Tucker Robbins Transforms Indonesian Fishing Baskets into Beautiful Pendant Lamps
by: Inhabitat , 2013-05-26 13:35:18 UTC
Tucker Robbins showcased these simple yet beautiful pendant lamps made from repurposed fishing baskets at this year’s ICFF. The woven lamps give new life to disused fishing baskets made by local craftspeople in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Each natural rattan lampshade can be lined with or without rice paper to give the lamp a brighter or more diffuse glow.
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Post tags: eco design, fishing basket lamp, green design, ICFF, rattan lamps, salvaged lamps, sustainable design, Tucker Robbins
2013 Green Dot Awards: Call for Entries
by: Sustainable Design News, 2013-05-14 09:55:16 UTC
Cradle to Cradle Program Expands in UK
by: Environmental Leader, 2013-05-28 14:35:09 UTC
EMG CSR Consultancy has partnered with nonprofit Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute to increase awareness and participation in the UK of the Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Program. Anglo-Dutch sustainability consultant group EMG will provide management and communications support for the institute in its effort to help companies launch and promote Cradle to Cradle [...]
LEED Lessons: Sustainable Purchasing Platform
by: Environmental Leader, 2013-05-28 15:03:40 UTC
Executives from Office Depot, certification company DEKRA, World Resources Institute, Goodyear Tire & Rubber and others are leading a sustainable purchasing organization — slated to launch this summer — that aims to leverage the trillions of dollars spent by large organizations to drive environmental, economic an social sustainability. The Sustainable Purchasing Council (SPC) says it [...]
Carbon-Neutral Queensland Beachfront Home is New Face of Tropical Off-Grid Architecture
by: Jetson Green, 2013-05-16 09:19:57 UTC
Designed by Charles Wright Architects to satisfy a desire for a carbon-neutral home, the Stamp House is located on the edge of the beachfront rainforest in Far North Queensland (FNQ), Australia, a region that includes over seventy national parks and contributes up to AU$700 million annually in agricultural products that include sugar cane, bananas, mangoes, and coffee.
The environmentally-sensitive home makes the most of the off-grid site’s natural amenities, overlooking an engineered water ecosystem that was developed in collaboration with Australian governmental organizations such as the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS).
Formed of a combination of insulated precast and in-situ concrete, the cantilevered design protects the home from king tide inundation and flooding that can result from cyclonic activity. Its classification as a cyclone shelter is “category 5 cyclone proof.”
Its sustainable development features include total 250,000 liter water harvesting, recycling, and reticulation. Renewable solar energy is generated with solar backup that is not reliant upon fossil fuel. A tertiary sewerage treatment plant is located on-site, along with grey water recycling and irrigation. A thermal storage tank system provides for cooling and feeds back into the mechanical and hydraulic facilities. All systems are controlled by C-bus smart building automation.
iPhone biosensor does the work of a $50,000 lab-based machine
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2013-05-24 21:46:19 UTC
We already know that smartphones can perform many of the same features as more expensive computers, cameras and other devices. Now, a portable iPhone cradle made up of about US$200 worth of electronics is claimed to be as accurate of a biosensor as a $50,000 spectrophotometer that remains stuck in a lab.
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iPhone biosensor does the work of a $50,000 lab-based machine
Section: Science
Tags: Biosensors,
iPhone,
University of Illinois
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Sustainability Reporting ‘Leads to Higher Cash Flows’
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More than half of companies say sustainability reporting leads to higher cash flows and helps improve firm reputation, according to a report from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and Ernst & Young. Though issuing a sustainability report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Framework or another standard requires a lot of [...]
Policy & Enforcement Briefing: TSCA Update, Utility Shield Law, Mining Guidance
by: Environmental Leader, 2013-05-24 14:38:49 UTC
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Frederick McSwain and François Chambard: Off The Grid
by: design milk, 2013-05-24 18:00:05 UTC
NYC designers Frederick McSwain and François Chambard (of UM Project) created an outdoors-inspired exhibition at Gallery R’Pure for New York Design Week called Off The Grid.
Inspired by camping, flashlights, lanterns, and easy outdoor furniture solutions like using crates as chairs, the designers created what look to be more luxurious and creative alternatives to the traditional camping gear. Perhaps this is gear we might use when camping on a rooftop in NYC or as our only furniture in an effort to try and escape the real world?
Descriptions below are from the designers.
Maglite Story (on the wall)
An organized grouping of upturned flashlights reminiscent of the cultural phenomenon commonly seen around campfires.
The installation includes Elodie Blanchard “Urban Camouflage”, a hand-knotted textile wall made of hand-knotted HDPE fabric.
Props
Props is a nod to urban culture’s re-appropriation of the milk crate, a ubiquitous and graphic form, commonly used for a variety of unexpected tasks. From disc jockeys and bicycle messengers to street vendors and flower merchants, the gridded plastic containers are as synonymous with American cities as the buildings, people, and streets that populate them. Machined from solid aluminum then anodized in a mismatch of colors, these compact volumes are jewel-like in precision, able to stand-alone or integrate into endless topographical compositions.
Craft System Lamps (N˚16 to N˚ 21)
The lamps are a continuation of the initial collection of Craft System lamps introduced last year at Wanted Design. The lamps consist of the multiple variations of a simple shape, showcasing work that transcends the quality of the mass-produced and the quality of the handmade. The basic and repetitive tapered Corian shape can take multiple configurations by being combined with different bottom and top handmade attachments. This year’s series is a literal interpretation of the Off the Grid idea through lamps that work without being plugged in: battery-powered LEDs, hurricane candle light, kerosene lights, lantern.
Cumulus, Table
From the advent of primitive tools to the dawn of the supercomputer, humans have always found inspiration in nature. Continuing this tradition, Cumulus attempts to impose organic characteristics on an otherwise cold and rigid industrial form. Utilizing a diamond-scribed geometry (composed solely of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines), the anodized aluminum table boasts a surface quality that dances and shimmers, changing like the weather.
DLX Trunks and Racks
The trunks are a crossover between the classic travel case and the rugged military trunk. They are made of maple wood and hardwood, anodized aluminum and nylon webbing. They rest on some kind of traditional hotel luggage racks, revisited and simplified. The sets evoke a romantic idea of travel and urban camping.
Quest for Fire
The set of three drums is a playful and indirect reference to the classic book by J. H. Rosny and its adaption in the cult movie by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The story takes place in prehistoric times, when cavemen lived Off the Grid long before the concept was conceivable. Fire was the original grid, the element that kept us alive and connected. Today while we depend on other grids – electrical, wireless, social – those connections seem as critical and primal as fire was in ancient times. The pits are made of chrome-plated oil drums that are red-lacquered inside and contain a graphic array of Maglite flashlights, very much like mechanical flames or some kind of electric bouquets.
6BCA Tent
The classic A-frame tent is reminiscent of old-style tents and the ideal of camping. It is outfitted with a concealed LED strip in the top crossbar that makes it work like a giant light fixture, blurring the line between nomadic archetypes and more stationary and decorative products. The tent is made of aluminum (anodized or powder-coated), maple hardwood, parachute fabric and custom-made moving blankets.
The exhibition will be on display through June 6, 2013.
Photos by Francis Dzikowski Esto.
Organic tap by Philippe Starck for Axor
by: Dezeen, 2013-05-24 12:05:35 UTC
Product news: a tap presented by French designer Philippe Starck in New York this week uses half as much water as regular taps. (more...)
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