A Hydrogen City?

Of course our government is touting Hydrogen as the savior for our energy crisis. They want something they can control and regulate. Is it any wonder they never mention solar? Since no one has a reliable, clean way to MAKE the hydrogen, I am dubious of it as a viable solution when solar and wind are so obviously easier to obtain.

In the end, the government will probably have their way and we will have a clean future, with hydrogen at $3/gallon instead of petroleum.

A stream of interesting proposals showing this hydrogen future have come out, but this one: H2PIA is well done. Of course the site is lacking some important tangible information, but the concept is strong.

Check it out here.
Brochure

Wired Green Issue

Wired Magazines Green Issue:

What a month! First the Vanity Fair Green Issue, then the upcoming Elle Magazine May 2006 Green Issue, now Wired, all in the same month. I am starting to look forward to getting the mail.

You must read Alex Steffan's (from WorldChanging) wonderful essay on:
How tech is dragging environmentalism out of the anti-business, anti-consumer stone age..

My favorite part? This:
Green-minded activists failed to move the broader public not because they were wrong about the problems, but because the solutions they offered were unappealing to most people. They called for tightening belts and curbing appetites, turning down the thermostat and living lower on the food chain. They rejected technology, business, and prosperity in favor of returning to a simpler way of life. No wonder the movement got so little traction.

The rest of the issue can be found HERE

Cheap solar using holograms?

Prism Solar Technologies in New York has developed a proof-of-concept solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light, possibly cutting the cost of solar modules by as much as 75 percent, making them competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels. Currently, the approach to overcoming this cost factor of silicon-based solar panels is to concentrate light from the sun using mirrors or lenses, thereby reducing the total area of silicon needed to produce a given amount of electricity. But traditional light concentrators are bulky and unattractive -- less than ideal for use on suburban rooftops.

Prism's solar concentration is achieved using a hologram sealed between two pieces of glass. Very clever idea and it creates a beautiful rainbow pattern...

Al Gore Editorial in WSJ

For People and Planet
When will companies start accounting for environmental costs?
BY AL GORE

Capitalism and sustainability are deeply and increasingly interrelated. After all, our economic activity is based on the use of natural and human resources. Not until we more broadly "price in" the external costs of investment decisions across all sectors will we have a sustainable economy and society.

FIULL STORY

Tribe Wanted in Fiji

Launched last week by two young British entrepreneurs, tribewanted is creating a global tribe that will develop a sustainable eco-community on an island in Fiji.

In what seems like a hippie dream crossed with an episode of Survivor, tribewanted is looking for 5000 people from around the world to become part of a tribe that will not only exist online, but will also settle, 100 at a time, on ''Adventure Island''. On the map, Adventure Island is known as Vorovoro, and is being leased to tribewanted by the local tribal chief.

When the 5000th member joins, the tribe will be formed and will start to make tribal decisions by voting through the online community at tribewanted.com, on issues such as the name of the tribe, type of infrastructure that will be required, and how to build an island community in an environmentally friendly way.

Eco-friendliness is a keystone, and tribewanted has appointed a climate advisor to keep carbon accounts for the tribe’s island life and offset them to make the venture climate neutral. In an interview with Mookychick, founding ''chief'' Mark James explains: "I think that there is a growing interest from a generation to do something about their lives, the lives of those around them and to have a positive impact on the environment as they are aware of how generations before have messed up. Adventure Island represents all the passions and cravings of that generation."

tribewanted

Global Warming Short

Here's the assignment: You've got 4 minutes to get millions of busy, information-overloaded citizens concerned about climate change and motivated to take action. How would you do it?

Joel Makower (GreenBiz) and Nancy Hirshberg (Stonyfield Farm) put together this great internet video entitled, "Climate: A Crisis Averted."

VIEW THE MOVIE: Climate: A Crisis Averted

Design Competition Class at UC Berkeley

STARTING JUNE 3rd
Emerging Trends Design Competition Class

Study cutting edge design and get published.
Eric Corey Freed will be teaching this six-week course, where students participate in a real design competition as part of a team. Three to seven competitions available during the time frame of the course are preselected by the instructor. Participants discuss them and select one to pursue. Students learn how to work in a project team and how to set and meet deadlines, explore ideas, and build a portfolio.
ENROLL NOW
COST: $375

The Solar Jellyfish?

Here is the latest model of one of our current projects. it is an addition to a very small existing house. The walls are made from ICF's and have a super high insulation value of R-34. The building is oriented to the sun, not the street. The windows frame views. Of course, non-toxic finishes, paints and adhesives used throughout. The screen on the west side is a sun shade made of bamboo. Solar panels and a water catchment system are also included. Although it is not even started construction, it is already being featured in Innovative Home Magazine. Our client refers to it as a jellyfish (sometimes octapus) based on the shape of the floor plan.

Online Tools

Online Tools
We get dozens of requests for suggestions of Green Building software or online tools. Here is a list of the sites we use. Please contact us if you have additions.

The Sensor Placement + Optimization Tool or SPOT is intended to assist a designer in quantifying the existing or intended electric lighting and annual daylighting characteristics of a given space and to help establish the optimal photosensor placement for the space relative to annual performance and annual energy savings.

Eagle GeoCode will calculate the longitude and latitude of any street address. We use this information to calculate the angles of the sun.

