Nov 22, 09
Neri Oxman: Design is Truly Alive
Ethan Zuckerman is blogging from Camden, Maine, at the wonderful Pop!Tech conference. Celebrated designer Neri Oxman wonders what is the origin of form? How do we invent form? Is it a preconcieved image of narrative? Intelligent design? Getting rid of the stone in the way, as Michelangelo speculated? If form is to follow function, how is that function tested and evaluated? It has been my assumption that design by shift of perspective may be, perhaps, considered a second nature. ...
MIT Team Develops Roof Tile That Changes Color as Temperatures Shift
A group of recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates has developed a roof tile that remains white in summer to reflect the sun’s energy then turns black in winter to absorb the sun’s rays and heat buildings. The so-called “thermeleon” (rhymes with chameleon) technology uses a common commercial polymer trapped between layers of plastic, including a black layer at the back. When the temperature drops, the white layer disappears, exposing the black layer. The MIT graduates...
Kenyas' First "Net Positive" Basketball Court
In central Kenya, Architecture for Humanity (AfH) is creating a covered basketball court for the new Mahiga Hope High School. This isn't just any basketball court we're talking about, it's a net-positive Rainwater Court: the roof will have integrated rainwater collection and UV purification systems, along with solar panels to power the school. Although the project will serve primarily as a basketball court, assembly space, dining area and outdoor classroom for students, the entire community...
The Nauhaus: Out to Save the World
By Daniel Flahiff As public support for sustainable residential architecture grows in the U.S., the number of green-building demo projects continues to proliferate. The challenge for both consumers and builders is to cut through the hype to find the tools and techniques that make sense both environmentally and economically. Stepping into the breach is a new firm out of Asheville, NC, The Nauhaus Group, which unapologetically states, "It’s no secret that the Nauhaus Group is out to save...
Efficiency Retrofitting in Northeast Seattle
by Roger Valdez Implementation of SB 5648 starts with focus on Seattle homes and small business. SustainableWorks is an energy efficiency program that uses energy retrofits as a neighborhood organizing tool. We wrote about this innovative program late last year and earlier this year when SB 5649 passed the Washington State Legislature. The SustainableWorks model is unique because it takes seriously the idea that retrofits can be a way of empowering local communities and neighborhoods...
What Makes a Skyscraper Green?
These days, it seems like skyscrapers are in a race to be the greenest, as well as the tallest. New York City's Hearst Tower is largely made from recycled steel and uses rainwater for 50 percent of its needs. China's 71 story Pearl River Tower (pictured below) will soon use wind, sun and geothermal energy to power itself, and even the Empire State Building, one of the world's oldest skyscrapers, is currently undergoing an energy retrofit facelift to stay in the race. To be the greenest...
Green Roofs: the Urban Jungle's Upper Canopy
High atop some of the urban jungle's tallest, widest buildings, city residents are laying down soil and planting native vegetation. Modern green roofs, which are typically flat (unlike traditional Scandinavian sod roofs), help to lower heating and cooling costs while reducing air and water pollution. Leaders worldwide are recognizing the benefits of green roofing, and are slowly turning the aerial view of their cities from gray to green. In Germany, for example, nearly 10 percent of all...
Straw Really Does Keep The Wolf From The Door
by Paul Rainger I'll huff and I'll puff, but we'll build that house up. Let's face it, until Kevin McCloud and Grand Designs came along, the reputation of straw houses was not good. Largely thanks to the tale of the Three Pigs, a story that, with hindsight, looks suspiciously like a piece of inspired viral marketing by the Brick Manufacturers Association. But that situation looks set to change this week, with work getting underway on Bath University’s pioneering project to build a...
Does Green Building Have to Break the Bank?
by Roger Valdez Myth buster: Green building doesn't mean expensive and complex. The intuitive view of most people might be that building green is going to be vastly more expensive and complex than building to the most basic standards required by local code. It follows that we assume affordable housing probably isn’t going to be green. But a recent article in the Communities and Banking magazine published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FSB) this spring busts the myth that...
Empire State Building Gets Eco-makeover
by Rebecca Schischa Iconic skyscraper to slash energy use by 40% New York’s most iconic landmark, the Empire State Building, is set to become one of the city’s greenest buildings, thanks to a $20-million retrofit that will slash energy use by nearly 40% over the next 15 years. Forming part of a wider $500-million rebuilding programme for the 381-metre high skyscraper, the refurb will save an estimated $4.4 million each year in energy costs and has a payback of under five years. ...
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