That’s a Really Low Table
by: Yanko Design, 2011-03-09 14:51:32 UTC

If you really like low profile tables, you’ll love the Lowbay by Han Koning. I’m actually very smitten with how it looks. There’s a simplicity in the design that I love and yet the exposed ridges of the table top lend confidence in the construction because you can see how he bent the layers of wood. It’s a “complex simplicity” if you will.  It’s 118×60 in size and technically a limited edition called “white”, although I don’t see anything white about it, except Mr. Koning… and his shirt… and his glasses.

Designer: Han Koning

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Eco-farming can double food output by poor: U.N.
by: Reuters: Green Business News, 2011-03-08 13:09:30 UTC
OSLO (Reuters) - Many farmers in developing nations can double food production within a decade by shifting to ecological agriculture from use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a U.N. report...

Personalized iPad Magazine Zite Learns As You Read, Challenges Flipboard
by: fast company, 2011-03-09 04:58:27 UTC
It's a combination of semantic- and statistically based machine learning," says CEO Ali Davar, of Zite's content algorithm, the technology of which has been in development for years. "It works by looking at the articles you click on and the characteristics of those articles. Is the article longer or shorter? Is it skewed toward one element of a topic or another? Is it a political blog? If so, does it have have a right- or left-wing slant?

ING-Q zero-emission concept car for Michelin Challenge Design
by: Ecofriend, 2011-03-07 08:59:29 UTC
Sahilkh18:

The 23-year-old super brain, Xiaowu Huang, a fourth year student of the Wuhan University of Technology, has put his mind and soul into the invention of the most amazingly simple yet very efficient and innovative car. He has put down his knowledge of automotive support engineering into creating this New Age wonder. Christened as ING-Q, the concept vehicle is a really convenient, simply designed and an efficient mobile tool, which will benefit humankind through its zero fuel consumption, emission and congestion qualities.

ING-Q features a modular design along with several eco friendly qualities. The eco-friendly and simply designed ING-Q will surely be a boon for the common man as it will bring about a major change in the lifestyle of not only the present generation, but the future generations as well. So go ahead, get ready to breathe in pollution-free air.

Via: Michelin Challenge Design

Wheelbench: Mobile Seat is Half Bench, Half Wheelbarrow
by: Inhabitat , 2011-03-08 21:40:23 UTC

Moving a big bench can be backbreaking work – but not with the Wheelbench. The minimalistic mobile bench by Rogier Martens for Weltevree features a built-in wheelbarrow wheel that makes it a cinch to cart to the desired location. Crafted from ecological preserved Accoya wood, the seat also has a fun look that does a grassy knoll way more justice than a plain old concrete bench.

+ Wheelbench

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Post tags: "green furniture", eco furniture, green bench accoya wood, green design, mobile bench, rogier martens, weltevree, wheel bench, wheelbench

Samsung Unveils Solar-Powered Zero Energy Transparent TV
by: Inhabitat , 2011-03-09 00:13:57 UTC

Samsung just unveiled an amazing new solar-powered LCD television that can operate completely free from the power grid! The 46″ prototype TV, shown at CeBit in Germany, includes solar panels that produce energy from the ambient light in a room – because it was engineered to use very little energy, no additional power sources are needed. Another major breakthrough behind the concept is that the thin screen can display images and information while allowing objects behind it to be visible – this means that it has applications ranging from car windshield HUDs to storefront displays and digital window blinds.

Read the rest of Samsung Unveils Solar-Powered Zero Energy Transparent TVhttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

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Post tags: 2011, CEBIT, Design, Eco, electronics, green, green design, green electronics, Greener Gadgets, LCD, net zero tv, OLED, photovoltaic tv, Sebit, SID, Solar Power, Sustainable, sustainable design, Technology, tradeshow, transparent, TV

Green Megastructure - Masterplan for Nanjing, China by CK Designworks
by: Ecofriend, 2011-03-07 12:54:18 UTC
Dattatreya:

The Mega-structure:
China is already beginning to make its mark as one of the front runners for green investment. And in yet another ambitious proposal, the Australian firm CK designworks have put forth their grand plan of conceiving a 20 kilometer square green city in the Pukou district of Nanjing. This exclusive city will house a population of 200,000 people along with well defined industrial and commercial zones.

What makes it mega?
Already touted as one of the largest design projects ever undertaken in the world, this outstandingly arduous proposition looks forth to integrate a combination of green-fields and existing industrial low lands imbued together with the whole settlement. Hence an optimum spatial distribution of greenery and economic land use would effectively be accomplished in a nearly epic scale. A whole new transit system will also be fabricated, which will be composed of a monorail connecting critical and crucial zones such as school, hospitals and recreational areas.

