Would you prefer living atop a tree with just the perfect blend of modern and traditional designs, amidst chirpy birds, with apt sunlight and cool winds just for that hot summers? Would you also like to play your part by making your house environment friendly? Well, treehouse designed by Shedarchitects in Seattle , United States, seems like a complete solution for you.
The house is built atop a tree overlooking a park and utilizing a vacant, steep sloped plot. The house has been designed taking care of all minute details. In other words, the structure stands on a cost effective design. For instance, the shower in the bathroom utilizes the vertical riser from the tub this in turn reduces the plumbing costs.
The house is supported and elevated through augur cast piles and steel support frames. The design of the house places emphasis on the natural light and ventilation, especially given the location, rather than lending a luxurious touch to the structure. As a consequence, the house flashes furniture designed by the inhabitants. The presence of certain vintage furniture around the house strengthens the fact ‘old is gold’.
Eco friendly factor comes in with solar thermal water tank and the natural skylight that serves the multi function of ventilation and lighting. Hydronic radiators have also been installed. All care has been taken to install only energy star appliances. Also, when the foundation structure was laid, it was done in a fashion that implied only minimal and necessary earth disturbances and left the steep slope as it is.
If you are wondering, whether the cost efficiency has had its toll on the creativity in the design of the house, do stop to give a second thought. The bedrooms, though have a small area of 144 sq. ft., sport a floor to ceiling window which not only naturally lightens the room but provides for a panoramic view amidst the trees and facing the park. The house has perfect laid spots for morning coffee or evening tea and even has a carport.
While this treehouse has been built for a single family occupancy, a structure on similar lines stands strong in India. The only distinction is that the Indian concept is a treehouse resort situated on a one hour’s drive from the pink city of Jaipur.
Nevertheless, the treehouse by Shed is a splendid solution for those who are tired of the hustle bustle of the city and want to calm themselves down. So, nature is calling? Are you ready?
For those survivors in Japan left without much of anything, Panasonic is hoping to lighten things up a little, quite literally, with a donation of 4,000 solar-powered lanterns. The gifts have been sent to Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, in the hopes that they’ll help add a bit of comfort and assistance to those who have been hit hardest by the quake.
Via: TreeHugger
Are low consumption fluorescent light bulbs really ecological?
Compact fluorescent light are energy saving bulbs that fit into standard light bulb sockets.
The electrical company “ICE” and the Costarrican government are actively promoting their use as a way to help the planet and lower your electric bill. But all fluorescent light are filled with a gas containing low-pressure mercury vapor and if they are not disposed adequately, they can pollute the environment.
Generally fluorescent lamps are four to five times more efficient than incandescent bulbs. Fluorescent lamps reduce the need for power plants to burn fossil fuels to generate electricity, thereby reducing emissions including mercury, carbon dioxide and other pollutants that contribute to climate change.
These lamps also reduce solid waste, since they last longer than incandescent or halogen lamps and require less frequent replacement.
However, fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of mercury. This mercury is contained within the lamp and is not exposed to the environment unless the lamp is broken at the end of its life. The release of mercury is most likely to occur when the lamp is thrown in a garbage truck or a dumpster.
According to www.lightbulbrecycling.com, each year an estimated 600 million fluorescent lamps are disposed of in U.S. landfills, amounting to 30,000 pounds of mercury waste.
It only takes 4mg of mercury to contaminate up to 7,000 gallons of freshwater, meaning that the 30,000 pounds of mercury thrown away in compact fluorescent light bulbs each year is enough to pollute nearly every lake, pond, river and stream in North America (not to mention the oceans).
Many US state governing agencies have adopted their own regulations regarding the disposal off fluorescent lights, making it unlawful for anyone to dispose of fluorescent bulbs as universal waste. These laws are based on the well-documented toxicity of the heavy metal mercury.
Costa Rica has an enormous problem with garbage disposal at every stage of the process.
Most of the garbage goes to open air landfills with no regard to what is inside the garbage bags.
Fortunately, consumers no longer have to bring mercury into their homes through the use of fluorescent lights. There are now sensible alternatives. One of the most eco-friendly options is LED light bulbs which are not only mercury free, they’re also 300% more energy efficient than fluorescent lights (and about 1000% more efficient than incandescent lights).
One great advantage about LEDs is that they are difficult to damage with external shock. Fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, are easily broken if dropped on the ground. LED lights contain absolutely no mercury or toxic chemicals, and conventional LEDs are made from a variety of inorganic semiconductor materials. They don’t generate RF wavelengths that cause radio interference, or emit ultraviolet (UV) light — so LEDs will not readily attract bugs and other insects.
