We know our Inhabitat readers are a creative bunch and we can’t wait to see the funny and thoughtful costumes that you’ve cooked up, so don’t forget to send in your photos to our annual Green Halloween costume contest for a chance to win some great green gadget prizes like hand-crank and solar power flashlights for your late-night trick o’ treating. The deadline is MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! And if you have little ones (or like looking at pics of cute little ones in green halloween costumes), check out the Inhabitots Green Halloween contest for kids >.
In this season of specters and spooks, what could be scarier than a steel-winged robotic spy plane shaped like a bat? The aptly named COM-BATis a six-inch surveillance device that is powered by solar, wind, and vibrations. The concept was conceived by the US military as a means to gather real-time data for soldiers, and the Army has awarded the University of Michigan College of Engineering a five year $10-million dollar grant to develop it.
While this cabin looks spookily lizard-like, its unusual structure was created in response to Swedish environmental building regulations. The solar-poweredoff-grid cabin is owned and designed by Maartje Lammers and Boris Zeisser of 24H Architecture as a family summer vacation retreat in southern Sweden’s Glaskogen nature reserve. The locals of the lakeside area affectionately call the house “Dragspelhuset,” or Accordion House because a room of the house is capable of extending outwards over the nearby stream.
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays of the year, and one of the best parts of Halloween is seeing people get creative and resourceful with their costumes. Anyone can buy a plastic / spandex costume at a drugstore, but not only is that boring and generic — it is the opposite of environmentally friendly. We encourage you all to get inspired and resourceful this year and go green with your Halloween costumes! This could mean cobbling together a great DIY idea from items you already have around your house, or picking up some old items at the local charity shop to create your costume.
Household cleaning is a murky area for consumers who want to be environmentally conscious. Of course we can assume that reusing cloth rags for cleaning is greener than buying paper towels, but household cleaners are not required to list their ingredients under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act – so they don’t. And even if they did, who knows by heart which chemicals are materially damaging? Maid Brigade is a green cleaning service that has adopted a green cleaning protocol at all of its 400+ locations that includes product scrutiny and staff training to make the service “as green as possible in today’s world”. Recently we caught up with Cloud Conrad, vice president of brand strategies to see if Maid Brigade’s green standards are as high as yours.
Public space is essential in any urban environment, but drawing people out can be difficult when the weather makes the outdoors uncomfortable. The Emerald Plaza in Abu Dhabi by Los Angeles-based Emergent Architecture is intended to invite people out of doors despite high temperatures by offering shade and a wide expanse of space. The multi-level, modern plaza physically links the buildings surrounding it via walkways, while cooling pools help to regulate the plaza’s temperature.
Ushida Findlay Architects (UFA) recently received permission to build this gorgeous eco-friendly, multi-family Park House compound in Preston, UK. The stunning design incorporates sustainable elements such as solar power, extensive use of natural light, and locally-sourced materials, but its defining element is certainly the undulating green roof that links the homes of five branches of a single family.
Birds and ornithologists alike have long favored Cley Marsh in Norfolk, England as a prime place to roost, but the windswept East Anglian wetland now has a new attraction. The Cley Marsh Visitor Center, owned by Norfolk Wildlife Trust and designed by LSI Architects, was recently named the best Sustainable Development by the prestigious Emirates Glass LEAF Awards which recognize excellence in international architecture, design, and building fields. Tucked neatly into the landscape and capped by a moss roof, the new visitor center stands as a unique example of how a combination of sustainable technologies can be used successfully in environmentally-sensitive locations.
Inhabitat is proud to present our readers with the world’s most exciting developments in future-forward design. Still, the stunning array of beautiful green furnishings and stylish products available today presents certain questions about the responsible consumption of green goods. The time has come address these challenges and take an in-depth look at our collective green habits. Read on for a list of seven bad habits of Eco-Design driven consumers, and the first steps that begin the road to recovery.
California’s first solar thermal plant in 20 years recently launched in Bakersfield, helping to usher the golden state into a new era of renewable energy. Designed by Ausra, the Kimberlina solar thermal plant will utilize 1,000-foot long mirrors to convert the sun’s rays into energy. The new plant is the first of it’s kind in North America and was constructed in just seven months.
