This week the International Living Building Institute released its new green building standard to the public at Greenbuild 2009. Version 2.0 expands on its already impressive focus to now cover social issues – any Certified Living Building must be net-zero energy, net-zero water, non-toxic, provide for habitat restoration on sister sites, and urban agriculture is mandated. The 20 imperatives, all of which must be addressed, go well beyond the simple efficiency standards that our industry seems content to comply with before calling a project ’sustainable’. Seriously, read this thing!

Read the rest of Beyond LEED: Living Building Challenge 2.0 Certification Unveiled

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "leed", Architecture, Certification, International Living Building Institute, Jason McLennan, Living Building Challenge, Social Justice, Sustainable buildings

If you were at West Coast Green this past weekend you would have surely noticed the elegant bamboo structures along the waterfront surrounded by beautiful native landscaping. What you may not have realized unless you looked closely is that the structure was actually supporting hanging gardens of marsh grass and was a way of preventing and remediating pollution from water runoff. A collaboration of The Natural Builders, Design Ecology, Floating Islands and Bertotti Landscaping, the installation was the talk of the trade show and highlight for us at Inhabitat.

Read the rest of Hanging Bamboo Gardens Make Beautiful Biofilters

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: bamboo sculpture, Bertotti Landscaping, Bioremediation, Design Ecology, Floating Islands International, storm water, The Natural Builder, waste water treatment, west coast green

While scientists work to increase the efficiency of photovoltaics, designers are striving to make them sleeker, more adaptive, and easier to install. Case in point: SRS Energy’s Solé Power Tile, a beautiful solar shingle that is designed to fit into standard Mission style roofs while generating electricity. We caught up with these ingenious modular solar panels at West Coast Green this year, where they stole the show alongside several other innovative solar designs.

Read the rest of Solé Power Tiles: Curved Solar Shingles Make Installation Easy

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Armageddon Energy, green design, renewable energy, Soalr Panels, solar tiles, SRS Energy, sustainable design, west coast green

Combining methods for urban farming with design thinking, MetaboliCity is a design-research project by Loop.pH that explores how designers can help create models for sustainable urban food creation. Set on catalyzing positive changes in the built environment, the name is derived from a vision of a city that metabolizes its resources and waste to supply its inhabitants with all the nourishment they need and more.

Read the rest of MetaboliCity Aims to Grow Sustainable Food Systems

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: city planning, food growing, London Design Week, Metabolicity, urban agriculture, Urban Farming, urban gardening

We spotted this fancy multi-tasking toilet/sink by Roca at the London Design Festival. It’s obviously compact and perfect for any loft space or small apartment, and its sleek design houses a nifty self-contained greywater system that is capable of reducing water use by up to 25% compared to a standard 6/3-litre dual flush toilet. It’s a much trendier and elegant solution to existing sink to toilet greywater systems, and we’re excited that high design has embraced waste-water management.

Read the rest of Sleek Sink/Toilet Combo is an All-in-One Greywater Recycling System

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: green design, greywater recycling system, roca, sustainable design, w+w, washbasin + watercloset, Water Issues

Recent RPI Masters of Architecture graduate Henry Miller has devised a way to reuse waste plastic as an aggregate in cement, circumventing the energy-intensive process of plastic recycling. By grinding up landfill-bound plastic and mixing it with portland cement, Miller was able to create a material just as strong as traditional concrete made with mined aggregate. The ingenious solution netted miller first place in the “Component Category” of the second annual Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World competition.

Read the rest of Plastic Concrete: Building Bricks Made From Landfill Waste

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, building materials, concrete, Henry Miller, Plastic Aggregate Concrete, Plastic Concrete, Portland Cement Association, Recycled Concrete, Recycled Materials, RPI

StrawJet, of Ashland, Oregon, has developed a unique process for the creation of structural building components from a variety of waste agricultural stalks. Essentially, they have created a machine that takes waste stalks and creates a tightly wrapped beam which can then be applied to many different facets of construction. The cables are made and wrapped without glues, resins or chemicals and are made completely from waste material. As long as we are growing food there will be straw, so why not use it creatively?

Read the rest of StrawJet Transforms Straw Waste Into Building Beams

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: CASBA, Green Building, Malawi, natural building, reuse, SOAIA, Straw Building, StrawJet, Sustainable Building, Waste Straw

Are living green buildings just around the corner? A report recently released by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers suggests that sealed containers of algae photobioreactors could be integrated into the sides of buildings to produce biofuels and sequester carbon, adding a whole new meaning to the term ‘green building’. As the algae grows it sucks up CO2 from the surrounding air which can then be stored.

