Compliance & Standards Briefing: Reach, Epeat, BPA
by: Environmental Leader, 2011-06-02 15:13:38 UTC
Two-thirds of Europeans claim they read the instructions on chemical products before use, but only seven percent follow the directions fully, according to a survey by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). The agency was required to carry out the Eurobarometer survey (pdf) as part of REACH regulations, in an effort to understand how well the [...]

Arup on Sustainability
by: Environmental Leader, 2011-06-03 10:06:43 UTC
Phil Hodgson from Arup, discusses the role of construction project management with Peter Fewings from the University of the West of England.

Dezeen Screen: Unfold at My Way talks
by: Dezeen, 2011-06-02 15:04:35 UTC

Dezeen Screen: in this movie Dezeen filmed at the Design Academy Eindhoven My Way talks in Milan, designers Dries Verbruggen (above) and Claire Warnier of Belgian studio Unfold explain their virtual potters’ wheel. Watch the movie »

Photo is by Liesje Reyskens.

One More Time by Kiki van Eijk
by: Dezeen, 2011-06-03 11:30:41 UTC

Dutch designer Kiki van Eijk has created this series of 14 mantle clocks, each made from a different metal wire or finish. (more…)

Amazing Biodegradable Piezo-Art Pavilion by 3XN Generates its Own Energy
by: Inhabitat , 2011-06-02 16:51:03 UTC

Danish architects 3XN have created a swirling art installation that features some of the most advanced building and energy-generating technologies on earth. Designed for an exhibit at Louisiana’s Museum of Modern Art, the incredible pavilion is completely bio-degradable and capable of harvesting piezoelectric and solar energy. Part interactive public art installation and part design experiment, the pavilion generates energy from thin, flexible photovoltaic cells and the weight and pressure of visitors as they walk over it. This energy then powers LED lights that keep the fun going long after the sun sets.

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Post tags: 3XN, Biodegradable, eco design, flexible solar cells, green design, land art generator, LED, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, pavilion, phase changing, piezoelectricity, public art, self-cleaning, sustainable design

Designers Use Toyota’s Technologies to Create ‘Ideas for Good’
by: Inhabitat , 2011-06-02 17:50:34 UTC

We really love green cars, but you know what we love even more? Practical green designs that make the world a better place. With the Ideas for Good competition, Toyota has merged the two into one by opening up five of the company’s most innovative technologies to be used by designers to create new products that improve the world we live in. After receiving hundreds of submissions, a panel of experts chose a winning design for each technology. This weekend the winners will convene at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA where they will work with CMU engineers and Deeplocal to make their ideas a reality in just two days. We’ll be reporting from CMU to show you the process from start to finish, but in the meantime, jump ahead for the low-down on all the winners!

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Post tags: automatic fire ladder, better bike helmet, carnegie melon university, david champion, david champion designer, deeplocal, deeplocal and toyota, deeplocal engineers, electricity generating gym equipment, environmental designs, green design, ideas for good, ideas for good competition, ideas for good designs, pittsburgh, pittsburgh sustainable, pure air hut ventilation, renewable energy, safety designs, solar power air ventilation, Toyota, toyota ideas for good, toyota ideas for good prototyping weekend, toyota solar power ventilation system, toyota technologies in designs, toyota technology, toyota thums technology, toyota touch tracer system

Edward Chew Creates Stunning Geometric Lamps From Recycled Tetra Paks
by: Inhabitat , 2011-06-02 23:39:37 UTC

Designer Edward Chew has created a stunning series of origami light fixtures that are made entirely from recycled Tetra Pak cartons. His intricate geometric designs are made by carefully cutting and folding strips of the material into triangular shapes, which are then assembled without the use of screws or glue. Chew’s lamps cast a delicate net of shadows upon surrounding surfaces and are available in floor-based cylindrical pillars or suspended spheres of light. This brilliant design is one of 40 finalists in our Bright Ideas Competition – if you’re a fan then make sure to vote for it!

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5 Steps To Designing The Ultimate Lunch Box
by: fast company, 2011-06-02 13:15:50 UTC

SKETCH PAD Black + Blum offers the grown-up answer to the lunch box.

Anyone can put a sandwich in a baggie. But try packing a full-course meal, and you'll be lugging around a drawer's worth of Tupperware. "The Japanese solved that problem with Bento boxes," says Dan Black, who co-owns the London-based design firm Black + Blum. Yet, as of mid-2009, there wasn't an equivalent solution in America. So Black and partner Martin Blum set out to create one.

Although the name of the final two-piece product, "Lunch Pot," had to be straightforward enough to appeal to an international market, the team got playful by inscribing the rim with food-loving quotes, such as George Bernard Shaw's, "There is no sincerer love than the love of food." Here, we track the creation of the product. ($22, black-blum.com)

[1] Black + Blum's first next-gen lunch tote, the Bento Box, sold 100,000 units within nine months of its May 2010 launch. However, its cubic dividers precluded a sizable market: people who snack on amorphous foods, such as yogurt, soup, and salad. "For them," says Black, "we needed something potlike."

[2] "It looked like a zeppelin," says Black of an initial product sketch, whose liquids-only top compartment was quickly dismissed as overkill. "We wanted to make a food carrier, not a water bottle."

[3] Early prototypes (see white, pictured) had bulky, thermal-insulation strips and lids that sealed via "friction fit." "The whole thing felt precarious to open near a keyboard," says Black, whose team fashioned new models with simple screw-off tops (see yellow, pictured), designed to mimic the aesthetic of old-school Mason jars, as in the final product (see green, pictured).

[4] During transit, a strap mechanism holds both containers in place as the weight of their contents keeps everything taut. Once empty, the smaller pot stacks into the larger one to save space.

[5] To engineer the perfect spork, all 12 Black + Blum employees spent four months using different models to lunch on soup and noodles. "I liked the white prototype," says Black of the rejected jumbo-size design, "but my staff said it was just because I have a big mouth."

[Photographs by Lisa Shin]

A version of this article appears in the June 2011 issue of Fast Company.

Penn State, U. Tennessee Aim for Big Energy Savings
by: Environmental Leader, 2011-06-01 15:43:56 UTC
Two universities are implementing energy management strategies that, in at least one case, are projected to deliver big savings. At Penn State, a university-wide team has invested in PC power management software called BigFix, as part of an overarching initiative that could reduce the institution’s power bill by about $800,000 a year. The software enables [...]

Japan makes "every effort" on climate after quake
by: Reuters: Green Business News, 2011-06-01 16:43:39 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Japan will still try to meet its binding emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol despite the earthquake in March that set back its nuclear sector, a key source of low-carbon...