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Innovative Design
Bright Farms Hydroponic Farming
Have you heard about hydroponic greenhouses? In case you haven't, you can learn about it on Wikipedia - Hydroponics . I am such a traditional gardener, and enjoy so much produce that has been grown in organic soil, either from my own garden or bought at the farmer's market. I am intrigued by the hydroponic alternative, because of the space it saves and how wonderful it is for people who don't have gardens. I recently read about Brightfarms in the newhope360.com newsletter. Brightfarms has a plan to provide locally grown food year round by building hydroponic greenhouses on the rooftops of grocery stores. Brightfarms was originally a non-profit consultancy that helped build greenhouses on the roofs of schools and the success of those ventures inspired their vision to grow and connect with grocery stores in the New York area. Imagine having the choice to buy affordable and fresh produce, grown for taste and rather than shelf life, arriving on grocery store shelves within 24 hours of being harvested, instead of having traveled the 1000 miles it takes most fruits and vegetables to reach stores.
Read all about their innovative business model on the Bright Farms Website.
Bercy Chen Studio's Vertical Mixed-Use Project
In Austin, Texas, Bercy Chen Studio designed an attractive and fabulous Vertical Mixed-Use project in the East village. It's lo-tech but super sustainable with 11 retail stores, offices, 20 residential apartments, and 2 rooftop gardens planted with indigenous plants and a rainwater collection system. They used the most efficient building materials, and construction waste was recycled. The south and western facades boast very cool looking orange colored photovoltaic panels. Indoors, the walls are thoroughly insulated to reduce energy use, and no VOC paints were used. Sustainably designed buildings cost less to operate and have excellent energy performance, and the occupants of these buildings are happier living in them then typical commercial buildings.
Innovative Design - December 2011
Green Living Wall at a London tube station
This sort of news thrills me to no end. The cities around the world are so polluted, so to read about how the gorgeous city of London has introduced a system to reduce pollution from traffic emissions is truly inspiring and very encouraging.
A Living Wall is installed on the side of a building, where it is completely covered by evergreen and perennial plants. The wall is fully irrigated, maintaining the plants that are specially selected to survive an urban environment. The purpose of the plants is to trap dirt particles, reduce traffic noise, and provide shelter for wildlife. All of this has a positive impact on the local community by making them feel pride for their area. Living Walls are truly wonderful.
Innovative Design - November 2011
GreenPod
Imagine a company that designs affordable, attractive, energy saving, solar paneled, gray-water system, sustainable homes, where the materials are sourced within a radius of 200 miles of the job site, employing local artisans, encouraging local industry and bringing money into their town. GreenPod, based in Port Townsend, Washington, is that company. Founder Ann Raab has a vision and a commitment to the local community that is truly inspiring.
Click here to read more about GreenPod Intelligent Environments.
Innovative Design - October 2011
Fireclaytile is the sort of company that really appeals to me for several reasons: First, they haul away and recycle discarded products such as toilets, secondly they turn them into something else, which are tiles, thirdly, they use traditional methods to make the tiles and lastly, they are manufacturing these tiles in the USA. I am so thrilled when I come across a business that is trying to come up with ways to reduce the enormous amount of trash that we produce by turning that trash into something useful. Fireclaytile is a California based company and you can see their handiwork from the Monterey Bay Aquarium to the San Francisco zoo.
Imagine if more and more companies came up with ingenious ways to recycle and repurpose all the waste that is accumulating in the massive landfills...
Innovative Design - September 2011
Thinking outside of the 'concrete' box:
Students from Rutgers University have designed a house that will not generate utility bills but renewable energy instead, courtesy of the power of the sun. "Solar and thermal technology is integrated into every exposed surface of the house, which produces enough energy to power all of its appliances and keep the place cool during summers and warm during winters."
Personally, I am excited about new ideas on how to build houses that are 100% energy efficient, but I also want to know how you can achieve that without losing the soul and charm of a house? My ideal home is one that is 100% energy efficient and self sustainable, but also attractive! Possible? I hope so.
Read more about the NJIT and Rutgers University
in.gredients
In.gredients is about to revolutionize the way we shop for groceries. In late fall, In.gredients is opening the first Zero Packaging grocery store in Austin, Texas. Since nearly all the food we buy is packaged and 40% of that same packaging ends up in our municipal waste, this was enough to motivate the founders of In.gredients to come up with a sustainable alternative. So get your market bags, baskets and resuable containers ready to buy locally grown produce and more!
Zero Impact Packaging
Zero Impact Packaging is the future of consumer packaging! They carry a line of Food packaging products that are plant-based 100% biodegradable bio-plastic and paper made from recycled matter and tree pulp from sustainable forests. Surely it's much better to use natural products than the rotten ones we keep on hearing gloomy news about.
The more we all support companies like Zero Impact Packaging, the faster change will happen to better our lives and the ones we love, and remember, we can change the world by what we buy.
Design for a Greener Future: June 2011
The Nature Conservancy Partners with Fishermen
As a result of the rapidly declining fish populations around the world, it is more urgent than ever to come up with an innovative strategy to sustain the ocean's bounty. Recently, I read about The Nature Conservancy's partnership with fishermen in Port Clyde, an area that I have visited many times on the beautiful coast of Maine. Together, they are testing several kinds of fishing nets that have larger openings, making it possible to release more of the smaller, juvenile fish and unintended species safely into the ocean. The goal is to restore the health of fish populations, by eliminating the bycatch of unmarketable fish.
"Take less, leave more in the ocean, ensuring that more fish will spawn the following year."
To read more at the Nature Conservancy's Website.
Catapult Design
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Last May 2010, I wrote about a company called Catapult Design: "Since the majority of the world's population lacks access to life's basic needs, Catapult Design, a humanitarian design firm, develops and implements human-centered products to help them thrive. For instance, the wind turbine pictured here provides enough energy to power a car battery, which would give families without access to electricity a safe way to light their homes, cook food and make contact with those around them." I revisited their site recently and they have grown since last year and are involved with many other wonderful innovative projects from field-testing prototypes of handcarts in Tanzania to harvesting rainwater or building solar powered health clinics. To learn more, please go to their site: catapultdesign.org |
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