The recent evolution of solar technology has been nothing short of amazing, and we are continuously impressed by all the products hitting the market that make it easier to integrate clean tech into our daily lives. One innovative company at the forefront of the solar energy bustle is Sulfurcell, the producer of a new kind of modular solar panel that add energy-generating capabilities to any building. The super-thin panels are entirely self contained, so they don’t require any substructure, and they can be applied to new buildings as well as retrofitted old buildings to provide a sleek look and plenty of power.

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War and conflict often bring about the destruction of architecture, however these forces can also result in new constructions that define a cultural identity and place. Stressed by China’s growing population, the Hakka people have been confronted with armed warfare for local resources since the 17th century. To remedy their situation the Hakka began building massive structures that could not only stave off intruders, but would also form amazing self-sustaining micro-communities complete with food storage, space for livestock, living quarters, temples, armories and more.

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Industrial design lab GR recently launched a clever new product called the ‘Aqua Jar’ that transforms any plastic bottle into an easy-pour pitcher. Formed from biodegradable and recyclable plastic, the attachment perfectly fits the universal coil of any plastic bottle, creating an attractive and sturdy mount allowing for water to be served anywhere with ease. Available in orange, graphite and frost, the Aqua Jar for Balvi was launched as part of the ZOCO exhibit at last month’s Valencia Design Week. Now if only they could come up with something for the orange juice carton!

+ GR Lab

What if you could design your own lighting fixture in the time that it takes to unscrew a light bulb? That’s the premise behind Daniel Becker’s Spark system, a series of energy-efficient LED bulbs that can be linked together to form beautiful light sculptures.

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A lot of us can recall spending hours upon hours of stacking colorful Legos into shapes and sizes that tickled our imagination as children. While some of us outgrew that phase, thankfully some of us didn’t forget the charm of the little Lego man’s smile or the amazingness contained within every little block. As Parisian designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti have proved with their chromatic Munchausen Lego Kitchen: you’re never to old to play with Legos!

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Any one point on a busy street can receive up to 50,000 steps a day, so imagine if you could take all that foot traffic and turn it into something useful – like energy! A new product designed by Laurence Kemball-Cook, the director of Pavegen Systems Ltd., can do just that. With a minuscule flex of 5mm, the energy generating pavement is able to absorb the kinetic energy produced by every footstep, creating 2.1 watts of electricity per hour.

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Stretching along Denmark’s southwestern border is the truly unique coastline of the Wadden Sea. While too shallow for boats, and too deep for a high tide trek, many of the treasures of the Waden Sea remain sight unseen when the seabed floods. Leave it to a designer to figure out how to not only bring the tide to the people, but create an intimate experience between the environment and the observer. The winner of the Design It: Shelter Competition, David Eltang’s SeaShelter offers a new kind of seafaring experience, hatch included.

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Berlin is a burgeoning modern city with a compelling history, a diverse culture, abundant art, and distinctive architecture that rivals the likes of Paris, London and New York. But if there is one thing that can set the city apart from its pricey peers, it’s the unbelievably inexpensive property. Not unlike many of the uber-creative expatriates that have taken up residence there, two enterprising artists, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, decided it was time to purchase and renovate a place of their own. So what can $700,000 get you in a city like Berlin? An apartment? A loft? Maybe a small house? How about a massive water pumping station!

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Things really heated up this past few days as we inched closer to finding out who the winner of this year’s Solar Decathlon would be, and in the end Team Germany’s surPLUShouse stole the show. We were sad to see that Cornell University’s Silo House did not place in the top 3, but we still love this totally unconventional and clever home which held steadfastly in the ranks as part of the top 10 throughout the week. As a compact modular structure, the Silo House proves that impressive green, energy-efficient things do come in small spaces!

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In 1896 the Viennese authorities decided to invest in large-scale gas and electric utilities, so they constructed what became Europe’s largest gas plant. After nearly a century long run the plant was decommissioned, and left behind were four massive gasometers. These incredible structures were cast off, but a recent revitalization project led by Jean Nouvel, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Manfred Wehdorn, and Wilhelm Holzbauer have transformed these four tanks into spectacular and thriving communities.

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Fall is here, and If you aren’t part of the lucky few to still be basking in the sun (ah, Italia!), don’t fret – we have some great news that will surely brighten your day and warm your house. Recently Boulder-based company Cool Energy, Inc. unveiled SolarHeart, a specialized engine that can convert low temperature solar power and waste energy into enough electricity to provide 80% of a home’s heat, all of its hot water, and 60% of its electricity!

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The Pacific Ocean could soon be lighting up the beautiful city of San Francisco as a tidal-energy project planned for the waters near the Golden Gate Bride is now in the final stages of acquiring the necessary permits for implementation. The project, which has been in the works for over four years, will produce 10 to 30 megawatts of energy with the potential of up to 100 megawatts, and is anticipated to be the largest energy generator off the California Coast.

