree'
In 2004, the Madrid Municipal Housing Corporation's Residential Innovation Office (with support from the EU LIFE Program) sponsored the Eco Boulevard Competition to design an outdoor urban space in the Madrid suburb of Vallecas. The competition asked designers to imagine an outdoor space that "climatically transformed outdoor urban space." The…
January 14 2008
The Passive House (Passiv Haus) Building Standard
(above) The original Passive Houses in Darmstadt
The Passive House (Passiv Haus) standard is an ultra-low energy building design system which uses extremely efficient building envelopes to significantly drive down energy consumption in structures. The standard is completely voluntary but does have an extremely rigorous set of requirements that must be met in order to be classified…
December 31 2007
Dongtan Eco-city
Dongtan, a entirely new city being developed by the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC), is designed to be the first eco-city, sustainable environmentally, socially, economically and culturally.
The goal as stated by engineering and planning firm ARUP is to "create a development with low energy consumption that is as close to carbon neutral as possible."
The…
December 10 2007
Skip the Left Turn; Save The Planet.
Can simply avoiding left turns while driving significantly reduce one's environmental impact? After all, each left turn requires additional idling at intersections while waiting to make the turn. Well, if own one or two vehicles, you probably won't make much of a dent in your carbon emissions this way.
But... what if you owned 92,000 trucks? Each being used nearly every…
December 5 2007
2010 Olympic Village Using Sewage-Heat Recovery
After looking at a number of alternatives, the city of Vancouver chose to follow the example set by the city of Oslo, Norway and will implement North America's first sewer heat recovery system for the 2010 winter games. It is scheduled to be completed in 2009.
An enormous amount of thermal energy is lost when the liquid effluent from wastewater treatment plants is discharged…
December 1 2007
Farmer John Movie
Here is an interesting movie trailer for a film about the struggles of an American farmer and his passion for organic farming. The film is called "The Real Dirt on Farmer John." The list of awards is impressive and the reviews make it sound like a powerful film. Take a peek to see if you are interested.
If you want to know more about where your food comes from check out out…
November 20 2007
Biomimicry! Lecture by Janine Benyus
Biomimicry is a term made popular by the 1997 release of Janine M. Benuous' book "Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature." The word comes from the words bios, meaning "life", and mimesis, meaning "to imitate". The new science studies nature's models, systems, processes and elements and then imitates or takes creative inpiration from them to solve human problems sustainably…
November 19 2007
The Eco-Friendly Factory for the Low-Guilt Potato Chip
The Frito-Lay company is embarking on an experiment to take their Casa Grande, Arizona, potato factory off grid. That is right! The entire factory will be taken off grid through some wonderfully thoughtful and provoking strategies for generating electricity within the factory itself. The actual plan is for the plant to reduce electricity consumption by 90% and gas consumption…
November 19 2007
Policy Incentives for Green Building
I was recently asked to put together a short list detailing progressive policy efforts of city / state governments designed to encourage Green Building. Green Building in the case of policy incentives has a very broad definition. It can mean anything from energy efficiency improvements to energy production to community development and even air and water quality. These topics…
November 18 2007
CARMA Carbon Map
Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) is a new database that contains information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies globally. Their revamped website includes a handy tool for finding local power companies and listing the power production plants that contribute to their energy mix. The site also organizes the data into a handy google…
November 12 2007
Stockholm Kallbadhus
The proposed Stockholm Kallbadhus (translated as Cold Bath House) was an exhibit and proposed addition to the Stockholm harbor waterfront during the summer of 2007. This is a wonderful example of cleanliness within a major city. To imagine swimming in some of the busiest harbor ports in the world might bring a grimace to your face, but Stockholmers are working hard to clean…
November 12 2007
Abitibi Paper Retriever - Paper Recycling Program
Abitibi Paper Retriever is a paper recycling program which pays you for recycling paper! Simply contact the Abitibi Paper Retriever company and watch as they place a collection container on your property, street, neighborhood. Then wait as they weigh your recycled material each time they pick up the bin and get paid for each pound of recycled paper that is collected.
The…
November 8 2007
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire, how we answer it today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may well determine our very survival as a species. Should we eat a fast-food hamburger? Something organic? Or perhaps something we hunt…
November 8 2007
Hammarby Sjöstad
Hammarby Sjöstad, translated ?Hammarby Lake City,? is a sustainable, environmentally friendly, mixed-use development located adjacent to the city center of Stockholm. The project illustrates a sustainable approach to redeveloping a former industrial site into housing, commercial areas, and recreational space, and how that development can be articulated as a direct extension…
November 5 2007
Dry Food Waste - Somnus Method by Lars Smedlund
A Swedish inventor has developed a way to remove most of the water content from food waste. That is significant because food waste, the organic material thrown out of kitchens everyday, is typically composed of up to 75% water when it is put into the garbage. The water present in the organic material causes the waste to smell, makes it tough to handle and increases its weight…
October 30 2007
Ice Storage Systems
This post is a primer on Ice Storage Systems that will be continued by interviews of designers and operators that have used these systems. We will also tour a local facility using such a system and see how these things really work.
