Architecture
Weekend Green Reads – Books on Sustainability
This weekend seems like a great weekend for reading, so I thought I would share some upcoming green books in my queue. I seem to have a sustainable design theme going, although that should come as no surprise to anyone who regularly reads my blog.
Sustainability in design has always interested me, mainly because so many problems with current products on the market can be solved by a tweak in the design. For many, this can entail looking at a product with a whole new perspective- which can prove difficult in many situations. Take for example one of the books, Design Is the Problem: The Future of Design Must be Sustainable.
The author, Nathan Shedroff, considers how paper bags may be worse than plastic for the environment or how a Prius may have a larger footprint than a H2 Hummer. Now these are pretty bold statements, so I am intrigued as to how he crafts his argument.
Another book along those same lines, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, explores the cradle to cradle process (or C2C, the ‘birth’ of a product all the way through to the ‘death’ and re-birth of the raw materials) and how it can and should be implemented into the consumer stream.
This is a concept of growing interest (you can tell from increasing products advertising cradle to cradle certification), and with good reason. Our ‘disposable’ society needs a shift and the best way to do that is to make products with their ‘end-life’ in mind.
The two previous books are great reads for everybody, geared towards educating and inspiring with varying layers of depth. As an ecologist, my scientific background begs for more granular depth. At times, I like to see the data, the science behind things, the technical stuff. This is where Sustainable Design: The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering
Providing “…readers with the scientific principles needed to guide their own sustainable design decisions”, and “written to enable readers to take a more scientific approach to sustainable design”, it will be sure to entice all you architects, engineers and scientific types.
New Solar Panel Powered Stadium in Taiwan
A beautiful integration of renewable energy and modern green design, the recently finished solar stadium in Taiwan will welcome the 2009 World Games to 3,300 lights and two jumbo screens all on 100% solar energy. Designed by Toyo Ito, the 14,155 sq meter roof consists of 8,844 solar panels generating 1.14m KWh (that is 1.14 gigawatt hours of electricity) a year.
When not powering the stadium lights, the power will be funneled into the local power grid and is expected to meet almost 80% of the neighboring area’s energy requirements. It is estimated that this stadium will prevent 660 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year from being released into the atmosphere when compared to a traditional powered stadium of this size.
› Continue reading
Can I Recycle This, and Where?
I have this happen to me all the time. Random electronics, toys, packaging, home remodeling projects, etc. I don’t want to throw it away, but can it be recycled? Real Simple has come up with a great A-Z guide to recycle just about anything, and gives you the information you need to find a recycler in your area. Their list is pretty complete, however I have a few additional resources for some specific items- mainly clothes and denim jeans.
Probably the best way to recycle clothes is to take them to your local charity that accepts donations. Goodwill, The Salvation Army, and many other large scale donation resellers will bundle unsellable clothes and sell them to textile recyclers who then make them into industrial rags. Alternatively, recycled denim is becoming an increasingly popular form of insulation in new and remodeled homes.
› Continue reading
Energy Active Eco Home- Taking Energy Efficiency Positive
This technologically advanced home boasts a computer controlled system that regulates the home like a human body. Monitoring temperature, seasons and the time of day to maximize efficiency, this home is an energy over achiever- creating more energy than it uses. While this may sound futuristic, it’s happening right now, in a cold and cloudy Lystrup, Denmark in fact.
Increasingly popular in the U.S., Passive Houses are energy efficient homes that mitigate power through the use of solar, wind or other renewable energy sources. These homes are becoming the standard throughout most of Europe prompting a new frontier of energy Active Houses. These Active Houses are highly efficient homes that captures more energy than the occupants need for heat and power and require not only super efficient building techniques and materials, but also onsite renewable energy sources.
For eight months a year, the solar cells produce excess energy to sell to the grid. In the winter months, the house buys back electricity – from renewable sources, of course. When a mass-market battery car finally reaches the market, there will be a charger for it in the garage and energy to spare.
Ecowork – Green Office Workspaces
Do you ever get headaches at work and don’t know why? While it is probably your boss or that annoying co-worker, it could just as well be your office furniture. The office is full of toxins, from printers to off-gassing formaldehyde in the desks and cubicle dividers. The EPA even has a name for it, sick building syndrome. It’s more than just paint VOC, it is also the furniture.