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Last year we reported on Okhta Tower, a new super eco-skyscraper located in St. Petersburg Russia. After months of push and shove, and mixed reception, the plan for this 77-storey tower designed by RMJM has finally gotten the green light to commence construction. The twisting tower will primarily serve as the headquarters to Gazprom’s oil unit OAO Gazprom Neft, with additional spaces dedicated to a concert hall, museum, hotel and a business center. Once constructed, it will become the tallest building in Europe, and one of the most environmentally sustainable buildings in the word.

Whether you’re religious or not, this old Dominican church will certainly bring you the enlightenment you’ve been seeking. After months of renovation this magnificent structure originally constructed in 1294 has opened its doors to the public as a “brand new” bookstore in the heart of Maastricht. A superb example of adaptive re-use, the Selexyz Dominicanen infuses rich and historic architecture with plentiful shelves ripe with information.

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The real estate bubble may have burst, but we’ve found a better, more sustainable bubble to get into: The buBbLe Prototype! This inventive housing alternative is the result of a design collaboration between the office of MMAS and architect-artist Cipriano Chas. The design team aimed to develop a prototype of a non-permanent house simple enough to be transported by any means, while at the same time providing its inhabitants with basic contemporary comforts in any context.

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Officials have recently unveiled the new design for the Elbphilharmonie, the new home for the Hamburg Philharmonic to be inaugurated in 2012. The concert hall is currently being constructed in the industrial quarter of HafenCity, an area undergoing major revitalization with the conversion of hundreds of dated warehouses. As one of the more understated German cities, Hamburg is hoping the striking design by architects Herzog + de Meuron will bring the sort of landmark cultural transformation that was seen more than a decade ago in Bilbao, Spain with the opening of Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum. But such a transformation won’t come cheap, with a price tag upwards of 323 million Euros, some are asking “Is it really worth it?”

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When Atlanta based ad agency The Jones Group decided it was time to revamp their image and headquarters, they turned to designer Caryn Grossman of CG Creative Interiors to complete the task. With two early 1900’s warehouses now in her hands and limitless possibilities, the crafty designer decided it was best not to skimp on the green. Her carefully drafted program called for the application of only sustainable materials and low-impact fabrication and construction, and what resulted was a striking environment ready to stir creativity within the new office.

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Spanish designer Oscar Diaz has found a new way to rescue our Earth from discarded plastic bottles. In a series called “Found” the designer has cleverly produced a range of super-light flatware cut straight from the bottle. Each fork, knife and spoon assumes the bottles’ shapely angles and curves and feature an ergonomically designed grip that makes them as easy to pick up from the table as any other cutlery.

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We love hearing about old structures being converted into comfortable living spaces, but a water tower?! Dubbed the “House in the Clouds”, this architectural marvel was constructed 85 years ago as a water tower to serve the township of Thorpeness in Suffolk, England, but today it serves as a bed and breakfast for anyone searching for a getaway overlooking England’s low lying hills. Read on for the tower’s history, which is just as curious as the tower itself.

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Santiago Calatrava’s design for a new $24.5 million foot and bike bridge for the city of Calgary, Canada has just been unveiled. This new bridge, named the Peace Bridge, will span the Bow River and accommodate 5,000 bikers and walkers daily, allowing for swift foot-powered exit and entry into the city’s downtown. Anticipated for completion in 2010, the bridge meets the City of Calgary Council’s desire for the integration and implementation of more environmentally and health friendly transportation options for its citizens.

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Forget about Rome or Paris – why not pack a parka and check out the architecture at 78 degrees north on your next European vacation? Norway is making a mark on the architectural world with a stunning new science center in the community of Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The new Svalbard Science Center designed by architects Jarmund/Vigsnæs AS answers the challenges presented by the unforgiving arctic climate with a vibrant copper clad formation lifted up on 390 steel poles, with views to die for.

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We use it to build bridges, roads, sidewalks, and just about every structure relies on concrete for its base – wouldn’t it be wonderful if cement actually negated CO2 emissions instead of creating more? Well, now it can! Novacem, a fresh new startup company has actually concocted a cement that eats up carbon as it hardens! And with an annual production of more than 2.5 billion tons, can you imagine what kind of impact it would have if all the cement we used could do what Novacem’s green cement does?

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Hopefully most of us already have low water flow toilets installed in our homes, but what about all-in-one greywater systems? The Caroma Profile Smart Dual Flush is a 2-in-1 sink and toilet system that implements graywater recycling in a neat compact design that reduces toilet water consumption by up to 74%!

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In a perfect world we’d all be getting back to our zero energy, prefabricated homes by foot, bike or public transport, but on a planet where cars won’t be disappearing anytime soon, it’s nice to know that some car companies are trying to reduce their carbon footprint when producing new vehicles. In 2003 BMW set out a design competition for a new building and distribution center located in Munich, Germany. The results were more than grand; not only is the new BMW Welt aesthetically pleasing with its sinuous curves and gleaming façade, but it was also consciously designed to save energy in its production of cars through efficient solar heating and natural ventilation systems.

