From junk to survival gear for the homeless

Social Earth has one of those stories that helps you to realize solutions are out there.  Industrial designer Nate Bastien is turning our so-called disposable items into backpacks and shelter for the homeless.  It's quite a story and until we can figure out how to make our goods more durable, re-use is the next best thing.

Green and white roofs, green walls, blue sky?

I posted earlier this month about the positive environmental impact white roofs and roads would have on the environment. But when will we catch up to Europe and start building green roofs and walls?

Check out WebEcoist for some beautiful examples of green walls around the world and then G-Sky, a company that designs and installs green walls, for what's being done in the U.S.

The photo in this post is from TreeHugger; here's what they say about the wall's architect:

Patrick Blanc and Le Mur Végétal

But the reigning king of the living wall is Patrick Blanc. He invented a version that he calls Le Mur Végétal, or Plant Wall, a dense sheet of vegetation that can grow against any surface, or even in midair. It works by doing away entirely with dirt, instead growing plants hydroponically in felt pockets attached to a rigid plastic backing. His most famous is at the Quai Branley Museum; Read more at A Really Green Building: Quai Branley Office Wing

Live like Bilbo Baggins

Beautiful, ecological, protected from windstorms and earthquakes, close to nature, minimal energy demand: check out these great designs from Vetsch Architektur.

Low-Tech/ Design for the other 90%

If you think the only direction technology can go in is bigger and more complicated, these two sites are really worth checking out.

Low-Tech Magazine suggests ways to accomplish our world's tasks with less, rather than more, technology.Check out this article on why Citroën cars from the fifties through the eighties are more energy-efficient than the newest models.

Design for the Other 90% describes itself:

Of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion, 5.8 billion people, or 90%, have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted; in fact, nearly half do not have regular access to food, clean water, or shelter. Design for the Other 90% explores a growing movement among designers to design low-cost solutions for this “other 90%.” Through partnerships both local and global, individuals and organizations are finding unique ways to address the basic challenges of survival and progress faced by the world’s poor and marginalized.

Check out this design for a Big Boda Load-Carrying Bicycle-- capable of carrying hundreds of pounds or two additional passengers.

Could you live in a shepherd's hut?

Do you know the small house movement? Plankridge takes commissions to build them.

Springfield: does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?

Last week two events of some significance were held in Springfield, MA, a "Developers' Conference" and a seminar on green space development and preservation.

The developers' conference took 110 developers on a tour of Springfield to look at potential sites such as the old York St. Jail site on Columbus Ave and the Smith and Wesson Industrial Park. Given the economic times, Mayor Sarno's plan to proactively recruit developers is a good effort.

The Green Space conference (which cost $35) was a follow-up on Springfield's ranking among the best green cities in the U.S. last year by Country Home magazine. This ranking, by the way, does not mean the city has a top-ranked environmental policy-- only that we are blessed with much green space and waterways and we have managed to preserve them to a high degree-- no small potatoes in this day and age.

That said, no developer was told that their project would receive priority if it included elements of green design.

What makes a building green? California's Integrated Waste Management Board defines it this way:

• A green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.

What are a few of the elements of green design?

• Takes advantage of mass transit, protects the existing landscaping and natural features, uses recycled materials.
• Uses natural lighting strategies, uses an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, uses light-colored roofing.
• Uses designs that promote recycling, uses low-flush toilets and designs state-of-the-art irrigation controls.

There's much more, of course, that can be done. But as long as Springfield lacks an integrated approach to development, as long as the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, we will continue to miss important opportunities to become more energy-independent and to make a significant contribution to the quality of our environment.

Photo by Bill Weye