Inhabitat readers might remember that we interviewed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom back in October over a live webcast that was open to any of our readers who wanted to attend. The finale of our Green Talks series of live chats with green thought-leaders, this interview touched on subjects such as mandatory composting, electric vehicle infrastructure and political leadership in CA. Our interview with Mayor Newsom was provocative and inspiring, and was a can’t-miss bit of Inhabitat journalism, if we do say so ourselves. Happily, for those of you who missed this amazing interview – we finally have the videos together of the interview in its entirety. We’ve chopped the full 35 minute transcript down into 4 shorter, themed segments for easier viewing. Enjoy!

PART ONE: The Big Picture & Mandatory Composting & Recycling

PART TWO: How to Make Your Cities (And Your Politicians) Greener

PART THREE: Renewable Energy & Electric Car Infrastructure

PART FOUR: How to Get to Carbon Neutrality in 2020

Let us know what you think in the comments below!

PS- Big shout out to the awesome band Tanlines who provided us this great audio track for our videos. You can find out more about Tanlines here >

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Post tags: California, electric cars, Gavin Newsom, green building San Francisco, green politics in california, green san francisco, high speed rail in CA, INHABITAT GREEN TALKS, inhabitat interviews, mandatory composting, mandatory recycling, renewable energy, san francisco city hall, san francisco mayor gavin newsom, solar power San Francisco, Video, youtube video

CALLING ALL SAN FRANCISCANS & those of you who want to green your cities!

We’re interviewing San Francisco mayor GAVIN NEWSOM next Wednesday the 28th at 12pm PST, and we’re inviting YOU to join us next for this live webcast conversation with the country’s greenest mayor! Join us to find out more about groundbreaking energy projects, mandatory composting, and how San Francisco got to be the greenest city in the U.S!

SIGN UP HERE TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION >

Read the rest of Join our Webcast With Mayor Gavin Newsom Next Wednesday at 12pm PST!

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Post tags: built environment, Gavin Newsom, green design, Green Talks, infrastructure, interview, public policy, sustainable design, webcast

CALLING ALL GREEN DESIGNERS!

In case you missed it – we’re doing a LIVE INTERVIEW TODAY with Tom Hicks of the USGBC, to discuss a brand new USGBC initiative to test and analyze the performance of ‘green buildings’. This is an extremely exciting BRAND NEW initiative from the USGBC, and Tom is leading the charge on establishing performance accountability for green buildings. For those of you who have ever thought to themselves: “LEED is all fine and good, but what happens to LEED-rated buildings after they are built and get their certification?” – make sure you join us in this Inhabitat Green Chat to find out more about this great new Building Performance Initiative from the USBGC.

If you want to watch the interview and participate in the chat, SIGN UP NOW to join us at 2:00pm EDT/11:00am PDT today.

SIGN UP HERE TO JOIN IN THE CONVERSATION >

Read the rest of REMINDER: Live chat with Tom Hicks of USGBC TODAY at 2pm EDT!

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Hi Inhabitat readers! I’m the founder and editor-in-chief of Inhabitat. I don’t talk a lot about myself on this website, since it isn’t a personal blog, but for those of you who are interested in finding out more about me, I’m happy to announce that the Mighty Girl blog has just posted a funny and in-depth interview of yours truly over on MightyGirl.com, as part of a Gap ad campaign. (I have to say that I love that companies like the Gap are getting so creative and interactive with their ad campaigns these days – more fun for you and me, right?)

Find out more than you probably ever wanted to know about me in this interview here >

Enjoy!

+ Born To Inhabitat Interview

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Post tags: Inhabitat Interviewed, Jill Fehrenbacher Interview, Jill Fehrenbacher interviewed on Mighty Girl, Jill Interview, Mighty Girl Interviews Inhabitat, MightyGirl

This week the highly anticipated High Line Park in NYC opened to the public for the first time. We were super excited to be on the scene for a sneak peek of the new elevated park, which was built on the remains of an abandoned rail system in New York City. Check out our video of the new High Line, with exclusive interviews with the design team including Lead Designer and Landscape Architect James Corner of James Corner Field Operations and architect Ricardo Scofidio of Diller Scofidio + Renfro who made this stunning new park possible. Enjoy!

+ High Line Park in the Sky
+ The High Line
+ James Corner Field Operations

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Post tags: diller and scofidio, high line, james corner, new york city, railroad park, sky park

We love being on hand for the Spring design shows because they offer rare up close and personal access to the designers we mostly admire from afar the rest of the year. This year, we were fortunate enough to score some face time with FUNature creator Hugh Hayden at BKLYN Designs. In between bounces in his whimsical chairs, we listened as Hayden discussed everything from the short lifespan of a tennis ball to how he sources the unconventional materials that inspired his latest collection to his plans for future designs. 

CHECK OUT THE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AT INHABITOTS>

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Post tags: Brooklyn Designs, desmond williams, funature, hugh hayden, Inhabitots, recycled tennis ball chair

It’s hard to capture all of the excitement of this year’s BKLYN Designs in words and photos alone – which is why we’re thrilled to bring you a video tour of our favorite green design picks from the show! Follow Inhabitat founder Jill Fehrenbacher and crew as they scout out hot new products and get exclusive interviews with the designers that created them. For more coverage of the stellar show, be sure to check out our BKLYN Designs Editors’ Choice Award Winners and our breaking coverage of this year’s event!