Green Materials for Eco Friendly Design – Sustainable Materials and Green Building Products
Green designers and material engineers have been hard at work; creating renewables, recycleables and waste reclaiming products. Green building materials are developing at a rapid pace, from fly-ash concrete to fabrics made from recycled goods. It can be hard to keep up with all of the new developments in green materials, but there are two great up to date resources at your fingertips. CSI GreenFormat and Ecolect are two eco material alternative online catalogues with information on many types of cutting edge building materials for architects, builders, designers and interior decorators.
Ecolect is a web–based company that provides information and news about sustainable materials for product design, architecture, furniture design, graphic design, and more. The website is beautifully designed, making it easy to browse, search and submit materials. The layout is similar to a blog format and offer material photos and descriptions. Since some of the materials are user submitted, the amount and depth of the specifications vary with each material. The interface is great for browsing green materials for basic information about newer textiles and building materials. The in depth green product descriptions give you full cradle to cradle information including information on production, manufacturing, use and end use recycling. What is really neat for green architecture firms or eco centered interior designers is their new green material subscription service called GreenBox. This service features a package of new product samples complete with descriptions and specs delivered to you every three months. Each delivery includes:
Ecolect GreenBox - Green Materials Sample Subscription
- 12 cutting edge material samples
- Material information
- Sustainability specs
- Performance overview
- Cost profiles
- Distributor information
Put together by Construction Specifications Institute, GreenFormat is a very extensive materials database for green products. While the interface may be a little more difficult, the information is gold. The materials listed on this site aren’t necessarily green, they leave that up to the browser to determine. This site suffers from the same user defined information, so while some of the materials may overwhelm you with information, others may offer none at all. Since this database is put together by CSI, you can be sure that there is a ever-growing mountain of information and green product descriptions, if it exists, it is probably listed here.
Construction Specifications Institute GreenFormat Website
Unfortunately neither of these sites offer searches based on LEED credit or allow product attribute comparisons in a single screen. Standardization of information would be nice as well, so that all products could be compared more fairly for defining atributes. Even with all these flaws, they are great eco resources for green materials. They are available for anyone to browse, so go ahead and explore them yourself to find that new fabric to redecorate with, or for use as in a sustainable remodeling project. For those more interested in green design, check out a previous article featuring asknature.org for engineering and architectural design ideas based on nature.
Green Renovation to Global Institute of Sustainability Building on ASU Campus – Structure Recycling
ASU's School of Sustainability - (c) 2008 Mark Boisclair Photography
Think of it as re-modernizing an old out of date building with new eco-friendly modern architecture, efficient green features, and a targeting silver-level LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The old Arizona State University Nursing Building underwent a $3 million renovation and upgrade primarily for asbestos abatement; fire and life safety, HVAC and lighting system upgrading; and making the elevators, stairways and restrooms ADA compliant. The home of the new School of Sustainability, the Global Institute of Sustainability Building is quite an impressive restoration and renewal and is the hub of Arizona State University’s sustainability initiatives. Its School of Sustainability, the first of its kind in the United States, offers › Continue reading
Remodel, Reuse, Renew and Restore with the RE-Store – Green Home Furnishings
If you are lucky enough to live near the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, or a bit further north in Bellingham, Washington, then you are privileged to have a REStore near you. A home remodel and demolition reclaiming store, they save all of the wonderful things in older homes from landfills. If you are looking for home decor upcycling or reuse ideas or just need that one matching Victorian style crystal door knob or an authentic iron claw-foot bathtub, look no further. They also collect architectural features like mantling, ceiling tiles, fences and handrail posts.
The demolition of a modest 2,000 square foot house generates up to 127 tons of trash. The RE Store can reuse up to 50% of that material and recycle another 48%, leaving a mere 2% to end up in a landfill or incinerator.
I recently stumbled upon all kinds of wonderful items from a condo renovation project of an old high school. They had old basket style cubby bins, lockers and marble topped science tables. A veritable treasure trove of vintage items to be › Continue reading
