GE Announces Ecomagination Challenge Winners
by: Eco Geek Latest, 2010-11-17 19:10:15 UTC
GE's 10-week Ecomagination Challenge received nearly 4,000 ideas from more than 150 countries. The winners include companies making smart cooling and heating systems, energy management software, EV charging systems, high-tech climate-control windows and more. For the complete list of winners and GE's descriptions of their technologies, keep reading.
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Simple, Concealed Solar Roof Water Heating
by: Eco Geek Latest, 2010-11-18 16:14:34 UTC
Water heating can be responsible for nearly 20% of a home's energy usage. Directly heating water with the sun's energy is far more efficient than making electricity with solar panels and then using electricity to heat the water. But the appearance of rooftop water heating panels can be a drawback for some homeowners. A new option is the Greenward ridge vent from Energy Alternatives, which uses the entire roof as a heat collector (something that your roof is already doing).
The idea of using the roof as a solar heat collector is not a new one. But the way Greenward does it makes it far easier to install and still get a significant benefit. Instead of having to thread tubes back and forth throughout the entire roof, the Greenward tubes are installed just at the ridge, which should be the warmest part of the roof due to the natural ventilation.
Since the Greenward ridge vent is like other ridge vents, where the final exterior appearance depends on using the same shingles as the rest of the roof, it isn't limited to a particular look. And, because the Greenward ridge vent is only installed along the ridge of the roof, it makes it an easy candidate for retrofit installations on existing homes.
Heated water from the ridge goes through a heat exchanger to store hot water in a tank. It can then be drawn directly into the hot water tank, as pre-heated water that needs much less energy before it is used or as completely heated water. For cold climate installations, the Greenward ridge vent should be filled with a water/glycol mix to prevent freezing damage.
Solar water heating generally offers one of the fastest payback periods of any green home improvement project. This should help make it much easier to incorporate an easy, efficient system into many more homes.
link: Energy Alternatives
via: Treehugger
Cheap Carbon Cloth Can Zap Toxins, Kill Bacteria
by: Gadget Lab, 2010-11-17 12:29:19 UTC
Activated carbon cloth, originally designed as clothing to protect soldiers from chemical weapons, turns out to be really, really good at cleaning things. The fabric can filter and destroy toxins, even when only very small amounts are present.
Activated carbon is used in all kinds of places, from the filter in your water-jug to a gas mask. It works by a process called adsorption, in which tiny particles are attracted to its surface where they stick. Think of the little polystyrene beads that stick to your hands when you refill your beanbag and you get the idea (only using weak Van der Waals forces instead of static electricity). Because activated carbon has such a huge surface are (1 gram has an area of more than 500 m2, or one tenth of a “football” field, according to Wikipedia), it can adsorb a lot of crap.
In cloth form, it can actually destroy pollutants. Researchers at the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland found that the material “can be used to create extremely reactive chemicals called hydroxyl radicals. These are so unstable they instantly react with any pollutants, even at tiny concentrations of just a few parts per million.”
Sadly, you won’t be using this wonder-cloth to magically mop up kitchen spills, leaving surfaces shining and germ-free. The real world uses are far more important. The cloth could be used to filter water and remove even tiny concentrations nasty contaminants, or as a wound-dressing which actually zaps germs, or even to clean water of antibiotics before it enters the sewage system and screws with everyone’s immune system.
I’m hoping for some cloth made from this amazing fabric so I can fashion some self-cleaning underwear. My apartment has no heating, and at this time of year showering and changing clothes seems rather tiresome. A pair of shorts that could scrub me clean as I blog from my bed would be the best Christmas present a nerd could wish for (hint to future manufacturers: put a Star Trek insignia on them and you’ll be the richest man person on the planet).
Phenomenal Fabric – how can a cloth clean up toxic waste? [University of Abertay via Ecouterre]
See Also:
Contest: Make a Toy-Repair Manual and Win a Tool Kit
by: Gadget Lab, 2010-11-17 18:23:20 UTC
Instead of buying the kids in your life some cheap plastic junk this holiday, why not make them something awesome?
Better yet, take a classic toy, fix it up, and give it a bad-ass custom paint job. What six-year-old wouldn’t want a working Easy-Bake oven with orange flames and racing stripes? Or a pink, Barbie-themed Tonka truck? Beats the pants off this all-plastic Squinkies Cupcake Surprize Bake Shop that doesn’t actually bake anything.