Inhabitat Reports from BKLYN Designs 2009 >

Inhabitat Editors’ Choice Awards @ BKLYN Designs >

BKLYN Designs Photo Gallery >

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Post tags: bklyn designs 2009 video, eco-friendly furniture, energy efficient lighting, green design, sustainable design, sustianable materials

In last week’s Energy 101 column, we looked at some of the home energy monitoring devices currently available and explored the ways that they can help us live more efficient, eco-conscious lives. But with smart grid technologies rapidly approaching, a new group of energy-tracking devices is emerging. We had the chance to speak with Drew Clark, Director of Strategy for IBM’s Venture Capital Group, about what the future holds for smart meter technology.

Read the rest of Energy 101 INTERVIEW: IBM’s Drew Clark on Future Smart Meters

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Post tags: ecobee, energy hub, energy smart grid, ibm, power

Just yesterday we had the chance to sit down with John Viera, Ford Motor Company’s Director of Sustainable Business Strategies, to talk about how the Big Three manufacturer is going green. Viera touched on a number of topics, but we were most interested in what he had to say about Ford’s future in plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric vehicles (EV). Read on for our exclusive interview!

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: John Viera of Ford Motor Company

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Post tags: cars, electric, ev, ford, ford escape, ford fusion, ford hybrid, ford transit connect, hybrid cars, john viera, phev

Our good friends at Dwell Magazine recently conducted an excellent interview with director Gary Hustwit (of Helvetica fame) about his upcoming film Objectified. Whether you’re an industrial designer, a design junkie, or just eagerly anticipating the coming film (we are!), their extended conversation offers an insightful look at the nature of good design, the objects we use everyday, and the current state of industrial design.

Check out the Interview at Dwell’s Blog >

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With Spring finally starting to spring, we are excited to announce that Domino Magazine has just published a feature story on our Inhabitat founder Jill Fehrenbacher. The April issue of Domino – the guide to living with style – is tinged with green as Earth Day approaches and that’s where Inhabitat founder Jill Fehrenbacher makes an appearance in the monthly My Green Life feature. Decked out in sustainable style favorites like Mika Machida and Veja, she talks about living green in NYC and her vision of the perfect way to spend April 22, 2008.

Read the rest of Jill Fehrenbacher and Inhabitat in Domino Magazine!

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Post tags: decorating, Domino Magazine, earth day, Ethical Fashion, home, jill fehrenbacher, new york city, style, Sustainable Fashion

Buildings account for almost half (48%) of all greenhouse-gas emissions annually.

This oft-repeated statistic highlights what many architects and designers have long realized: The building industry has a profound impact on the state of our environment. But is environmental awareness really making enough inroads into the curriculum of design schools, in the places where it could potentially have the most impact on the future of the industry? As a graduate student in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), I am both concerned and optimistic about the changes I see taking place in architecture academia. While environmental design isn’t nearly as entrenched as it should be into the core curriculums of design schools, students seem to be clamoring to learn more about this topic and are demanding new classes and are shaping their own academic paths. Recently I sat down with Mark Wigley, dean of Columbia’s GSAPP, to talk about the changes currently taking place within architecture schools to address the growing concern of sustainability. Read on to hear what Mark Wigley has to say about sustainable design….


Read the rest of INTERVIEW: Mark Wigley on Greening Architecture Schools

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Post tags: Columbia GSAPP, INTERVIEW: Mark Wigley On Greening of Architecture Schools, Mark Wigley Dean of Columbia Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, Mark Wigley Jill Fehrenbacher interview

At the recent West Coast Green conference in San Francisco, we were lucky enough to not only get a sneak peek of the new Michelle Kaufmann mkLotus prefab house, but also to speak with the designer herself to get the low-down on the sleekly-designed zero energy home. Check out the video to learn all the details about the energy, water, and materials packed into this compact sustainable home.

Read the rest of PREFAB FRIDAY: Michelle Kaufmann mkLotus VIDEO!

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Post tags: City Hall, eco prefab, jill fehrenbacher, Michelle Kaufman's MKLotus Green Prefab House, Michelle Kaufmann Designs, MKDesigns, MkLotus Bedroom, MkLotus Kitchen, MKLotus Resin Sliding Door, sustainable prefab, west coast green, Zero Energy Prefab

Tom Dixon, design pioneer and all around renaissance man, was one of the big hits of the recent HauteGREEN festivities, where he spoke about issues, concerns and contradictions in sustainable design, including materials, production, recycling and economics. Thanks to the video producers of Scribemedia, we have a great video of his conversation with design journalist Julie Taraska, in which he discusses his own work, sustainability, and his brilliant new Second Cycle initiative for Artek.

This video is just a quick snapshot of his thought-provoking talk. For those of you who are interested, watch the entire, unabridged version here at Scribemedia >

+ Tom Dixon @ HauteGREEN

Read the rest of VIDEO: Tom Dixon on Sustainable Design

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Post tags: artek, design pioneer, hautegreen, scribemedia, Second Cycle, sustainable design, Tom Dixon

The designer behind the One Laptop Per Child Project, Yves Behar is truly a world-class designer, balancing aesthetics, function, and socially-based initiatives. Founder and principal designer of FuseProject, he also happens to be the Chair of the Industrial Design Department at San Francisco’s California College of the Arts. Recently, he facilitated a design studio in which Industrial Design students partnered with South Korean cell phone manufacturer Pantech to design new cell-phone models, taking on the future of mobile communications and addressing the idea of emotional networking. I had a chance to speak to Yves about the studio, sustainability, and more…

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: YVES BEHAR ON SUSTAINABILITY

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Post tags: Fuseproject, Leaf Lamp, One Laptop Per Child, Yves Béhar