Ice Storage Systems refer to building conditioning systems that use ice as a storage media for thermal energy. These systems are technically simple…
October 29 2007
10% for the Future
Scarsdale Middle Schools of Scarsdale New York have an aggressive plan to make their schools more healthy for the students and better for the environment. They even documented their efforts in a short video titled 10% for the Future which you can view on their website. Here is a description in their own words:
" Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of learning to live sustainably…
October 29 2007
A Living Greenwall
Green walls can serve a building in a number of ways. If designed properly they can add insulation to a facade, reduce the destruction caused by UV rays, help reduce the rates of stormwater runnoff, reduce the heat island effect, and provide a habitat for local bird and insect species. The green wall at the Aquaquest aquarium in Vancouver is a great example of a green wall…
October 29 2007
Hybrid Cars and Wind Power
The bucolic Scandinavian country of Sweden plans to ramp up its wind energy production in the years to come and plans to couple it with battery hybrid car technology.
You might also be interested on read about best windshield wipers for your vehicle which is vital for the car’s safety.
The country currently produces little wind energy in relation to other european countries…
October 28 2007
About Rivers and Trees
?For a flow system to persist in time (to survive) it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier and easier access to the currents that flow through it?. -Adrian Bejan
Here is a great video by Duke University Professor of Mechanical Engineering Adrian Bejan. The video is a short explaination by the professor of a common pattern that occurs in nature. He has dubbed…
October 5 2007
Utility Decoupling Demystified by Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton took some time at the recent "Clinton Global Initiative" (CGI) conference to explain what "utility decoupling" is and how eight utilities in the United States are prepared to take the leap. Three cheers for Con Edison, Duke Energy, Edison International, Great Plains Energy, Pepco Holdings, PNM Resources, Sierra Pacific Resources, and Xcel Energy.
Here are a few…
October 1 2007
Portland - A Cyclists Paradise
Portland is in the news a lot these days. In everything from transportation to sustainable design, the city of Portland Oregon is blazing trails for the rest of America. As evidence of this, the city of Portland has a long list of awards celebrating it's community, transportation, and environmental initiatives.
The start of Portland's rise as a great city for living began in…
September 27 2007
Make It Right: Lower 9th Ward New Orleans
Make It Right is an organization founded by the action of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in collaboration with Global Green. The stated aim of the organization is to "be a catalyst for redevelopment of the Lower 9th Ward by building a neighborhood comprised of safe and healthy homes..." The entire project is thought of as Cradle to Cradle, meaning that decisions are based on…
September 25 2007
MMA Renewable Ventures
MMA Renewable Ventures is an exciting new company which specializes in financing, owning, and operating renewable energy generation facilities. The company focuses on solar power, but also deals with Energy Efficiency upgrades, Biogas, and Wind. It was recently purchased by MuniMae (Municipal Mortgage and Equity LLC) from Baltimore, MD.
MMA Renewable Ventures works by partnering…
September 24 2007
Cheap Photovoltaic?? Yes!
Could it be that photovoltaic panels could cost as little as $1.00 /watt? Apparently so and the future is now-Click Here for the information from Engadget about this technology.
September 18 2007
The Convenient Solution
Here is a thought provoking video on the relationship of nuclear energy to renewable energy. The following video relates specifically to the United Kingdom, but of course we are all connected.
It is interesting to note that the nuclear energy situation in Europe and the United States is very similar. Neither has had a new nuclear plant constructed since the late 70s (notably…
September 17 2007
Air Quality/ Water Quality Barometers in Stockholm!
This is truly great public art/information. Pictured above are two sculptures I happened upon while walking down the Stora Strand (inner harbor) in Stockholm, Sweden. They are remarkable because inset into the stone faces are colored LED lights that show passersby the Air and Water quality in Stockholm in real time. It is easier to make out the air quality reading in the image…
September 17 2007
Edible Schoolyard
Edible Schoolyard is an organization established to provide urban public school students with an organic garden and kitchen classroom which has both health and educational benefits especially since the organic vegetables are used to supplement the school lunch meals.
Currently the program is being tested at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, CA. The concept…
September 17 2007
World Wide Wind Turbine Shortage
This story of a worldwide shortage of wind turbines parallels what started happening in early 2006 with a worldwide shortage of the silicon ingots needed for manufacture of solar photovoltaic cells. "A worldwide shortage of wind turbines has been caused by a sudden surge in demand and the frenzied industrial growth of China creating delivery delays that could take years to…
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Reimagining Harborplace to Create Space for Both Private Development and Expanded Public Space » Lawyer's Mall Reconstruction Progress » Confronting the Conventions of Customary Practice » Reconceived Facades: New Roles for Old Buildings » Ivy Bookshop Opens for Business! »
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