Method Cabin by Balance Associates Architects
The Method Cabin prefab designed by Balance associates architects combines high design with social and environmental responsibility. They have three different lines of prefabricated cabins available from 800 to over 2000 square feet.
This design has been conceived for sustainability and energy efficiency, and includes FSC certified framing materials, reclaimed fir and cedar siding, energy-efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures, hydronic radiant heating, whole-house ventilation systems, solar options and enhanced insulation
applications.
Read More…
SolarStore by Industrial Design Consultancy
Industrial Design Consultancy announces its latest product development; an inflatable solar collector called SolarStore.
The SolarStore could provide a cheap source of domestic hot water; with an initial cost of under £100 per product, trial data has shown that the system will pay for itself in only 6 months.This compares extremely favorably to conventional domestic solar hot water systems, which cost in the region of £2000-3000 and have payback times of around 10-20 years.
A House Among Trees by Martín Fernández de Lema
The house designed by Martín Fernández de Lema is situated in a forest site on the beach of Mar Azul, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The relationship between inside and out is important to create seamless indoor-outdoor living. Allowing a tree to grown up and over the entry porch is a gesture that’s not only fraught with meaning but also with a beauty that will only increase over time. The natural and the man-made will co-exist side by side.
Whirlpool’s Green Kitchen Concept
Whirlpool has showcased its futuristic version of a “green” kitchen. The concept is designed to redistribute 60% of the water and heat generated from the various kitchen appliances to fuel other appliances or functions.
An example would be using the heat from the refrigerator’s compressor to provide hot water. The basic idea is to create an “kitchen eco-system,” modeled after nature’s own cycle, which, theoretically, should boast up to 70% energy efficiency over ordinary kitchens — yielding up to 24% in money savings.
Ann Demeulemeester Shop by Mass Studies
The Ann Demeulemeester Shop created by Mass Studies Architects is located on the first floor, with a restaurant above and a Multi-Shop in the basement.
This proposal is an attempt to incorporate as much nature as possible into the building within the constraints of a low-elevation, high-density urban environment of limited space (378). The building defines its relationship between natural/artificial and interior/exterior as an amalgamation, rather than a confrontation. Diverse interior spaces designated for its three main programs were made to be perceived and utilized as a part of the outdoors in a variety of ways. This building is not meant to be just another ‘object’ to be experienced externally, but rather as a synthetic organism of nature and artifice.
Indoor Living Wall Planter
This innovative growing system graces let you grow flowers or greenery indoors right on your walls. Grown in a planting grid, the white cedar wood frame houses a watering tray to eveningly care for your plants, even when you forget to.
Read More…
Boxhome by Sami Rintala
Boxhome is low cost green dwelling created by Sami Rintala. The project focuses in the quality of space, material and natural light, and tries to reduce unnecessary floor area. The result is a dwelling where the price is only 1/4 of the price of any same size apartment in the same area.
Watershed, architectural research and design studio by Float
Made by Float, this writing studio is designed to reveal the ecological complexity of the site to visitors and in this way it is successful: Small tunnels under the studio bring rare reptiles and amphibians into view through the floor-level window. The water collection basin that doubles as the front step draws in birds and deer.
Project7ten Millwood Avenue
Project 7ten Millwood Avenue is an example that engaging in environmentally conscious habits does not have to be expensive, difficult, or have a boring look and feel to it.
Solar panels are incorporated in the cutting edge design of the house that produces its own energy. It is built with numerous recycled materials, including insulation, concrete, counter tops, Forest Stewardship Council certified lumber, reuse rain water to irrigate landscaping, recycle Grey water, etc.; is surrounded by trees to provide shade in the summer and sunlight during the winter.
Zero House by Scott Specht Architects
Designed by Scott Spect Harpman uArchitects, the “Zero House” is a 200 square meters self dependent prefabricated “green” home. It generates its own electrical power, collects and stores rainwater, and processes all waste. Shipped to a site on two flatbed trailers, it can be field-erected in less than a day.
OUTin house by ecoMOD
ecoMOD is a collaborative research and design/build project at the University of Virginia School of Architecture focused on creating well-designed and well-built homes that cost less to live in, minimize damage to the environment, and appreciate in value.
Herbi By Michael Kritzer
Herbi was created to make your herbs grow easily in your home. You just have to put it in an illuminated place and Herbi will supply you with fresh, ready to pick herbs all year round. Of course you still have to restock the water reserve once a month. Still, it’s a great invention for the lazy botanist.
My Baby Tree
Your baby tree, to put in your pocket or to hang anywhere you want. Take care of it, and plant it in a bigger pot.
Adopt your little cactus instead of a dog…
High-Tech Underground Pot-Growing Site Uncovered
You would think that the best places in the world to grow weed would be Jamaica or Holland. Think again. Some botanists from Tennessee grew it underneath a house in a high-tech cave, complete with a secret hydrolic door and a escape hatch. But it seems they couldn’t escape the police.
Link (via boingboing)
Free Spirit Spheres
A nice place for meditation or to take pictures, Free Spirit Spheres can be hung from the trees as shown, making a tree house. They can also be hung from any other solid objects or placed in cradles on the ground. The spheres are made of two laminations of wood strips over laminated wood frames. The outside surface is then finished and covered with a clear fibreglass.
Modular 3D Wallpaper By MioCulture
MioCulture‘s modular, three-dimensional wallpaper is a new langage of adaptative architecture. It empowers by providing a means to redefine and imbue surfaces with identity and meaning using waste ressources as the medium. Available in packs of twelve, it’s easy to cover any surface, big or small.
