Articles tagged with: Sustainability
Posted in Architecture, Earth, Eco-Friendly, Eco-friendly products, Electric, Electricity, Energy, Environment, Fuel, Pollution, Recycling, Renewable, Technology, Uncategorized, World, concept on 11 October 2008
The kind of megapolises we live in makes us wonder what is going to be like after a few decades. We may imagine crowded streets without enough space to move our toes. However, Nobel-Prize winner Dr. Daniel Kammen believes the cities can in fact be self-sustaining eco hotspots and can allow people to lead a healthier lifestyle than we do today.
Any of the polluting and energy consuming devices and technologies may be phased out and the cities would be blessed with cleaner air and water. Urban gardens could provide as an alternative to farm products, which strip the soil of its nutrients. Alternative fuels, good waste disposal systems, and also mass housing may help our future cities sustain themselves and not leave ugly carbon footprints. In fact, carbon footprints are left by each individual, even when one drives to the supermarket.
Posted in Earth, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Go green, Green, concept on 5 August 2008
For the travellers of wilderness, the Green Living Project is like a dream come true for your folks. Well to start with, they let you travel to far off places, documenting all of the successful, sustainable projects that different communities are trying out. Not only this, you even get the chance to stay in eco-resorts that most people don’t even get to see. Right now they are exploring Africa and North America. Apart from taking fabulous trips to amazing places, the project hopes to inspire others by documenting and demonstrating successful, sustainable projects The documentaries are well made and include interviews with the local populace and the cultural aspect of the area.
Do look up the project website that is brimming with videos from projects and blog posts where you can actively participate. The Green Living Project encourages supporters to come along on the trips as volunteers. This fall the group will be travelling to South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, as well as 2 trips in spring 2009 to both South America and back to Africa. The projects themselves are truly inspiring because you learn with each one that the eco-project often had additional benefits for the environment and community that were not foreseen during the planning.
Via treehugger
Posted in Eco Art, Eco-Friendly, Eco-friendly products on 22 July 2008
PS1 Gallery current Art Center, an arm of MOMA, celebrates 10th year of Warm Up, PS1 Gallery is a annual summer music series, in New York. This year folks who go to catch DJs and live music will be have opening to also visit a farmers market, dip their feet in a cool pool, and in general chill in shade of Public Farm 1, by Work Architecture Company.
PS1 Gallery is a series of eco-friendly cardboard tubes that grows rainwater-irrigated veggies while provided that solar-powered cell-phone charging and community play space.
Among interactive mechanism of PS1 Gallery are swings, cubby hole seats and a periscope, and columns that offered dissimilar tactile and acoustic experience– like being fuzzy or sounding like nighttime. PS1 Gallery is a thought as vital to sustainability as term “organic.” Plus that wading pool looks actually nice for a hot day.
Via Arch Daily
Posted in Eco-Friendly, Efficiency, Go green, Green, World, government on 21 July 2008
The state of California sure knows what it means to “Go Green”! This time the initiative comes from the California Building Standards Commission. The latter has announced a statewide adoption of “green” building code on Friday 18th of this month.The announcement comes as a happy surprise among Californians, who are the pioneers to adopt such a code for their state in the entire United States of America!
Here’s what the Californian governor said,”By adopting this first-in-the-nation statewide green building code, California is again leading the way to fight climate change and protect the environment.”The Commission found out that in terms of higher carbon footprint the state’s buildings rank next to its transportation.
Thus, this announcement reflects a positive concern to improve the situation by reducing the carbon emissions. The new standards yet to be employed promise :
• 20% improvement in water use efficiency for both residential and commercial plumbing fixtures
• a 50% increase in conservation for water used in landscaping
• reduction in energy consumption by 15%
• overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2020
The new policies are envisioned to be in sync with the goals mandated in Assembly Bill 32 (passed as law 2 years ago).
Friday also saw the introduction of Green Building Initiative by governor Schwarzenegger (Executive Order S-20_04). This initiative calls for a 20% cut back in energy consumption by all state-owned buildings by 2015. As of now, a total of 13 state-buildings are LEED certified. According to the Green Building Initiative, the renovation of rest of the state-buildings will be planned in a manner to acquire a LEED Silver certification.
The initiative taken by Californian government is very inspiring. Let us hope that other states and countries of the world follow this trail in order to achieve a sustainable, greener and healthier tomorrow.
Source: enn
Posted in Architecture, Designer, Eco-Friendly, Green, Infrastructure, concept on 21 July 2008
Singapore-the island nation, is a platform of neck-straining skyscrapers. To add to its skyline, world-famous architect Ken Yeang has lent his artistic vision to yet another skyscraper “Fusionopolis”. The latter has been projected as Singapore’s R&D icon.
It will be the hub of local and international talents in the field of sciences and engineering. The scientific research thus carried out at Fusionopolis will power the future industries in the region and transform Singapore into a knowledge-based economy.
The eco-friendly skyscraper will be 1.4 Km high with 15 stories and a state-of-the-art green infrastructure! Ken Yeang, known for his green designs has envisioned a long, continuous vertical run of vegetation which has not been seen anywhere in the world so far.
The vertical column of planting as projected in the design will rise up the building and merge into a landscaped terrace garden at the roof of Fusionopolis. This vegetation cover will be beneficial in passive cooling and insulation hence, provided to the inmates of the building.
The towering structure is designed to effectively capture sunlight by utilizing the refractive properties of prisms (to be placed in its interiors). Yeang (director of Llewelyn Davies Yeang-leading architect firm) has set his eyes on other greener technologies that will be profusely in Fusionopolis’ drainage and irrigation system.
In all the whole building will be a live-ecosystem, one which would be ecologically-viable and sustainable! While the Singaporeans await this super-green erection on a land area of 12,073 sqm, you guys have a look at other green and successful projects by the master architect.
Via: inhabitat
Posted in Architecture, Green, Infrastructure on 18 July 2008
The under construction Community Arts Centre at Greensburg, Kansas is under limelight for being the most talked about green, environment-friendly prefab structure. Its uniqueness and popularity can be judged by the fact that the building features in Planet Green’s documentary series for Discovery Channel! This non-residential building is one of the pioneer structures created among a number of sustainable prototypes for Greensburg and this brilliant Studio804 of the University Of Kansas School Of Architecture has done work. Studio804’s portfolio is brimming with sustainable prefab designs; so, it doesn’t surprises me wee bit to learn that, this Community Arts Centre recently became the first LEED Platinum building in Kansas!
The art centre is being designed uniquely to provide adequate space to support small scale commercial programs and to act as an educational tool for a community who loves to preserve and propagate its cultural heritage via both visual and performing arts. It uses a modular design. Also, it is interesting to note that the building uses a combo of active and passive energy systems. This combination includes water reclamation, cross ventilation and passive solar design. The Community Arts Centre is so planned as to use solar, wind and geothermal form of renewable energy sources to meet its power requirements thus becoming an exemplar of cleaner energy options and sustainability.
Have a look at the exterior and interior of the CAC and I bet you would be awestruck just like me!
Via Inhabitat