Financial Incentives for Solar Energy lists the incentives and rebates in California for Solar Panels.

Sun Path Program creates sun charts for any latitude location.

The photovoltaic performance calculator , PVWatt, calculates typical performance of solar electric arrays for more than 200 locations in the National Solar Radiation Database.

The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy. DSIRE now includes state and federal incentives for energy efficiency.

Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) 2.0K Software for measuring environmental and economic performance.

GreenerBuildings a free resource to help companies of all sizes and sectors understand and address building design, construction, and operation in a way that aligns environmental responsibility with business success.

All Tech Lighting offers this free online calculator to help building owners understand the financial impact of replacing or retrofitting their existing lighting to energy-efficient systems. Simply enter the number of fixtures, number of hours on per day, and cost per killowatt hour to calculate your savings.

Building Energy Software Tools Directory: More than 275 energy-related software tools for buildings, with an emphasis on using renewable energy and achieving energy efficiency.

EnergyPlus is a building energy simulation program for modeling building heating, cooling, lighting, ventilating, and other energy flows.

eVALUator Financial Analysis Software calculates life-cycle benefits of improved building design investments. The analysis considers a variety of factors over the life of a project, including energy costs, financing costs, operations and maintenance costs, and tax implications.

Beaver Overthinking Dam

Beaver Overthinking Dam
Local beaver Dennis Messner is spending an inordinate amount of time and effort in the planning and construction phases of building his dam, according to neighbors close to the project.

In the past four months, Messner, 4, has visited hundreds of other dams and drawn up detailed and extensive blueprints. He has researched topics ranging from advanced dome acoustics to the near-extinction of the North American beaver in the early 20th century, and plans to incorporate much of his research into his design.

FULL STORY

Pitt calls for NoLa designs

Designs Wanted!
Brad Pitt called for people to submit proposals for an environmentally friendly design competition he is sponsoring to rebuild parts of New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

MORE

Competition Info

Watts Towers

A great little documentary on
Simon Rodilla and the building of the Watts Towers in south-central Los Angeles.

The Towers (1957)

While there, be sure to check out the rest of the Prelinger Archives

Trade up to a house?

From A Paper Clip To A House?
Man hopes to barter on Craigslist by taking an everyday office item and trading up until he has a house.
FULL STORY

Environmentally Aware Office Towers

7 World Trade Center and Hearst Building:
New York's Test Cases for Environmentally Aware Office Towers

A decade ago, office towers guzzled energy as fast as they could, and "sick building syndrome" was dismissed as a hypochondriac's all-purpose excuse. Since then, however, the rise of "green" architecture has encouraged architects, developers and construction managers to consider the effect their buildings have on the health of their occupants and the environment.

Seven World Trade Center, a 52-story, $7 million replacement for the building that fell at that address on 9/11, was certified by the U.S. Green Building Council last month. The 46-story Hearst Tower, on 57th Street near Eighth Avenue, is expected to follow suit after completion next month.

FULL STORY

Al Gore's New Film on Global Warming

An Inconvenient Truth eloquently weaves the science of global warming with Gore's personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change.
Having heard him speak about this, I can tell you this is a new, passionate Al Gore, the one I had HOPED to see in the 2000 election.

INFO: climatecrisis.net

Oh, and the trailer will give you chills.

Is Walmart really going green?

Is Walmart really going green?

For many enviros, the name "Wal-Mart" has always triggered a shudder. The world's biggest retailer has been charged with exacerbating suburban sprawl, burning massive quantities of oil, producing mountains of packaging waste, and encouraging gratuitous consumption. (And those are just the environmental complaints.)

But it's precisely Wal-Mart's size and reach that could make it a powerful force for good for the planet...

FULL STORY

AND ON THE OTHER HAND:
Umbra's great reponse to Why is Wal-Mart evil?

An Italian site dedicated to Organic Architecture:
The International Web Portal of Organic Architecture

Meaning

My buddy Nathan has a great article about MEANING in Marketing posted HERE

His book can be found here.

16 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day in Your Home Today
On Earth Day 2006, thanks to GreenHomeGuide.com, getting from green question to green action will get a lot easier. For the first time, a homeowner planning a more energy-efficient and healthy home will have a one-stop resource for best practices and experiences, as well as 14 regional directories of locally available green home products, services, and retailers.
FULL STORY

Green and beautiful: Make design decisions that please the earth and the eye

Eric was quoted in an article about Frank Lloyd Wright and Green Buildings:
Rights and wrongs of a Wright renovation

Often, returning older houses to their original condition is enough, according to Eric Freed, a San Francisco-based architect whose sustainable designs are influenced by Wright's "organic" architecture. "A lot of these older buildings have an inherent sensitivity to the environment," he says. "They have operable windows. They recognise that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The postwar generation mostly ignored that."

Of course, he says, many "also have lead paint, asbestos and mould".

In fact, Wright's materials selection would stack up reasonably well by current green standards. He used cork flooring and oil-based products and plastics - in paints, insulation and flooring. Wherever possible, he avoided painting surfaces and he designed using the dimensions of building materials as units of measure, reducing waste. He also used stone and earth from his building sites. The latter, mixed with concrete, yielded a patina that matched the landscape, Freed notes.