Green Design
Eco-Development and Sustainable Renovation
I’ve noticed an interesting trend lately. The renovation of old buildings. Gorgeous old buildings gutted and rebuilt from the inside-out, as green and sustainable new structures.
An exciting (and well-publicized) example of this is the Sanctuary development on Capital Hill in Seattle.
The original church was built in the early 1900s and has been a distinctive landmark of the neighborhood for years. Through the renovation of this historical icon, ecological- minded urban residences are being created.
The preservation of the beautiful building was a cornerstone of the project planning. Architectural details, bricks, wooden pews, flooring and windows were repurposed and used within the new residential development as stairs, detailing, in-fill and patching. New sustainable aspects of the housing itself include dual flush toilets and tankless water heaters. › Continue reading
An Alternative to Lead-based Solder
Anybody with a rudimentary understanding of electronics, especially the person that habitually tinkers with and “fixes” the various appliances at home will know how regularly solder is used and needed, even more so for those in the industry.
Up till just recently though, solder wasn’t exactly a milestone of technological achievement. Rather, the basic premise behind solder has remained unchanged; it is still simply a little bit of lead (or other metal substance with a low melting point) which, after being melted, acts as an adhesive, holding together important parts of circuit. These parts being essentially an integral and regularly used component of those everyday tools like cell-phones and computers that we take for granted. Naturally, something so universal, and so small as to be oft-overlooked, is bound to have far-reaching consequences over time.
These consequences were not taken lightly by Ainissa Ramirez‘ and her team at Yale, who like many other scientists around the world had sought out a greener alternative for quite some time. Recently, the culmination of this teams research is to be published. An essential summary of the idea is that new tin-silver solder with iron particles will present a viable alternative to replace the afore-mentioned lead-based solder. But there’s more, asserts Ramirez, as “in addition to helping make the fabrication of microelectronics more environmentally responsible, these new solders have the potential to solve technological challenges.”
USGBC’s Green Home Guide Beta
Margarido Home, LEED Platinum Certified.
Many of us are familiar with the LEED rating system from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), which is a third party green building rating system for commercial and residential buildings. The LEED rating system has been adopted by the U.S. government and is used with all new construction and major renovation of federal buildings. LEED certifies buildings on a point based system in the areas of Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Locations & Linkages, Awareness & Education, Innovation in Design, and Regional Priority. Points are then added up to achieve Silver, Gold, or preferably Platinum certification. While mainly regarded as a tool for commercial building, there is also a LEED for Homes section that allows you to certify your home or neighborhood.
Recently, USGBC has launched a Green Home Guide. The site is an awesome resource for those of you looking to remodel or build a home in the near future. The site contains a myriad of resources for the casual and the serious green homemaker alike. The “Know How” section guides you through green building advice and educational articles to help you make better-informed decisions. They cover a diverse range of topics, and the content is growing everyday. With the rapid growth in the green building world, it’s a great resource if you need to get an idea of what’s out there.
› Continue reading
It’s Time to go Green
That sounds corny, right? It gets worse though. I almost said that as a response to somebody at a bus stop asking me if I had the time. It wasn’t without reason though, and it’s not as if absurd environmental phrases are constantly running through my head. The real reason is that I have a fairly decent-sized assortment of watches for somebody on a college student budget. Occasionally, one of them stands out – like today. A friend of mine, after noticing it and passing a quick compliment, noting my interest in green technology, suggested I check out a series of watches from the Citizen brand.
I
was never a believer when it came to solar-powered watches. Self-winding watches perform a relatively similar task albeit with some inaccuracy and cut the battery out of the equation completely. But it’s not that I thought this long-existent technology wasn’t feasible, I simply hadn’t heard much in terms of innovations in the market so I was never reminded about it and didn’t have enough initiative to give it much thought. The technology is relatively simple as these watches use solar panels not unlike those found in other common items like solar-powered calculators, the only difference being that a much greater amount of energy is than stored. I continued to be a skeptic though. I had always felt that these watches wouldn’t be at par with the ones I already owned. An inflated ego from a minor compliment and an all-to-human feeling of having to reciprocate for it forced me to give this concept some more thought and take the advice.
Solar Powered Electric Lawnmower
Designed by Studio Volpi in collaboration with GGP Group, this solar powered electric lawnmower is not only pretty for the eye, it’s also clean for the lung. Using the suns rays to charge while mowing, a removable polymer-ion battery system ensures your lawn care will be completed.
While this is a great concept, there is actually one in existence- and this one is automated! Similar to those robot vacuums, this is an automated solar lawnmower.
Eco-Friendly Bark Shingles Home Siding
Thinking about re-siding your home? Take a look at this eco alternative. Just like a trees own weather proofing, these bark shingles insulate, protect, and are virtually maintenance free. It is made up of tulip tree bark waste from timber operations that would otherwise get burned, mulched, or left to rot.
Lasting up to 75 years, renewable, sustainably harvested and containing no chemicals, it is quite possibly the greenest siding on the market today. The textured look only adds to its appearance and acoustic properties, blocking out sounds much like another bark, cork.
