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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Post tags: australia, bridge, brisbane, Cox Architects, footbridge, LED, LED lights, Solar Power, solar-powered bridge

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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Post tags: cfl, Everled, green design, incandescent, LED, light bulb, panasonic, sustainable design

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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Post tags: australia, geodesic dome, LED, Melbourne, natural ventilation, rainwater collection, rugby, Soccer, sports stadium, stadium, steel

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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Post tags: "solar energy", 2010 Shanghai Pavilion, LED, rainwater, Recycled Materials, Recycled Plastic, shanghai, shanghai pavilion, world expo, world expo 2010

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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Post tags: "wind power", "wind turbine", hybrid, lamp, LED, pv, pv solar, Solar Power, street lamp

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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Post tags: "energy efficiency", cfl, DL-L60AV LED, Japan, LED, Light, light bulb, sharp

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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Post tags: alternative energy, Architecture, energy efficient design, green design, LED, Milan Furniture Fair, renewable energy, sustainable design

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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Post tags: Crystal LED Ball, LED, LED BALL, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve Ball, Philips Lutron, sustainable lighting, Times Square

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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Post tags: 100% Design, Circa Light, energy efficient lighting, green design, LED, Lighten Up, London Design Festival, Raw Studio, ReDesign, sustainable design

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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Post tags: "Luxim", argon gas, eco lighting, energy efficient lighting, green lighting, halodes, LED, light bulb, lumen, Pill bulb, pill-sized plasma bulb, super bright light bulb, super-bulb, sustainable lighting, tiny pill light bulb plasma bulb

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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Post tags: battery powered prototypes, Chiba University, Japan, LED, Solar Power

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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Post tags: 40 Mercier, Architecture, awards, France architecture, french architecture, Institut du Monde Arabe, jean nouvel, LED, Paris, Pritzker Prize, Quai Branley Museum

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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Post tags: Clay Moulton, conceptual design, core77, Design Competition, Gravia, Gravia gravity lamp, Gravia Kinetic Lamp, Gravity Lamp, Green Lighting, Greener Gadgets, kinetic energy, Kinetic Energy Lamp, LED, New York City

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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Post tags: Ann Arbor, Cree, LED, Lumecon, Mayor John Hieftje, Michigan

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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Post tags: energy bucket, LED, Light, Renewable Energy, saving energy, Solar bucket, solar LED energy bucket, Solar Power, solar powered bucket