Inhabitat

World’s Largest Solar-Powered Footbridge Opens in Brisbane

by Bridgette Meinhold, 10/05/09

bridge, footbridge, brisbane, australia, solar power, solar-powered bridge, LED, LED lights, Cox Architects

On Sunday, the world’s largest solar powered footbridge was opened to the public in Brisbane’s Central Business District. About 36,500 people are expected to use the new Kurilpa Bridge each week to walk or bike across the Brisbane River between the CBD and the arts precinct at South Bank. The bridge, which has been described as looking like knitting needles, is not only one of the longest footbridges, but also features a sophisticated LED lighting scheme that is powered by the sun and can produce a number of different lighting effects.


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Panasonic’s New LED Bulbs Shine for 19 Years

by Ariel Schwartz, 09/15/09

sustainable design, green design, energy efficient lighting, everled, led, bulb, panasonic

Despite lasting longer and being more efficient than both incandescent and CFL bulbs, LEDs haven’t caught on because of their sky-high prices. But now Panasonic wants to bring LEDs to the mainstream — at least in Japan — with a 60-watt household bulb that the company claims can last up to 19 years, or 40 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

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Bubbletecture Stadium Popping Up in Melbourne

by Bridgette Meinhold, 09/08/09

melbourne rectangular stadium, melbourne, australia, sports stadium, stadium, geodesic dome, LED, rainwater collection

A bubbly new soccer and rugby stadium is popping up in Melbourne that will feature a highly engineered exterior structure combined with many sustainable features. Designed by Cox Architects, the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium is a marvel of architecture and engineering with it’s bubble-like facade inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome. Construction is fully underway, allowing a glimpse into how the cantilevered structure is being put together.


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Solar Shanghai Pavilion Made From Used CD Cases

by Bridgette Meinhold, 09/02/09

shangai, shanghai pavilion, world expo, world expo 2010, recycled materials, recycled plastic, LED, solar energy, rainwater

Preparations for the Shanghai World Expo 2010 are heating up and many countries are getting in on the action by designing structures for the space. We couldn’t help but be dazzled by the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion by Atelier Feichang Jianzhu, but we were even more impressed to learn that the fascinating building is composed of thousands of plastic tubes made from used CD cases! Read on to find out what other green features the pavilion is incorporating besides the extensive use of recycled materials.


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Sleek Solar and Wind Powered Hybrid Street Lamps

Sleek Solar and Wind Powered Hybrid Street Lamps

As designers strive to create a more sustainable future, we’re thrilled to see designs that integrate a variety of renewable energy technologies into objects we encounter in everyday life. This innovative hybrid wind and solar powered street lamp is just such a solution – not only does it use renewable energy to provide light, it’s a stylish update to an everyday object that is capable of operating completely off-grid. The hybrid streetlamps consist of a solar array topped with a wind turbine, and they are capable of generating up to 380 W of power.


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Remote-Controlled LED Light Bulbs Offer 7 Shades of White

Remote-Controlled LED Light Bulbs Offer 7 Shades of White

Energy-efficient LED light bulbs may be more expensive than CFL’s, but Sharp’s new DL-L60AV LED could be worth the high cost. The tricked-out bulb comes with a remote control that features a dimming function as well as the ability to select seven different shades of white… so your guests can never complain that they don’t like the ambiance.


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Milan 2009: Interni Design Energies

Milan 2009: Interni Design Energies

The Interni Design Energies exhibition at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair doesn’t open at twilight for no reason. Indeed the exhibition, which features renewable energy–themed installations from designers and planners around the world, reveals its mysterious beauty only at night; it’s an intelligent and inventive commentary on energy and resource efficiency. Located in the buildings and gardens of the majestic Università Degli Studi, the show offers visitors a moment of pure magic!

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Times Square Unveils A Dazzling LED New Year’s Ball

Times Square Unveils A Dazzling LED New Year’s Ball

This New Year’s Eve Times Square in New York is set to debut a dazzling new LED-encrusted New Year’s ball! Composed of 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs, the 12-foot wide energy-efficient orb weighs in at 11,875 pounds, making it twice the size of any ball previously dropped overhead in Time Square. A marriage of tradition and new technology, the stunning new sphere will be ringing in the 100th anniversary of the New Year’s Eve ball.


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London Design Festival: LIGHTEN UP by [re]design

London Design Festival: LIGHTEN UP by [re]design

One of the highlights from this year’s London Design Festival was LIGHTEN UP, an illuminated exhibition that featured 64 innovative lighting solutions from UK designers. Presented by [re]design at this year’s 100% Design, the event focused upon “Looking beyond the bulb” and showcased a variety of ways that “sustainability is driving the evolution of new technologies, aesthetics, materials, and interactions”. Read on for a selection of our favorite designs!


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Tiny Pill-Sized Plasma Bulb is Brighter Than Streetlight

Tiny Pill-Sized Plasma Bulb is Brighter Than Streetlight

Luxim labs recently unveiled an incredibly energy efficient light bulb that packs more luminosity than a street lamp into a pill-sized form factor. Each bulb is filled with argon gas, which turns to plasma when electricity is focused through it. The energy is driven to the bulb without electrodes. The resulting light is intensely bright and mirrors the quality of light radiated by the sun, yet is produced by one of the smallest, most energy efficient light sources we’ve seen.