To help you refurbish those old toys, open-source gadget manual site iFixit is recruiting people to create toy repair manuals. And they’re doing it with a contest. Write a toy-repair manual, and you could win a prize from iFixit.
It’s similar to the teardown contest iFixit and Gadget Lab cosponsored last year. And like last year’s contest, Gadget Lab staff will help judge the winners of this contest.
The contest begins today and runs through December 12.
Ifixit’s goal is to build a useful repair manual for each of 40 classic toys, from the Atari 2600 and Barbie doll to the View-Master and yo-yo. But if you have another toy you’d like to write up, go for it.
The prizes include a few cool tool kits for cracking open and fixing consumer electronics, and they’ll be awarded to the three individuals who contribute the most to the toy repair manual overall.
Here are the rules in summary:
- Take apart a toy.
- Post photos of the repair process using iFixit’s guide editor.
- Add the tag ‘fixatoy’ to your guide.
- The teardowns will be judged by the entire iFixit staff (during our annual Christmas party), with some help from Gadget Lab staff.
- Contest ends Sunday, December 11 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
Check these links for more information:
iFixit Toy Repair Manual Contest Announcement
How to write a repair guide on iFixit
Photo courtesy iFixit
Expert: Next Congress may slow green job growth
by: Gizmodo , 2010-11-17 00:46:22 UTC
Republican gains will likely curtail spending on green construction projects, but sector promises to be source of job growth for an economy that sorely needs it, advocates say.
iF Concept Design Extends Submission Date, New 5,000 Euro Prize Added!
by: Yanko Design, 2010-11-16 12:54:02 UTC
Yanko design is proud to be the official Media Partner of iF Concept Design and the good news we have here is that iF Concept Design has extended its submission date. Now you students can submit your creative works until 22nd November 2010! More good news is in store, Besides showcasing the competition entries at the CeBIT Show 2011 in Hannover, a special prize with the title “Hansgrohe Preis 2011: Efficient Water Design, Minimize Consumption, Maximize Emotion“ will be awarded to projects handling the resource water sustainably. This winner takes home an extra EUR 5,000 as well as an internship at Phoenix Design in Stuttgart, Germany.
Entries can be submitted in the following categories:
- product design / industrial design
- communication design / multimedia design
- fashion design
- architecture / interior design
The jury session will take place on 28 January 2011. A total prize of EUR 30,000 will be divided among the award winners.
This year Samsung Electronics (Seoul/South Korea), the CeBIT 2011 in Hannover (1-5th March), Hansgrohe AG (Schiltach/Germany), Volkswagen Design (Wolfsburg) and iF International Forum Design GmbH (Hannover/Germany) will sponsor young design talent and support the iF concept award as GOLD Sponsor.
Submissions: iF Concept Design 2011
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First 3D-Printed Car Hits The Road
by: TreeHugger Transportation, 2010-11-02 14:49:17 UTC
Credit: Stratasys
The Urbee has been an Automotive X Prize candidate and will be on The Discovery Channel's Canadian flagship
Daily Planet. The car, designed by Kor Ecologic of Winnipeg, Canada, is an electric / liquid-fuel hybrid that will get the equivalent of over 200 mpg on the highway and 100 MPG in the city.
But it is also the first car ever to have its entire body printed out on a giant 3D printer....
Read the full story on TreeHugger
Is the New X-1 a Bicycle or a Scooter or a Bit of Both?
by: TreeHugger Transportation, 2010-11-08 10:05:31 UTC
Photo: Sinclair Research
It looks like a cross between a bike and a bubble: it's an eco-scooter with a highly evocative name: the
Sinclair X-1.
This new little "electric vehicle" as it is being called can be "driven" for 10 miles at a cost of 10p. (16¢) with some pedal power assistance. ...
Read the full story on TreeHugger
pass the baton tokyo vintage shop
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2010-11-15 08:00:00 UTC
creating something new is a wonderful thing, but taking good care of an object that is already there can be magical.
pass on your personal culture. 'pass the baton' in tokyo's omotesando and marunouchi area reinvent the recycle shop concept.
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endangered species design competition results
by: Designboom - Weblog, 2010-11-16 16:45:00 UTC
2078 participants from 86 different countries participated in the one-month-duration (only) competition and the winners are...
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