Eco-credentials:
The design will include traditional Chinese cultural elements, such as mythology and history, as a way to showcase the Chinese ‘way of life’ to the whole world. Symbolically, there will be 10 important structures, including a 5 star hotel, which are all likely to achieve the highest Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certifications. Thus, an unique confluence of high culture and green technology will be witnessed. Moreover, this settlement is conceptualized as a green city which will incorporate various green spaces along with renewable energy.

About CK Designworks:
It is an eminent architectural studio based in Melbourne, Australia. Originally established in 1978 by founding partners Robert Caulfield and Ivo Krivanek as Caulfield & Krivanek Architects, it later became CK Designworks with the collaboration of two new partners, Janusz Kowal and Domenic Crisante. The studio is known for its innovative master plans, deft interior designing and even easy financial solutions for variant types of buildings.

Source: DesignBoom

New Electrical Generator Could Be 40% More Efficient
by: Eco Geek Latest, 2011-03-08 04:21:03 UTC

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratory are developing a new gas turbine to increase the efficiency of conventional electrical power plants with a generation system that could increase the thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency by 40 to 50 percent.

Electrical generation is an especially dirty process when coal is being used as the fuel source. It's not too efficient, either, with only about 1/3 of the energy from the burned coal being turned into useful electricity. Research is currently being done on two test assemblies which use supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2), rather than water and steam as the working medium, and a system using the Brayton cycle with equipment more akin to a jet engine than a conventional steam turbine.

While most coal-fired electrical plants could see benefits from this new method, other kinds of power generation would also be able to apply these developments. Nuclear power, biomass, and solar thermal power plants also could be improved through adoption of S-CO2 Brayton generation.

The S-CO2 Brayton equipment is also much more compact than equivalent power generating conventional turbines, which helps to reduce installation costs. This should also serve to make retrofitting of existing power plants easier, since available space for the conversion would be easier to allocate. A small, 4 cubic meter (about 141 cubic feet) system could replace more than 120 cubic meters (about 4,238 cubic feet) of equipment and produce the same amount of power.

Furthermore, while special materials are needed for conventional Rankine cycle turbines, because steam is corrosive at the temperatures and pressures involved, this is not an issue with S-CO2 Brayton equipment, which can be fabricated from simple stainless steel.

With efficiency increases like that, old, outmoded coal plants could be retired, and swapping in new, more efficient equipment could replace the need for building new coal plants altogether.

image via Wikimedia

via: Solar Thermal Magazine

Helpmate to unfurl a whole new gardening experience
by: The Design blog, 2011-03-04 21:51:33 UTC
Jaazhh:

Love gardening but have problem bending down again and again. Yohan Gunawan from the Swinburne University of Technology is out with a fresh concept named Helpmate. As the name suggests it will help a person (both impaired and with perfect bodies) while pampering green souls.

The whole structure, which has a simple design, comes attached with a manageable chair and cabinet with a storing bracket, which comes in handy for storing small garden tool. It has three main parts: a frame, a bucket and a portable chair. Since, the bucket is shaped like a frame; it can easily be made to fit beneath the frame. Crafted out of plastic and aluminum the seat can be conveniently separated from the container giving the user a freedom of choices in usage techniques. Height of the chair is equal to that of a standard office chair measuring 400 mm and can also work up-side-down.

A notable point being, the whole construction just requires four screws, hence assemblage is uncomplicated. If someone suffers from lower-body weakness or are aged, the telescopic handle will lend a helping hand for them to get seated on the chair. Cutting all flaws that other products in the same category beam with, Helpmate is a harmless garden product, in terms of ergonomics and material used to build it. Since, the whole setup is made out of aluminum and plastic, this makes Helpmate quite sturdy and lightweight.

All you garden lovers, just grab this handy product to beautifully simplify your whole gardening experience.

Via: Designawards

Bubbles-Modern Island to cut water pollution
by: The Design blog, 2011-03-07 09:17:09 UTC
Jaazhh:

Shaped like a globe is the Bubble-modern Island (designed by Justyna Szymczak and Kamil Laszuk). It’s a self-contained toilet facility which can be brought to use when out in the sea. With an excellent balance on water, it comes equipped with a small chemical treatment plant and several water treatment filters. These filters and plants clean the used water before it is pumped out again. Hence, the the cleaning nozzle system avoids any water pollution.

Bubble acts as an excellent port for canoes, boats and yachts near a lake, stream or any water body. It does not act harshly with the environment and pumps out clean water always.

Via: Justynas