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WIND-LIT SOLAR LEDs: Powered by the sun, moved by the wind

WIND-LIT SOLAR LEDs: Powered by the sun, moved by the wind

Imagine your next summer backyard party: the sun has just gone down, the music is playing, and, as the breeze picks up, the lights come on from a string of solar powered, wind-lit LED lights. This innovative design for enchanting outdoor lighting is from Yoshihiro Shimomura, a circuit designer design lecturer at Chiba University in Japan. Shimomura first used battery powered prototypes for his wind-lit creations but has since upgraded to tap into the sun’s energy to light up summer nights.


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Jean Nouvel Wins the 2008 Pritzker Prize

Jean Nouvel Wins the 2008 Pritzker Prize

Groundreaking architect Jean Nouvel has inspired and influenced international architecture (and many of us here at Inhabitat) for over three decades with creative interpretations of culture, location, program and client that have resulted in some of the world’s most unforgettable structures. In recognition of his abundant career and persistent imagination, he has been chosen as the 2008 Pritzker Architecture Laureate, the world’s highest architecture honor.


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GRAVIA: Gravity Based Kinetic Energy Lamp

GRAVIA: Gravity Based Kinetic Energy Lamp

Gravia, a gravity based kinetic energy lamp concept, wowed our panel judges and the crowd at the Greener Gadgets Conference, earning a second place accolade in the design competition. Created by Clay Moulton, Gravia evokes the lines of a classic timepiece in a modern aesthetic and uses human powered kinetic energy to light an ambient LED floorlamp. It’s a fantastic concept – but one that has stirred up some debate across the blogosphere recently in regards to whether or not it is possible to build such a lamp right now with the technology that exists today.


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Ann Arbor Lighting Up With 100% LEDs!

Ann Arbor Lighting Up With 100% LEDs!

We haven’t been giving Ann Arbor, Michigan enough attention and the city deserves it! Last year Ann Arbor joined forces with LED manufacturer Cree, Inc, on an ever-expanding citywide LED initiative to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With a recent retrofit contract signed with Lumecon, Ann Arbor is on its way to being the first U.S. city to light up its downtown with 100% LED technology!


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Solar-powered ‘Energy Bucket’ collects sunshine

Solar-powered ‘Energy Bucket’ collects sunshine

Wouldn’t it be great if you could store just a little bit of sunlight for a rainy day? That’s what designer Stefano Merlo thougt, and while actually storing sunlight might just be a bit too difficult, his solar-powered Energy Bucket, might just be the next best thing.


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POWERSEED: Sustainable Solar Plant Art Installation

POWERSEED: Sustainable Solar Plant Art Installation

When the City of Pasadena wanted to bring some beauty to an electric power plant in a somewhat overlooked neighborhood, little did it realize that the design idea would grow into a completely sustainable solution that would enhance the area, increase safety and security and quite frankly, look fantastic! Developed by UeBERSEE, the botanically-inspired PowerSEED art installation involves flower-like stalks of solar powered lights sprouting up throughout different areas of site. It’s not until you see the images that you’ll understand why this gorgeously simply installation was nominated as a finalist in the 2007 Index Award and the Metropolis Magazine Next Generation Awards.


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EVERLED: LED-Based Fluorescent Bulbs

EVERLED: LED-Based Fluorescent Bulbs

Fluorescent tubes are a mainstay of commercial interior design. They use less energy that your standard incandescent lightbulb, and are relatively simple and cheap to install. But despite their efficiency, they are also incredibly toxic, full of heavy metals such as mercury and lead. So it’s great to see a product such as the EverLED TR that brings all the advantages of traditional fluorescent lighting and integrates non-toxic, very sustainable LED technology.

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WOODEN LED CLOCK

WOODEN LED CLOCK

Minimalist wood block + high-tech LEDs = one fabulous combination. We love the simplicity of this Japanese clock design: when the clock is turned off it resembles little more than a wood block. When turned on, the LED numbers shine through the wood, transforming the simple block into a seventies-style alarm clock (oversized numbers and all).


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LIGHT EMITTING TILES

LIGHT EMITTING TILES

SolarCap Light Emitting Tiles are complete, self-contained illuminating devices designed to be integrated into a variety of paving or masonry applications. Well suited for exterior use, they can add both day and nighttime color to patios, walkways, and other outdoor surfaces without additional wiring.


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PHILIPS LED BULBS

PHILIPS LED BULBS

LED technology is often heralded as the future of lighting – and for good reason. LEDs are easy to produce, generate very little heat, and are super energy efficient, using only one-eighth of the power of traditional bulbs and less than half that of fluorescent lights. Now our favorite avant-electronics company, Philips, has come out with some stunning new designs for interactive LED lightbulbs.

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MOOD LIGHTING WITH LEDS

MOOD LIGHTING WITH LEDS

Quite similar to the

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LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!