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Recently Italy’s Milano Fiera trade fair facility announced that it will soon be getting a major eco update in the form of the world’s largest solar rooftop solar array! The massive photovoltaic system will cover 2.9 million sq ft of the roof, and carry a peak capacity of 18 megawatts. Due for completion next year, the project stands to will snag the world title from Zaragoza, Spain’s General Motor’s factory, which currently holds the record for largest rooftop solar plant at 12 megawatts.

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Australia has stunning beaches, some of the best natural landscapes, fascinating wildlife, beautiful people and now the world’s greenest convention center – how is any other country supposed to compete with that? Well, it’s going to be tough because the newly designed Melbourne Convention Centerhas set a new standard for green design. Officially opened in June of this year, the center has received the highest rating to ever be bestowed upon a convention center, a 6 Star Green Star certification!

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Home renovations and upgrades typically involve painting the house, re-tiling the bathroom floor or converting the garage into a room for Grandma. But when presented with the opportunity to re-vamp an existing house in Casablanca, Chile, architects Jose Ulloa Davet and Delphine Ding didn’t shy away from taking the route of Extreme Home Makeover. As striking as the views that surround it, the two architects were able to transform a lackluster 90’s beach house into a gorgeous, angular construction overlooking the South Pacific.

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Steeped in centuries old architectural gems, Istanbul has historically been considered the ornate centerpiece of Turkey. Today, Istanbul has become a focus for investors and talented international architects alike, both hoping to take advantage of the inevitable emergence of this ancient city into a full-fledged global metropolis. One such design is Park Associati’s Regnum Tower, which caught our attention for its bioclimatic architecture, beautiful sculptural design, and the rigor to which it was planned to meet the highest standards of sustainability. And did we mention the views?

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When we first saw this living, growing Garden Chair we quickly found ourselves captivated by its whimsical nature and perfect union between pure green design and functionality. But don’t be confused. What looks like something straight out of Narnia, is in fact the product of an ingenious method of tree shaping developed by a couple of artists at Pooktre!

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The mention of log cabins usually brings to mind thoughts of Abraham Lincoln chopping wood in a flannel shirt – hardly the image of sleek modern design. So, when we heard about OLGGA Architect’s two-piece transportable log cabin – the Flake House, we knew we had to check out this eye-catching, curiosity piquing design. The exterior of the nomadic, road-ready dwelling appears for all the world like a stack of lumber that has been broken into two halves, while the interior strikes a complete contrast with smooth, sleek modern lines.

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The UN predicts that we will need 60% more food over the next 30 years in order to meet the demands of the world’s ever-growing population, and one designer has found an interesting place to look for other alternatives for growing food as agriculturally viable land becomes more and more scarce. That is, up! Skyfarm is a vertical farm designed by Gordon Graff, a student in the Master of Architecture program at the University of Waterloo. The vertically set farm for Toronto is intent on meeting the needs of a tightly packed planet in the face of a limited food supply, while removing dependence on the food transportation via energy intensive and emission heavy methods.

Taiwan recently finished construction on an incredible solar-powered stadium that will generate 100% of its electricity from photovoltaic technology! Designed by Toyo Ito, the dragon-shaped 50,000 seat arena is clad in 8,844 solar panels that illuminate the track and field with 3,300 lux. The project will officially open later this year to welcome the 2009 World Games.

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Even when the most sustainable methods of construction are employed it’s a given that whenever you build something new there will be, for better or worse, a visual impact to the landscape. Polish architecture firm KWK Promes decided to embrace that inevitability and build their design for a new home beneath a grassy mound of land. By essentially lifting the existing land and placing it on the roof, the OUTrial house maintains a subtle presence and pays service to the surrounding landscape.

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Every year millions of tourists and locals descend upon Tibet’s temples and spin the prayer wheels contained inside. If the mechanical energy generated by the movement of these spinning wheels could be harnessed, we could potentially reduce the size of our current carbon footprint and supplement an inadequate and unreliable electrical grid for numerous individuals. The Prayer Wheel Energy Generator, designed by Taikkun Yang Li does just this by transforming all of those good vibes into electricity that could be used to provide reliable energy for daily needs such as evening lighting.

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The GFRY Studio at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago presented their “2000 Watt Living” project at this year’s Milan Furniture Fair. The ultimate goal of their initiative is to reduce the average American’s daily energy consumption to 2000 watts – just one sixth of what it is today. Definitely not your typical student work, GFRY students designed objects and systems that either reduce our energy consumption or allow us to generate our own electricity. While these projects may not be hitting store shelves just yet, they do serve to further deepen the discussion of developing more sustainable habits in our daily lives. Read on for some of our favorite projects!

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