Slow Chair by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra
by: design milk, 2014-06-25 13:00:12 UTC

The Slow Chair, by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, performs double duty. While the comfy armchair could work in your living room, it can also go in your sunroom or temporarily outdoors. Designed for Vitra, the chair is made with a tubular steel frame with a knitted fabric stretched over it that keeps the chair visually light.

Besides being visually light, it’s lightweight and easy to carry so you can transport it outside for a cozy place to lounge on a sunny day. It also has a matching ottoman so you can prop your feet up to really relax.

Photos by © Paul Tahon and R & E Bouroullec.

Hand-Crafted Soaps Inspired by Melting Glaciers & Icebergs
by: design milk, 2014-06-25 16:00:58 UTC

Global warming doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, sadly, so it’s always nice to see someone trying to bring attention to such an overwhelming cause. Designer William Lee created a set of hand-crafted soaps, for Young Stellar Object, that look very much like the things they were inspired by – icebergs and glaciers in the Arctic.

The faceted soaps resemble the massive bodies that are slowing melting away and with each use, the soaps will begin to dissolve away too. The idea is to bring more awareness in showing that once the soap is melted away, much like an iceberg, that there is no going back.

A Glacier Adrift comes as a set of three soaps in small, medium, and large, with a percentage of the proceeds being donated to 1% for the Planet, StopGlobalWarming.org, or The Climate Reality, all charities endorsed by Al Gore.

Shoes Made From Plastic Waste Found on UK Shores
by: design milk, 2014-06-26 16:00:47 UTC

With so many products being made out of plastic, it seems inevitable that when us humans are done with said products, we toss them. They, in turn, end up in the landfill or washed ashore on some poor, polluted beach. Three friends, Charles Duffy, William Gubbins, and Billy Turvey, got together to come up with a way of communicating the link between waste and consumerism, “and the disposability of contemporary products” in a project they call “Everything You Buy Is Rubbish”.

After collecting plastic waste along the UK shores, including the Thames, the trio made a pair of shoes completely out of the rubbish they found.

Take a look at how the shoes were made:

You Can Get Paid For Reducing How Much Energy You Use
by: Co.Exist, 2014-06-20 16:17:00 UTC

And with Internet-connected devices, you won't even know it's happening.

When the electric grid can't meet demand--perhaps because you've been running the A/C too long, or a wind farm isn't performing fully--managers turn to "peaker" stations. A peaker station is a back-up power plant that can be turned on in minutes, helping the grid through a temporary shortage. They're important for stability, but not ideal. They're expensive--we use them roughly 1% of the time, yet they contribute 15% of overall costs--and tend to have a large environmental footprint.

Read Full Story

New Solar Wind Downdraft Tower Could Revolutionize Wind Power Technology
by: Inhabitat , 2014-06-23 21:22:27 UTC

A revolutionary new clean energy technology is getting set to change the way we think about wind power. The Solar Wind Downdraft Tower, created by Maryland-based Solar Wind Energy Inc. turns the traditional wind turbine design on its head by putting turbines at the base of a tubular tower that generates its own wind throughout the year. How does it work? Read on.

Read the rest of New Solar Wind Downdraft Tower Could Revolutionize Wind Power Technology

---

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "wind power", downdraft, power, renewable, renewable energy, solar, Technology, tower, turbine

Project Livewire: Harley-Davidson unveils its first electric motorcycle! (videos)
by: TreeHugger Transportation, 2014-06-23 15:56:18 UTC
You can't stop progress! From noisy gas hog to badass electron fiend.

The fuel cell for home
by: Fraunhofer Research News, 2014-06-02 07:30:00 UTC
It converts chemical energy directly into electrical energy. Still, there hadn’t been a market breakthrough for the fuel cell. The systems were too complex. Now, Fraunhofer and Vaillant have developed a simple device for home use.

Efficient thermal cooling and heating
by: Fraunhofer Research News, 2014-06-02 07:30:00 UTC
Thermal systems use heat to produce cold, and vice versa. To do so, a material is needed that can dissipate water vapor particularly well and quickly. A new method simply applies this property as a layer onto the components.

Volvo Launches Sustainable Construction Initiative
by: Environmental Leader, 2014-06-19 12:00:46 UTC
Volvo Construction Equipment has launched an initiative to drive sustainability across the construction industry. The Construction Climate Challenge (CCC) — which reaches across the construction industry’s value chain from extraction and production of building materials, to road and general construction, to demolition and recycling — aims to create a dialogue with industry representatives, academics and […]

How to Market Sustainability
by: Environmental Leader, 2014-06-20 10:00:46 UTC
The Center for Green Industries hosts a panel discussion about running a sustainable business at Duquesne University’s 16th Annual Entrepreneur’s Growth Conference.