As battery manufacturers race to produce more efficient lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, some scientists are looking to make the cars themselves a power source. Researchers are currently developing a new material that can store and release electrical energy like a battery. Once perfected, scientists hope the substance will replace standard car bodies, making vehicles up to 15 percent lighter and significantly extending the range of electric vehicles.
Cork is a useful material for making a number of things — wine bottles, furniture, and cork boards, to name a few–but airplane parts? A group of Portuguese cork producers recently launched the Aerocork project, which is investigating the feasibility of replacing plastic PVC with cork in the fuselage, wings, and flaps of light aircraft. The cork-based parts could be coated in carbon fiber sheets to create a lightweight, fire-retardant material.
Solar engineers have long sought to develop an energy-generating glazing that is as capable of producing power as it is easy on the eyes. The feat may just have been accomplished by The Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE), who have developed a concentrating solar system that is not only modern and attractive but extremely efficient and cost effective. The system is made up of rows of pyramid-shaped glass receptors that move with sunlight throughout the day, magnifying the incoming light and capturing it in a small photovoltaic cell located in the center of each pyramid.
Spongy metal sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but it’s actually a real material that is capable of absorbing large impacts without damage. Metal foams have been around for some time, but new research by Dr. Afsaneh Rabiei of North Carolina State University, has revealed the strongest metal foam ever. It can compress up to 80% of its original size under loading and still retain its original shape. The applications for this type of material are too numerous to fathom, but one of the most anticipated uses for the spongy metal is in automobiles to lessen the impact of crashes and protect the driver and passengers.
What if manufacturers could poll their consumers before making a product to see if people would want to buy it? It would cut down on surplus supply and the energy and materials needed to produce and ship it. That’s what one company, Fashion4Home.com, thinks, and they’ve implemented just such a voting system on their new website which launched today! We asked Fashion4Home’s co-founder and managing director, Just Beyer, about how the company is building eco-consciousness and waste reduction right into its supply chain and got some pics of their gorgeous and modern bamboo furniture line.
We could all use a peaceful escape from the bustle and stress of our daily lives, but not many of us have the luxury or time to hop on a plane and jet off to a secluded beach or private mountain cabin. But what if we told you that a similar place existed in your own backyard for a mere one-time cost of $28? Created by Aaron Westgate, this relaxing Meditation Temple is a pile of salvaged materials transformed into a beautiful retreat for quietude and contemplation.
Israeli designer Yoav Avinoam has developed a handcrafted method for casting unique furniture from repurposed sawdust. His beautiful tables and stools juxtapose various textures and are crafted using a mixture of resin and sawdust from a variety of different woods. Because of its excellence in craftsmanship, his Shavings Table was recently honored in Designboom’s Intelligent Hand competition.
Glass isn’t usually our first choice for cleaning up household messes, but a company called Absorbent Materials thinks that a new kind of “swelling glass” – glass that swells up like a sponge – could be the key to cleaning up contaminated groundwater. Dubbed Obsorb, the material absorbs volatile molecules in water like fuel oil and solvents without sucking up the water itself.
The New California Craftsmen have begun to make a name for themselves on the Los Angeles design scene, thinking up one-of-a-kind creations made from re-purposed scraps and found materials. Collaborators since first meeting in art school years ago, James Cerasani and Justin Murphy pride themselves on their uncanny ability to design just about anything from, well… anything! From bent wood pendent lights to sculptural steel plant walls, their portfolio is chalk full of inventive and inspiring pieces.
This year The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art opened a stunning new academic building in downtown Manhattan that boasts a bevy of green building strategies. Designed by Morphosis, the project replaces the existing Hewitt Academic Building and incorporates many of the demolished building materials. We recently had the opportunity to tour and photograph the new building for a first-hand look at this revolutionary project – read on for our exclusive report!
WHAT’S NEXT IN GREEN TECH?
WHY IS GREEN SO EXPENSIVE?
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR INHABITAT?
These are the questions that you asked us back in October, as we harnessed the power of the interwebs to bring you our first live webcast where our editors discussed the future of sustainability! In case you missed it, we’re now thrilled to present you with the full discussion broken down into 5 easy-to-swallow segments for your viewing pleasure. Watch as our editors tackle some of the most pressing topics in green design – from alternative transportation to greenwashing to reducing consumerism – and invited you to tune in right from the comfort of your own computer. Check them all out after the jump!
A little-known fact is that solar panels can become up to 30 percent less effective when they accumulate dust and grime. A more widely known fact is that homeowners climbing up on roofs to fix shingles, clean gutters or wash solar panels can lead to some very unpleasant injuries. For those performing the latter, listen up: Researchers at Tel Aviv University recently discovered a new nano-material that repels dust and water. Once commercialized, the material could be applied as a sheer coating, creating self-washing windows and solar panels.
When a disaster strikes, it’s often difficult to get shelters up in time for displaced residents. Enter Concrete Canvas’s new Concrete Cloth, a durable waterproof building material made of cement sandwiched between fabric. The cloth, which won Material ConneXion’s Material of the Year 2009 award, can be molded into any shape when bonded with water — and it takes just two hours to set!
Imagine: a hurricane is barreling towards your house, but instead of hiding in the basement, you can stay safely and comfortably in your living room, all thanks to your X-Flex Blast Protection System wallpaper. It’s not a fantasy; the wallpaper, invented by Berry Plastics in a partnership with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, actually exists — and a single sheet is strong enough to stop a wrecking ball.
One of the main principles of permaculture is that “the problem is the solution.” Problem: tons of waste cups created by attendees of the OutsideLands concert in San Francisco. Solution: a fabulous recycled cup canopy. BIOS Design Collective tapped a keg and invited their friends over for a canopy party, building a gorgeous wave of concave color at Stable Cafe just in time for Architecture and the City.
Zombie chair! Out for your wood scraps! Oozing sawdust and pure carnage! Designer Hongtao Zhou, who we found playing with ice, decided to get Holiday on a broken, abandoned chair he found on the streets in Madison, Wisconsin. The result: chair of the undead, risen from the swamp and demanding the chance to sit in your living room looking creepy. Zhou created the drippy effect with …
As the winter winds begin to blow, we’d thought we say one last goodbye to the things of summer by featuring Icelandic architectural firm Glama-Kim Architects’ modern, modular, eco-friendly summerhouses situated in the Western part of Iceland, in the town of Stykkishólmur. Project architect Olafur Mathiesen led the design, which boasts spectacular views of the surrounding landscape, as well as the use of readily available materials combined with the ease of construction and simplicity of design.
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.
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?
Buildings account for thirty-eight percent of the CO2 emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Green Building Council, and demand for carbon neutral and/or zero footprint buildings is at an all-time high. Now there is a new building material that is not just carbon neutral, but is actually carbon negative. Developed by U.K.-based Lhoist Group, Tradical® Hemcrete® is a bio-composite, thermal walling material made from hemp, lime and water. What makes it carbon negative? There is more CO2 locked-up in the process of growing and harvesting of the hemp than is released in the production of the lime binder. Of course the equation is more complicated than that, but Hemcrete® is still an amazing new technology that could change the building industry.
LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!
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