China is on top of the medal tally at the Beijing Olympics and it seems that it intends to stay there by the time the flame starts its journey to London. Irrespective of who finish on top of the tally with the highest number of golds, China has bagged a golden honor with the way it has built and maintained its Olympic Village. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson presented Chinese officials with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold award for the 2008 Olympic village. That is one ‘Olympic Gold’ that China can only claim to have!

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George Clooney is deciding to contribute some more to Brad Pitt’s Make it Right NOLA Foundation. The organisation was established to create 150 eco-friendly homes in New Orleans. If you remember, Clooney came up with $300,000 that covered the creation of two homes. Now, Mr. Ocean is willing to pump more money into Pitt’s charity.

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When the whole of America was perturbed about the oil crisis, a tiny prairie town in Minnesota decided to do something about it. You can well imagine what the town must be like when the local radio carry news updates like the price of cattle and feed, but they were wise enough to embrace renewable energy long before gas prices reached 4 dollars a gallon.

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Nothing can beat the freshness quotient of a hot-water bath! Better still, if this bath is situated in natural settings in form of a thermal spring. Located in the womb of dense forest cover of the Villarrica National Park (Chile) the Geometric Hot Springs is one green destination which every one would love to visit atleast once in their lifetime! German del Sol have designed the whole hot springs complex in a manner that the architecture bearing the 17 pools (over a stretch of 450 meters) can bring you as close to nature as that fantasized by you in your dreams! The Geometric Hot Springs project got completed in 2005. Since then it has been open to visitors who love to gel in the abundant greenery of the region.

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As Brad Pitt enjoys fathering his newest borns with Angelina Jolie, looks like his ex Jennifer Aniston is finally ready to move on. The celeb world is hit by news that Aniston is making plans to tie the knot with beau John Mayer this fall. Even the wedding details have been leaked out. According to some, Aniston wants a low-key wedding that will be completely eco-friendly. Now that would be a real change from the fireworks and million dollar splash of her previous marriage to Pitt in 2000.  

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A marvelous example of ingenuity and figment of our wide imagination has been portrayed by Denis Oudendijk and Jan Körbes. Lately, they have erected a Garden home by utilizing the discarded car tyres, wadding glasses, stainless steel plates and salvage wood. This autonomous entity erected mainly on wooden structure roofed with manifold thin plates is practically a four-season serviceable house. Above and beyond it is proved to be both water and winter resistant as it is sheltered by stone wool seclusion and a pant able plastic membrane. The idea of this innovatively designed edifice came to its creators due to the obligations presented by the inhabitants of the house.

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The concept of eco-interiors was talked about at great length by Jeanie Pyun, editor of Sprig along with famous eco-interior designer Kelly LaPlante on Discussion on WashingtonPost.com. The strongest point of the show was the little tips that were offered to help you green your style. And that was not all as the hosts gave guidelines on finding healthy food and products. Even FAQs like “What is a green roof” and “What does VOC mean” were answered by them. Since the discussion was hosted online, the two eco-friendly women could post web-links directly to the chat to give readers easy, direct access to the tips being discussed. Other areas of concern were, “why it is still so difficult to find healthy products and why are they not cheaper?” as well as “what is a single mom hoping to green on a limited budget?”

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While we ponder over making our dream home, an inevitable mania would be to pick appealing and elegant colors for the background. And in making this choice of colors and coats we just overlook the malicious effects of noxious constituents associated with them. We just contemplate on a classy and pleasing look without bearing in mind the ailing effects of the coats & paints brand which we would be going to use.
Even today majority of people are not sentient about indoor air quality which is appallingly vital for creating a hearty and calm environment. Headaches, Exhaustion, disabled immune system, asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer are few of the severe infirmities which could be added on by poor indoor air quality. Another unfamiliar but imperative matter is Volatile Organic Compounds, VOCs which are there in paints and accountable for outlining poor indoor air quality.

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Architects of this era are focusing their creative energies to churn out futuristic model/designs that are green (as in less taxing on the environment), sustainable, stylish and comfortable. The green architecture, I am going to talk about today is an entire complex- a collection of five buildings that blend effortlessly with the nearby lush greens (read forests/jungles). This ITER complex has won accolades at the international competition (for new buildings) of the CEA Cadarache Research Center.
Designed by Juan Herreros Architects, this ultra-green complex respects the forest space by employing a site-tailored approach to construction. The philosophy behind the design of this complex is the construction of a symbiotic architecture which stresses upon minimum alteration of natural conditions so as to preserve the forest density and its microclimate.

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Tired of a soaring electricity bill? Concerned for nature, want to reduce global warming but are a victim of lousy habits, always forgetful about switching off the lights or fans when you leave a room? For all those who are perfect example of “old habits die hard” notion but are willing enough to adopt greener ways, California based Agilewaves has come up with a smart device- The Resource Monitor. The device is native integrated system which functions in real time to monitor the electricity, gas and water consumption of your house. With the real monitor, you can carry out your chores without being worried about a hefty bill at the end of the month as you can set specific monthly targets for consuming these three facilities. The device uses behaviorally-driven quantitative feedback by the users for effective monitory. It is fit for use inside homes and offices. Resource monitor displays the consumption details and carbon footprint of a household/office via a built-in touchscreen interface or a password protected web page.

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