Design Within Reach Eco Design Water Filter
I do despise bottled water, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to drink artesian spring water. Lucky I came across this beautiful and elegant water pitcher by Design Within Reach (DWR). I do own a Pur water filter pitcher, but I have never liked all that plastic (and large disposable plastic water filters). DWR fills this need beautifully with a water pitcher that is fit for your table (even with the filter elements in it).
Water is filtered through Iouseki stones and Binchotan charcoal, creating fresh, mineral-rich water. While not necessarily the greenest, the stones come from the mountains in Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast. The charcoal filtration elements are specially prepared for potable water use, and also works as a deodorizer to create odor-free water.
Verterra Sustainable Disposable Dinnerware Plates
I know it sounds like a complete oxymoron, but these picnic plates are both disposable and truly sustainable. Best when composted (as things don’t biodegrade in a landfill) to be truly sustainable cradle to cradle compliant, these sturdy plates are as much at home on your fancy dining room table as they are in the backyard. They feel as if they are made of wood, but actually are created by one of the least impact-full materials and processes: pressed fallen leaves.
It’s so simple and natural, it boggles my mind. Leaves that have fallen naturally are collected and pressed together using no chemicals, waxes or bonding agents, leaving them completely non-toxic and chemical free. This means no chemical binding agents or lacquers will be released into your hot food, and they compost easily and naturally. These are leaves that would have otherwise been burnt as agricultural “waste” but are instead formed into plates, bowls, and platters that are sturdy enough for both the microwave and regular oven.
The process itself is quite amazing as well. Using only 10% of the energy › Continue reading
The ANDREA Natural Plant Air Purifier
Its great to see people taking design hints from nature, and the ANDREA is no different. Well, actually, it is more of an integration of nature. Housing an actual live plant of your choosing, it uses more than just a filter to clean your air, it uses a whole process of nature.
While it may just appear to be a plant in a plastic dome with a fan, it is actually much more complex. Funneling the air through the leaves and roots of the plant, particles and harmful airborne toxins are absorbed and converted by the plant using the natural process of nature. No, that is not the technical term, but lets just say the chemical processes get complex.
Designed by Mathieu Lehanneur and David Edwards of Harvard University, it is not only pleasing to look at, it is also effective at reducing indoor pollution levels. Our homes and offices can have higher pollution levels than outside due to toxic cleaning chemicals, VOCs from interior paint and offgassing office furniture which house plants can be fairly effective at removing.
While I am sure the reductions aren’t going to be as big as your run of the mill carbon or HEPA filters, they also don’t make as much noise or have replaceable filter pads. Plus, as a bonus, they produce oxygen, that thing that we all breathe to stay alive- bet your household filter doesn’t do that!
Surfing Firewire – Eco Friendlier Surfboards
If you haven’t been up on surfboard technology, things have changed. In 2005, Clark Foam, the largest foam blank supplier closed its doors citing new environmental regulations which would have crippled its business. The standard for surfboards since the late 50’s when polyurethane foam and fiberglass-resin boards replaced wood boards, had come to an end.
Opening up the market to new innovations and materials, San Diego based Firewire Surfboards was ready with their new carbon and bamboo creation. Lighter, stronger and more flexible, Firewire’s boards are also more eco friendly emitting only 2 percent of volatile organic compounds and are 50 times less toxic to the environment than polyurethane foam. No masks are needed around this stuff, and you can walk into any of their factories without getting an instant headache.
Using an environmental sensitive laminating process, the Rapidfire line uses basic cooler type EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) foam inlaid with carbon rods for flex and topped with finished bamboo for strength and stiffness, replacing the standard wood stringer. All excess EPS foam is recycled at the end of the building process. They even won the coveted EuroSIMA Environmental Product of the Year Award in 2005.
New Balance 70 Eco Shoe (ME070 & WE070)
New Balance is breaking into the green shoe arena, and we aren’t talking colors. The just released ME070 and WE070 are made from recycled and sustainable materials, designed and developed with a real focus on eliminating waste. Boston-based New Balance is in the process of creating a new eco-preferred collection within it’s Outdoor category, of which the 70 will be the introductory model.
Billed as “part of a larger, corporate-wide sustainability initiative to operate our business in an environmentally sensitive manner,” the New Balance 70s are just the tip of the toe. Developed for eco-fashionable consumers, the New Balance 70 features a new eco-friendly construction with seventy-five percent of the upper components consisting of “environmentally preferred materials.” The laces, webbing, rand, quarter, tongue and saddle incorporate recycled polyester; the foxing and the tip of the shoe are synthetics made with fewer solvents than traditional materials. Rice husks filler in the outsole reduces the amount of rubber needed, thus reducing the amount of petroleum used. Water-based adhesives (rather than solvent-based) are used to join the upper and the sole unit and no paper stuffing or paper wrapping are used in the packaging of 70.
I was lucky enough to be one of the few to test out this new shoe before it hit the market. The first impression of the stylish burnt-orange model (MT070PB) I received in the model was › Continue reading
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