Designed in Hackney: furniture company SCP has been working with some of the best designers in the industry at its Shoreditch headquarters since the mid 1980s. Every day this week our Designed in Hackney series focusses on key products that were developed above the shop on Curtain Road, starting with the 1986 Side Table by Jasper Morrison. (more…)
by: Environmental Leader, 2012-05-08 13:40:51 UTC Kraft Foods cut the amount of plastic packaging in its YES Pack salad dressing by 60 percent using a lifecycle analysis system, the company has announced. Kraft’s LCA centers around its Eco-Calculator, a proprietary tool that figures the percentage of post-consumer recycled material in a given package design, along with the amount of energy and [...]
“I doubt many consumers care about the 'eco' on the pack of coffee. And it is good of looking in the packaging reduction but the life cycle cost of the coffee is a hunderd fold”
We first spotted designer Mark van der Gronden's Krattenkast ("crate cabinet") storage units at last year's Milan show, and now we're pleased to see they come, like the crates they contain, in all shapes and sizes.
Dutch contract furniture manufacturer Lensvelt produces the steel frames in a variety of shapes, each filled with repurposed plastic industrial conatiners that serves as the drawers.
Bamboo is often presented as a green wonder material, showing up in everything from flooring to bicycles to laptop cases; but it's important to understand that while the material itself is fast-growing and renewable, the processes needed to transform it into a finished product can negate the sustainability factor.
When outdoor gear company Patagonia needed to design a warm-water wetsuit—something more in line with the temperatures in their native SoCal than, say, the frigid Dungeons of South Africa—the green-minded company looked into bamboo to provide the fiber. But research showed that roughly half of the solvents needed in the production process would end up as waste. Then they struck upon a novel material for a wetsuit: Recycled polyester. There's plenty of the stuff, and it's a sign o' the times that we can (and should) start seeing used plastic as a valid raw materials alternative to something that grows out of the ground.
In the video below—which is filled with enough beautiful surfing shots to make you hate your job—Brett Krazniewicz, Patagonia's Technical Material Developer, explains around 1:37 why bamboo got the boot and polyester got the props:
I caught up with Brian Phillips, principal of Interface Studio Architects, in Miami recently while he was down as a visiting critic at the University of Miami School of Architecture. Based in Philadelphia, ISA is a prominent architecture and research firm on the leading edge of green building and pre-fab construction with notable projects such as the 100k House and The Modules, featured on Jetson Green a few years ago. Here is our discussion on the work of ISA and direction of the green building industry.
Q. What is ISA’s design philosophy?
Innovating the everyday. We look hard at all the parameters of a project, even the mundane details and most challenging constraints, as engines for creative and innovative solutions. By beginning without stylistic tendencies, asking different questions at the outset, details such as budget or programmatic relationship can become important design elements which are in turn amplified to something interesting.
Q. Why is sustainability important for the firm’s work?
We believe that energy efficiency is implicit to making good architecture. Sustainability on the other hand, is more complex than strictly saving energy. We consider the social, economic, and urban contexts of projects to create resilient, intelligent systems within which buildings participate.
Q. The 100k house is one of your most notable projects, how did the idea come about?
A young developer (postgreen) was looking at the typical townhome development pattern and asked why develop projects my friends can’t afford? So we began looking at what the starter home for a 30-something, Gen Y target would be. For these sophisticated and green-minded consumers on a budget, the 100k house fills that market perfectly.
Q. What was the key to affordability?
1,000 SF at $100/SF, while achieving LEED Platinum standards, was the formula we used to inspire design possibilities. Conceiving of a project that meets those metrics was our design challenge and it asked us to work more like industrial designers rather than architects. If we didn’t have to do it, we didn’t. We stuck to a simple, elemental, urban approach that resulted in exposed concrete floors and surface mounted CFL light bulbs, for instance. The green building approach emphasized the quality of the envelope including insulation, windows, and air sealing.
Q. Have you tracked the performance of the home?
We’ve received feedback from the owner that their utility bills are roughly $1,000 a year, which is significantly lower than the comparable home in the area. The HERS score was near 50 on the original homes, but we have since lowered that to near 20 on more recent iterations. On future projects our goal is to incorporate more feedback channels for the occupant to allow them to take charge or their water and energy consumption in a real time scenario.
