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 [...]
Blobwall: The Curse of Customization
Blobwall is a material and form study by Greg Lynn (’Form’) which explores the definition of modular construction and space separation in the coming century. Design and construction of Blobwall are heavily influenced by Lynn’s work with advanced three dimensional modeling and manufacturing techniques and follow an evolutionary path from his earlier work with biomorphic [...]
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 [...]
greenPIX: The Zero Energy Media Wall
Energy in = energy out. Only the format changes. Now that is sustainable.
greenPIX, ‘the Zero Energy Media Wall,’ uses architecture and technology to absorb, store, amplify, translate, and display data, both natural and manmade, in an organic system that responds dynamically to the local environment. Creative programming adds even more layers to the already rich [...]
‘Community Greens’: Greening Baltimore’s Alleys
Above is an aerial photo of Baltimore showing some official green space and some potential alley green space - in green - quite a web if coordinated to work together!
‘Community Greens‘ is an organization which supports the ‘development of shared green spaces inside residential blocks in cities across the United States’ by taking the stand [...]
Litracon: Light-transmitting Concrete
Litracon is a light-transmitting concrete product able to move light through concrete up to 20 meters thick. The product is composed of roughly 4% optical glass fibers placed parallel within a fine concrete mix. The result in a homogeneous material from exterior surface to center which retains the compressive strength qualities of concrete. The [...]
Alkemi Recycled Surface Material: Sustainable to the recycled core
Alkemi is a recycled aluminum solid surfacing material made right here in Baltimore (Maryland). The product is composite of a polyester-based medium and post-industrial scrap waste soft-alloy aluminum flake fillers for texture. Recycled content is 35% by weight or 60% by volume as certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). In addition, Alkemi’s manufacturer, Renewed Materials [...]
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 [...]
Life Cycle Assessment: Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES 4.0)
The Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES 4.0) software is a free Life Cycle Assessment tool developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with the aim of empowering designers with a ‘robust’, user-friendly tool for making informed material decisions. Analysis is broken into two general categories, economic and environmental, which can [...]
Radiant Heating: GCS Modular Radiant Flooring Panels
GCS Radiant 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 of this system as a grid of pre-milled slots [...]
The Physics-Sun: A Solar Laser in Uzbekistan
A few machines are stunningly beautiful. Some because of their function. Some because of their scale. Some because of their materiality. Some because of their purity of design.
The physics-sun solar laser in Uzbekistan is one of those beautiful machines. The 40 meter tall machine uses 62 large individually controllable mirrors arrayed in a concave shape [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The Vulcan-Project: Carbon Dioxide Generation and Movement Visualized
The following film, produced by the Vulcan-Project, superimposes carbon dioxide emissions onto a map of the United States and animates them over time. It is fascinating to see the areas where carbon dioxide is produced and have a short description of their source. Watching the emissions over time, especially the implications shown for daytime vs [...]
What is an Absorption Chiller?
An absorption chiller, also known as an absorption refrigerator, is a cooling system that uses a heat source, in lieu of electricity and a compressor, to drive the device. The systems are commonly used where excess heat is available and are considered a type of heat recovery device. Trigeneration, production of electricity, hot water, and [...]