After Hurricane Katrina, Paul Villinski, a well-known New York-based artist, wanted to transport his studio to Louisiana to see the aftermath first-hand and create artwork in response. At the time he didn’t have a way do it, but since then has picked up a 30′ trailer, gutted it, and rebuilt it to be green, non-toxic and off-grid. The Emergency Response Studio is now a totally self-sufficient traveling artist studio outfitted with solar panels, a wind turbine, non-toxic furnishings, and plenty of space to create.
It was only six months ago that the eco fashion community was stunned by an announcement from groundbreaking eco sportswear label Nau that they were closing their doors. Devoted fans of the green fashion label were deeply saddened by this news, as there was the general belief that if Nau could not make a go of producing sustainable casual clothing, perhaps no one could. Well folks, we are pleased to announce that Nau is back, survivor-fierce, eco-friendly, and as savvy as ever. Wisely resurrected by a core team of devoted former employees, the new Fall 2008 collection is proof that Nau is always in sustainable style, for the immediate future and the long haul.
For cyclists, safety is certainly the number one concern when riding at night. Sure, most blinking lights will increase your front and rear visibility, but what about the all-important side angles? Well, now you can get the Down Low Glow from Rock the Bike, a tubular light that attaches to your bike, lights up the night, and looks phenomenal!
Audi recently revealed their slick A1 Sportback Hybrid at this year’s Paris Motor Show. Based on the A1 project Quattro concept released last year in Tokyo, the 5-door plug-in hybrid can run for 60 miles on a single charge, after which it gets an exceptional 72.4 mpg. Audi keeps cranking out concept vehicles that show future directions for the company, and their latest hybrid looks like another excellent entry.
Recently Mercedes Benz revealed images of its stunning Formula Zero Racer, a futuristic foray into the next generation of racing. Incorporating elements from luge, yacht, and Formula One vehicles, the zero-emissions racer is propelled by a wind-catching sail in addition to electric motors that are powered by renewable resources. The concept is a tribute to a future where cars will win races based not just upon their speed, but on how energy efficient they are.
The new Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, WA is building upon the past, literally. Originally the living quarters and social center for Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino immigrants, the museum’s structure mirrors its exhibits - both preserve the culture and traditions of Chinese and other Asian immigrants while displaying current works from emerging Asian artists. The restoration of the 1910’s building was very well executed with excellent implementation of sustainable strategies, including plenty of re-use and recycling to preserve the old while creating something new.
The e-charkha is an ingenious update to India’s ubiquitous charkha [spinning wheel] that transforms the simple machine into a potentially significant source of energy for millions of struggling families in India. Designed by RS Hiremath, the e-charkha “not only produces yarn but also generates electricity using a maintenance free lead acid battery fixed at the bottom, which functions as an inverter.”
The Wat Pa Maha Chedio Kaew temple has found a way to bottle-up Nirvana, literally. The temple, which sits in Thailand’s Sisaket province, roughly 370 miles northeast of Bangkok is made of more than a million recycled glass bottles. True to its nickname, “Wat Lan Kuad” or “Temple of Million Bottles” features glass bottles throughout the premises of the temple, including the crematorium, surrounding shelters, and yes – even the toilets. There’s an estimated 1.5 million recycled bottles built into the temple, and as you might have guessed, they are committed to recycling more. After all, the more bottles they get, the more buildings they are able to construct.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able change the shape and position of the walls of your house to go along with your mood, or more practically, the weather? Michael Jantzen’s transformable M-Velope® is just such a structure, offering an inspired approach to designing smaller and more usable spaces. The 230 sq foot flexible space can be rearranged into various positions by moving the slated wood panels on its steel frame. All homes really should have this capacity - to move, change and morph depending on our needs.
We are excited to announce our new line of Inhabitat eco baby tees and onesies. Featuring ‘Habby’, our favorite owly mascot, our super cute baby tees are made from 100% organic cotton and are hand-printed with water-based inks. The tagline (with some fond nostalgia for the 70’s US Forest Service Campaign), reads ‘I give a hoot’. If you have a tot in your life and you are a fan of Inhabitat, show us some love and order one today - proceeds go to support Inhabitots.
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