Q. What were some of the lessons learned?
Keep it simple and focus on the envelope. The envelope is the best way to embed long-term value in a house and isn’t subject to mechanical failure or user choices. This allows the mechanical systems to be simplified and be more affordable.
Q. How have your designs evolved since the 100k house and been able to inform your current work?
The 100k house sits in the middle of the timeline for our firm, but serves as the clearest thesis statement. We received a 2011 Pew Fellowship in the Arts allowing us to focus more on experimentation, research, and design competitions. We are beginning to expand geographically while also scaling up the ‘100k thesis’ on bigger projects in Philly. Recent assignments include Net Zero housing in Boston (through the Mayor’s E+ Housing initiative) and a theoretical project for what a 100k house might be for Detroit.
Q. What are the top three priorities a team should focus on with a green building project?
1) Saving energy and money for the user is always number one. This means providing a high performance envelope.
2) Every project is different in its requirements and therefore requires a unique approach to sustainability. Maybe a project is net zero water instead of energy, because of site location or other factors. Fully exploiting available opportunities and thinking about the bigger context of a project is important. It can be unsustainable to insist that every project, regardless of location, program, or budget, achieve net zero energy, for example.
3) Affordability.
Q. Do you prefer to work with LEED or Passivhaus standards?
It all depends on the building. For residential, Passivhaus is a great philosophy; save energy, save money, focus on the envelope. It allows the project to stay very true to its core mission. In a commercial setting, where projects are more complicated, something like LEED is more applicable because it allows for a more balanced and diverse approach. I think that zoning codes could begin to play more of a role in the process. How can we find more synergies which promote sustainability within urbanism? For instance, could mixed use development be an energy strategy?
Q. Where do you see green building going in next 5-10 years?
I believe green building and high performance construction will continue to be ramped up through local regulations and building codes. The question that will remain is what does sustainability mean? Is it jobs, walkable neighborhoods, quality of life, healthy lifestyle? The conversation will get less technical and lean more toward aesthetic, economic, and social issues.
named after the japanese word meaning 'shadow, shade, and nuances', the lighting pieces are composed of folding, collapsible fabric made from recycled PET bottles.
What if your lamp and laptop could be powered by plants? ‘Moss Table’ by Biophotovoltaics is an innovative concept product demonstrating the future potential of Bio-Photo-Voltaic (BPV) technology. Here electricity is generated from the electrons captured by conductive fibers inside the moss table. The technology turns energy that would otherwise be wasted in the photosynthesis process into power that can be put to practical use.
German rivals BMW and Daimler have joined forces with scientists at the Technical University Munich (TUM) to create an electric car that solves many of the problems with today’s electric cars. The joint research project “Visio.M” seeks to produce an electric car that moves past current electric cars, which are too heavy, too expensive and have raised mass-market safety concerns.
by: mocoloco, 2012-05-04 06:31:02 UTC
A lamp designed by Philippe Starck in 1991 is now the world's first lamp made of a revolutionary bioplastic called PHAs, which itself is the equivalent of treacle.
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-16 16:05:16 UTC
The Ribbon Lamp, designed by ECCO Design for Top Brilliant Technology Ltd. (TBT), offers a revolutionary and sustainable new approach to task lighting. ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-15 06:00:19 UTC
The Ecopod is a beautiful design of coffin that brings together artisan skills with style, elegance and a respect for the environment.
Made by hand ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-13 09:35:35 UTC
Help Remedies goals was to do what you expect of a healthcare company, be people as well as earth friendly. Not confusing or scaring people but make ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-11 18:17:16 UTC
The Aeg-Electrolux super eco washing machine is designed especially to be used with cold active washing powders. Saving energy, water and money while ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-10 19:37:23 UTC
By intervening in the natural cycle with an extra step, an added value is created, extending the decaying process of leaves before returning to the ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-10 06:22:20 UTC
The automotive End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) process in the EU is well documented and researched. The legislation in the EU implemented in the '90's and ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-09 06:51:09 UTC
Gioia Mondo is truly unique using playing children as a starting point for design. The brand knows exactly how to combine this with fashion and quality. ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-07 16:33:33 UTC
ClickBrick is a Cradle to Cradle certified brick. It is used in more or less the same way as Lego-bricks. Even people without bricklaying experience ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-05 12:38:47 UTC
This is one of those products that make you think; "why has it taken so long to get something so obvious on the market?" Hasn't anyone of us burnt ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-05-03 17:11:12 UTC
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have ...
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