For those of you interested in sustainability in a global sense (triple bottom line etc), we would like to highlight the ongoing PBS series called e². The television series is touching on multiple topics to show a general state of sustainability today and forecast its future. Subjects of the program include: design, energy, water, food, [...]
Eco Boulevard de Vallecas: The Air Tree
(above) The Madrid ‘Air Tree’
In 2004, the Madrid Municipal Housing Corporation’s Residential Innovation Office (with support from the EU LIFE Program) sponsored the Eco Boulevard Competition to design an outdoor urban space in the Madrid suburb of Vallecas. The competition asked designers to imagine an outdoor space that “climatically transformed outdoor urban space.” The designs [...]
Dongtan Eco-city
Dongtan, a entirely new city being developed by the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC), is designed to be the first eco-city, sustainable environmentally, socially, economically and culturally.
The goal as stated by engineering and planning firm ARUP is to “create a development with low energy consumption that is as close to carbon neutral as possible.”
The island [...]
Farmer John Movie
Here is an interesting movie trailer for a film about the struggles of an American farmer and his passion for organic farming. The film is called “The Real Dirt on Farmer John.” The list of awards is impressive and the reviews make it sound like a powerful film. Take a peek to see if [...]
Biomimicry! Lecture by Janine Benyus
Biomimicry is a term made popular by the 1997 release of Janine M. Benuous’ book “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.” The word comes from the words bios, meaning “life”, and mimesis, meaning “to imitate”. The new science studies nature’s models, systems, processes and elements and then imitates or takes creative inpiration from them to [...]
Policy Incentives for Green Building
I was recently asked to put together a short list detailing progressive policy efforts of city / state governments designed to encourage Green Building. Green Building in the case of policy incentives has a very broad definition. It can mean anything from energy efficiency improvements to energy production to community development and even air [...]
Stockholm Kallbadhus
The proposed Stockholm Kallbadhus (translated as Cold Bath House) was an exhibit and proposed addition to the Stockholm harbor waterfront during the summer of 2007. This is a wonderful example of cleanliness within a major city. To imagine swimming in some of the busiest harbor ports in the world might bring a grimace to [...]
Abitibi Paper Retriever - Paper Recycling Program
Abitibi Paper Retriever is a paper recycling program which pays you for recycling paper! Simply contact the Abitibi Paper Retriever company and watch as they place a collection container on your property, street, neighborhood. Then wait as they weigh your recycled material each time they pick up the bin and get paid for each pound of recycled paper that [...]
Hammarby Sjöstad
Hammarby Sjöstad, translated “Hammarby Lake City,” is a sustainable, environmentally friendly, mixed-use development located adjacent to the city center of Stockholm. The project illustrates a sustainable approach to redeveloping a former industrial site into housing, commercial areas, and recreational space, and how that development can be articulated as a direct extension of the Stockholm urban [...]
10% for the Future
Scarsdale Middle Schools of Scarsdale New York have an aggressive plan to make their schools more healthy for the students and better for the environment. They even documented their efforts in a short video titled 10% for the Future which you can view on their website. Here is a description in their own words:
" [...]
A Living Greenwall
Green walls can serve a building in a number of ways. If designed properly they can add insulation to a facade, reduce the destruction caused by UV rays, help reduce the rates of stormwater runnoff, reduce the heat island effect, and provide a habitat for local bird and insect species. The green wall at the [...]
About Rivers and Trees
“For a flow system to persist in time (to survive) it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier and easier access to the currents that flow through it”. -Adrian Bejan
Here is a great video by Duke University Professor of Mechanical Engineering Adrian Bejan. The video is a short explaination by the professor of [...]
Portland - A Cyclists Paradise
Portland is in the news a lot these days. In everything from transportation to sustainable design, the city of Portland Oregon is blazing trails for the rest of America. As evidence of this, the city of Portland has a long list of awards celebrating it’s community, transportation, and environmental initiatives.
The start of Portland’s rise as [...]
Make It Right: Lower 9th Ward New Orleans
Make It Right is an organization founded by the action of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in collaboration with Global Green. The stated aim of the organization is to "be a catalyst for redevelopment of the Lower 9th Ward by building a neighborhood comprised of safe and healthy homes…" The entire project is thought of [...]
Air Quality/ Water Quality Barometers in Stockholm!
This is truly great public art/information. Pictured above are two sculptures I happened upon while walking down the Stora Strand (inner harbor) in Stockholm, Sweden. They are remarkable because inset into the stone faces are colored LED lights that show passersby the Air and Water quality in Stockholm in real time. It is easier to [...]