Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published August 23, 2010 and has No Comments
Georgian London, with green squares everywhere April recently wrote Bike-Happy, Ped-Friendly Cities Less Obese , but how do they get that way? George Monbiot writes that "We are, to a surprising extent, what the built environment makes us," quoting a series of studies which show trees make us more social, quiet areas are friendlier and vegetation reduces crime. He ...
Read more...published August 20, 2010 and has No Comments
Long Studio. All images by Saunders Architecture We have been watching the career of Todd Saunders with interest; two years ago we called the Canadian expat living in Norway the Best of Green Young Architect . He has just completed this stunning artist's studio on Fogo Islan... Read the full story on TreeHugger Read more here: The Arts Take Root ...
Read more...published August 18, 2010 and has No Comments
One of the problems of modern prefab is to find a balance between the efficiency of standard plans and the flexibility of customization. Michelle Kaufmann gives us an exclusive preview of a new concept, where you mix and match different, but standard, boxes. To use a clothing analogy, most modern prefab designs were never really "off the rack" but ...
Read more...published August 16, 2010 and has No Comments
Images via owners' website Most Passivhaus or Passive House designs we have shown on TreeHugger have tended to be modern, but Sarah Evans and Stuart Rue tell Green Building Advisor that "We wanted our house to fit in with the surrounding neighbourhood." At Jetson Green, a commenter make... Read the full story on TreeHugger Originally posted here: "Traditional" Design Meets ...
Read more...published August 12, 2010 and has No Comments
images via Designboom eOffice notes that Japan's famous capsule hotels "are traditionally grimy, and primarily intended as expedient sleeping solutions for drunk salarymen who have missed the last train home." But they were models of space efficiency, providing the guest with just enough room to serve their function, providing a place to sleep. Now a new capsule hotel has ...
Read more...published August 7, 2010 and has No Comments
Though it may seem like a no-brainer to some, incorporating and encouraging biodiversity-friendliness in newer sustainable buildings is a must. With major declines observed in bee , bat, bird and other critical species, it makes sense that newer built environments now being designed with zero- or low-carbon status in mind should also integrate ways to boost wildlife diversity as ...
Read more...published August 6, 2010 and has No Comments
To assemble its A-List of the world's best buildings, Vanity Fair magazine called on the elites of the architecture world to pick their favorite structures. Shocked at the distinct absence of green buildings, architect Lance Hosey immediately set out to create his own G-List , tapping the leaders in the sustainable design community. Lance discusses what he found, as ...
Read more...published July 29, 2010 and has No Comments
Adam Joseph Lewis Center, William McDonough + Partners Voted Greenest Building since 1980 When covering Vanity Fair's World Architecture Survey I asked "Where's The Green?" and wrote that there was a "profound disconnect between the architecture shown and the problems that architects have to solve today." Lance Hosey, formerly a partner at William McDonough+ Partners and now a writer ...
Read more...published July 27, 2010 and has No Comments
So many of the green houses we see are either single family dwellings or larger projects by developers chasing LEED. But there are some lovely little projects being built around the world that both push all the green buttons and look gorgeous, like The Gebhartstrasse Apartment located in Liebefeld Switzerland by Halle 58 Architects. , Found on the Contemporist. ...
Read more...published July 26, 2010 and has No Comments
All images by FG+SG Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra, via Archdaily It is hard to call a big expensive second home in the country green. On the other hand, sometimes they are just so stunning and have so many great design ideas in them that you just can't help but post it. Young Madrid firm MYCC has done exactly that ...
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This hand operated gramophone is as simple as it gets. Original post: Minimalist Gramophone Makes Playing Music Super Simple
Contrary to previously held notions of how whale songs are shared between neighboring populations, a surprising study finds that whales living the same ocean basin are singing different songs. Read the original post: Study: Humpback Whales Living in Same Ocean ...
