The Architectural Foundation of Los Angeles recently announced the winners of the Design Green awards at a recent ceremony hosted by the AIA/LA to recognize outstanding work built or conceived by Los Angeles architects. Citation, Merit, and Honor Awards were given to six projects that ranged in size from residential to corporate, non-profit to civic and educational, with Honor being the highest award. From the diversity of the projects, it’s clear to see that California architects do more than just design green. With each year and innovation, they elevate green, exceeding our expectations of what a green project should be.

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", architectural foundation of los angeles, design green awards, Green Building, lost angeles

As summer hits its stride many might be opting for the stay-cation this year, but for those adventurous green travelers headed out into the world to do some eco-exploring, we’ve rounded up our top picks for the best eco-hotels and hostels around the world! From high-flying airplane hostels to tranquil eco-lodges to stunning hotels made from reclaimed industrial materials, there’s a world of incredible eco-accomodations out there – read on for our top 5 picks. Happy Travels!

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Post tags: eco hotel, Green Building, green design, hostel, sustainable design, sustainable tourism, sustainable travel

Did you know you can power a clock with dirt? Dutch designer Marieke Staps has figured out a way to grow time, instead of killing it. Her soil-powered bio-clock (is that like a biological clock?), showcased at Dutch Design Week in 2008 and most recently at Dwell on Design’s Kitchen Ecology Show last week, keeps time by plugging into mud!

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Post tags: dwell on design 2009, eco-friendly kitchen products, Green Home decor, green kitchen design, home goods, kitchen design, kitchen ecology, marieke staps, potted herbs, potted plants, soil clock, soil-powered clock

Pre-built homemakers extraordinaire, Marmol Radziner Prefab were in the news this week once again introducing their newest custom prefab home. High up in the hills above Los Angeles sits the new Hollywood Hybrid, a 2576 sq. ft. sustainable, modern prefab home with killer views and a minimal carbon footprint. Inhabitat went up to the site where the home was being built for a peek.

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Post tags: "prefabricated housing", dwell home collection, hollywood, hollywood hybrid, Los Angeles, marmol radziner, Prefab Housing

Inhabitat is happy to report that Dwell on Design, the west coast’s largest modern design event, featured more smart green design than ever before this year. When we walked the floor yesterday with Dwell Publisher and President Michela O’Connor Abrams (and the carpenter and designer from HGTV’s Carter Can show), it was clear to see that the majority of the companies showcasing their products and services at the three-day festival are paying a great deal more attention to sustainability than in the past. We guestimate that about 80% of the companies there were promoting some kind of green story – in a varying shades, of course. Read on for our highlights from the show!

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Post tags: dwell on design, green design, hgtv, modern design, sustainable design

Inhabitat loves shipping containers, whether from down under or the Great North. These self-contained quadrilateral wonders are the perfect modular building unit; easily transported, super durable, and, with over 700,000 containers being abandoned per year in U.S. ports, in need dire need of being re-purposed. That’s why we are happy to see IC Green, another innovator in the field of shipping container architecture. Check out their line of modest but sustainable and stylish container dwellings as they sprout up all over Southern California, including this weekend at Dwell on Design!

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", dwell on design, green design, ic green, Recycled Materials, shipping container home, sustainable design

It’s no secret that we dig Sustain miniHomes. Inhabitat has always appreciated their sustainable spin on the mobile home and have eaten up their eye candy since the beginning. But on this fabulous prefab Friday, we have some even more exciting news to report!  The Toronto-based builders are coming to Los Angeles to debut their California edition — the first of the 12 WIDE series designed with special consideration for passive cooling and ventilation in a range of California climates.

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Post tags: dwell on design 2009, dwell on design conference, eco home, eco house, eco residence, Green Building, green home, green housing, green residence, prefab architecture, prefab design, Prefab Housing, sustain minihome, Sustainable Building

Dwell on Design is back in Los Angeles this month, showcasing an incredible array of modern design from June 26-28. Now in its sophomore year at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the three-day design festival brings together the best and brightest from the design industry to offer visitors “real live modern design” in the form of an expansive exhibition, design conference, home tours and special events. For fans of all things sustainable, we’ve scoured the schedule to find the show’s green highlights. It looks like there will be a lot to check out, and there are of course a few familiar Inhabitat faces in the line up.