Read the rest of Algae-Covered Buildings Boost Biofuel Production

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: algae buildings, algae power, Architecture, biofuels, Green Building, green design, Renewable Energy, sustainable design

In the forests of Meghalaya, India, the War-Khasis people have discovered a patient way of crossing the many rivers of their wet region. By guiding the roots of an abundant species of rubber tree, they were able to create a living system of bridges that are in some cases over one hundred feet long and can support the weight of 50 people!

Read the rest of Living Growing Root Bridges Are 100% Natural Architecture

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Designing with Nature, India, Living Root Bridges, Meghalaya, Root Bridges, Rubber Trees, The Root Bridges of Cherrapungee, Tree Bridges, War-Khasis

Grandmas make some pretty awesome things – pies, sweaters, and techinically, you. But can you say that your grandma ever made a village??? Ours certainly didn’t. Between 1956 and 1981 Tressa “Grandma” Prisbrey built Bottle Village using tens of thousands of bottles in mortar. The village is “an otherworld of shrines, wishing wells, walkways, random constructions, plus 15 life size structures all made from found objects.” The 1/3 acre lot in Simi Valley, CA is literally littered with the various structures that Ms. Prisbrey created as a hobby, constructive creative outlet and playful reminder of the joy of upcycling.  Unfortunately, a 1994 earthquake has left the village damaged and in need of repair, but recent media attention has helped bring in new visitors and a renewed interest in preserving this wonderful and unique place.

Read the rest of Grandma Made Village Out of Tens of Thousands of Bottles

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Bottle Village, Creative Re-use, Creative Reuse, LA Times, Recycled House, Simi Valley, Tressa "Grandma" Prisbrey, Ventura County

So much of the green design that we see here at Inhabitat is efficient and looks cool in renderings, but the human aspect of sustainability, and the real value of our built environment is too often a rarity. Not so in the case of this modern homeless shelter in Dallas, which recently won the AIA’s National 2009 Housing Award. Called The Bridge, the sleek shelter was designed by Overland Partners Architects in collaboration with CamargoCopeland Architects, and provides not only a visually striking addition to the neighborhood, but a safe haven for people to turn to when they have nowhere else to go. According to the press release, the shelter’s surrounding area has seen a crime reduction of 18%, which in itself is a testament to the power that design can wield when it is executed with a vision of bettering lives.

Read the rest of Bridge Homeless Shelter Cuts Neighborhood Crime by 18%

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: AIA National Housing Award, AIA/HUD Sectretary Award, CamargoCopeland Architects, ED+C, homeless shelter, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, Overland Partners Architects, Sustainable Homeless Shelter, The Bridge

Atmospheric Water Systems of San Luis Obispo has released their Dewpointe® Atmospheric Generator, a device that taps humidity in the air to provide a steady source of clean drinking water. The unit is about the same size as a standard water cooler (44.5″ tall), has on-demand hot water, is CE and WQA certified, runs quietly, and is capable of producing enough drinking water for an entire household even in desert climates (maybe)!

Read the rest of Tap the Air With an Atmospheric Water Generator!

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "energy star", Atmospheric Water Systems, DewPointe, Water cooler

Xeros Ltd. is on the verge of saving us a LOT of water. Their new washing system (prototype stage) uses nylon beads to tumble wash clothes with 90% less water than conventional washers. The machine also uses significantly less detergent and eliminates the need for tumble drying. They claim that if all the homes in the US switched to their system, the carbon offset would be like taking 5 million cars off the road and it would save 1.2 billion tons of water per year – the equivalent of 17 million swimming pools. Dang!

Read the rest of Virtually Waterless Washing Machine Cuts Water Use by 90%

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco friendly laundry, green design, stephen burkinshaw, sustainable design, university of leeds, waterless washing machine, Xeros Ltd.

Mass Studies created this wonderful dream-inspired pavilion for Denver’s Dialog:City last summer. Known as the Air Forest, the pneumatic pavilion absorbs passing wind currents to stay inflated and provides shade while allowing sunlight to filter through, creating a vibrant public space. The 1,400 square meter structure is easily transported, sets up in a snap without any building materials, and at night it lights up in a beautiful display of luminous pillars.

Read the rest of AIR FOREST: Inflatable Pavilion Lights up the Night

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Air Forest, Denver, Dialog:City, Mass Studies, Public Installations, Temporary Art

The Timberland Company, known for it’s environmental stewardship and consistent ranking as one of America’s best companies to work for by Fortune and Working Mother Magazine, has just opened a new sustainable store at 474 Broadway in NYC. The sleek interior and ample use of reclaimed wood make for an inviting and earth-friendly shopping experience.

Read the rest of Timberland Opens Eco-Friendly New York Store

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: carbon neutral business, green architecture, green design, green Interiors, reclaimed wood, sustainable design, sustainable style, timberland nyc store