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Post tags: conference, dwell home tours, dwell magazine, dwell on design 2009, Exhibition, industrial design, Los Angeles, modern green design, sustainable design

As the air warms on Bainbridge Island, construction on the Ellis Residence continues to bring this state-of-the-art sustainable home even closer to its expected LEED Platinum rating. Designed by Coates Design, the Ellis Residence will be the first single-family residence in the Western Puget Sound region to attain this level of environmental building achievement.

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Post tags: bainbridge island architecture, green homes, green residence, leed certified residence, leed housing, low environmental impact housing, pacific northwest architecture, seattle architecture, seattle housing, seattle residence

The very heart of Singapore beats green, thanks to the new design for the National Heart Center conceived by Ong & Ong with medical planning and interior consultation by multinational firm Broadway Malyan. The ambitious 35,299 square-meter building at the center of Singapore General Hospital’s Outram Campus redevelopment plan will hopefully score high green marks with its unique design that places people first. Recognizing that the medical world advances quite quickly, the design incorporates modular building methods to ensure that the structure of the building remains flexible and adaptable both internally and externally, easily and efficiently allowing for future growth.

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", broadway malyan, Daylighting, Green Building, green design, singapore heart center, sustainable design

Award-winning international architects Zaha Hadid and Ben van Berkel recently unveiled their designs for two eco-pavilions that will be the centerpieces of Burnham Plan Centennial celebrations this summer in Chicago. Both pavilions emphasize the importance of boldly imagining a better future for all, as Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett did in 1909 in their Plan of Chicago. So how can something that is disposable and temporary really be sustainable? Inhabitat wondered the same thing. So we called the organizers and they were more than happy to explain.

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", ben van berkel, chicago, eco building, eco pavilion, Green Building, green design, recycleable materials, zaha hadid

San Francisco’s James Sampayan offers up a bright idea for the Spring Greening DIY Contest that combines old and new to create a lovely pendant lamp that gives the lowly light bulb a second life during which to “live long and prosper.” James’ design snaps ten standard bulbs between two acrylic plates along with a single CFL bulb that illuminates the rest. Simply crafted using bulbs, scrap acrylic, and miscellaneous Ace Hardware bits and bobs, this pendant is functional and economical. If you’re a fan of this design, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SPRING GREENING DESIGN >

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Post tags: diy design contest, found design, green design, household reuse, industrial design, inhabitat spring greening diy design contest, james sampayan, Light Bulb Lamp, Recycled Materials, refurbished furniture, sustainable design

The beauty of design lies in finding expression in restriction. When Slovenian firm Ofis Arhitekti was commissioned to design a holiday home for their client but tasked with doing so without exceeding the pre-approved 6×11 meter footprint, the design team did exactly that. The result is an inspired and deceivingly spacious, sustainable reinterpretation of an Alpine classic.

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Post tags: energy efficient architecture, Green Building, green design, ofis alpine chalet, ofis arhitekti, passive design, stara fuzina chalet, sustainable design

As the WWF’s Earth Hour sweeps the planet this year, Los Angeles is stepping up to do its part (which it most definitely didn’t do last year).  Besides turning off the lights at several iconic city sites and urging citizens to do the same, the Earth Hour LA team is inviting crews of urban guerillas to help spread the good, green word before 8:30 P.M. on Saturday, March 28th.

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Post tags: Climate Change, climate change activism, earth hour, earth hour 2009, earth hour los angeles, environmental activism, global warming

Zagreb-based 3HLD has just won an international closed competition to design a new private medical center in the seaside town of Split, Croatia. With the keen eye of design surgeons, 3HLD has taken what we think of as the typical monolithic medical structure, incised key exterior sections, implanted the voids with green gardens, and finished by wrapping the entire building in bandages of protective sunscreen. The result? A light and airy medical facility that patients may actually enjoy visiting.

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", 3hld architects, brise soleil, daylight, energy efficient architecture, Green Building, green design, green medical center, natural light, split croatia, sun screen