For all these very good reasons and to contribute to saving the Earth, when you need to replace a light bulb in your house, chose a LED light bulb. All together we can make a difference and at least keep Nosara’s rivers and ocean clean.
Suntrica’s Wearable Solar Chargers
Next time you head to the park, consider bringing a Suntrica wearable solar charger. The Suntrica SolarBadge and SolarStrap are pocket-sized, durable, lightweight chargers covered in flexible thin film solar panels.
The SolarBadge and SolarStrap with battery store energy from their solar panels in an internal battery that can be used immediately or at a later date. The devices’ batteries have a storage capacity of 3.7 Wh, while the SolarBadge Pro has a capacity of 7.3 Wh. Suntrica’s battery can also be charged in a standard outlet or via USB. The SolarBadge and SolarStrap have a service voltage of 5 V–meaning they can be used to charge phones, GPS systems, media players, and more. Both devices can be attached either to your body or to a backpack. The badge has a hook and loop fastener and, as you might have guessed, the strap just straps on. Suntrica’s devices are far from the first portable solar power chargers, but their durability and versatility make them ideal for everyday use.
CelluBlox Building Blocks from Recycled Materials
CelluBlox is a man made building block – similar in some ways to cinder blocks but made with a high percentage of recycled materials.
“… CelluBlox … is a structural building block made from recycled materials. It averages a rate of about 89% recycled materials with no harmful bi-products … is virtually fireproof, with exceptional R-value and sound deadening qualities. Its incredible strength to weight ratio provides for ease of installation and a quality finish.”
” … a composite of materials, re-cycled and man-made products that when mixed together form an incredible bond. … were created to not only offset the cost of construction prices, but to allow eco-friendly people and those that are concerned about the devastation of natural resources, the ability to do something about it …”
Via: cellublox LINK
Mc Donough
The Wall Street Journal asked four architects to:
design an energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable house without regard to cost, technology, aesthetics or the way we are used to living. The idea was not to dream up anything impossible or unlikely — in other words, no antigravity living rooms. Instead, we asked the architects to think of what technology might make possible in the next few decades. They in turn asked us to rethink the way we live.
The results are fascinating. Where some might say that the green gizmo-covered single family house in Greenwich is over, this is the Wall Street Journal, and hey, they all have their old salaries back, the boys are back in town, so whatever, there’s no need to really rethink the way we live.
William McDonough + Partners envisions its house like a tree. The “bark” of the house is made up of thin, insulating films that would self-clean and self-heal if damaged. A curved roof with large eaves provides shade, which lowers the heat load in summer. The “trunk,” or the frame of the home, consists of carbon tubes, while the “roots” are a heat-pump system buried in the yard.
Cook + Fox's
Cook + Fox’s house reacts to the weather, turning dark in the bright sun to insulate the house from heat and turning clear on dark days to absorb light and heat. The façade also captures rain and condensation to fill the household’s water needs. Inside, walls and furniture are on rollers to take advantage of the fact that some spaces, such as bedrooms, are underutilized most of the day.
Rios Clementi Hale Studios
The Rios Clementi Hale Studios house has a garden façade that includes chickpeas, tomatoes and other plants. The plants also provide shade and cooling. A rooftop reservoir collects water and keeps the building cool, while rooftop windmills generate energy.
Mouzon Design
The Mouzon Design house uses tomorrow’s technologies — as well as ancient techniques to reduce energy use. Solar paneling built into the roof and façade provides electricity and hot water. The house also employs a “breeze chimney,” an ancient architectural tool, as a kind of air conditioning.
Mouzon's Breeze Chinmey
I have become a real fan of Steve Mouzon, as I become disillusioned with the idea that we can throw a lot of expensive heat pumps and photovoltaics on top of what we have always done and call it sustainable. He usually tries to use traditional techniques to capture wind and sun, but uses the Wall Street Journal exercise to go a bit overboard:
The top element of the Tower of Wind & Water is a wind generator that produces electricity. Nobody makes this exact shape of wind generator yet… many of the current generation of generators look as if they were engineered but not designed, leaving them inherently unlovable. This one, on the other hand, does its best to be beautiful while it is generating your electricity.
Eco Air Conditioning Ideas
Before there was air conditioning, human beings lived differently. In hot climates, in hot seasons, and at hot times of day, we changed our habits. We slowed down. We sat under trees or verandahs with fans and cool drinks. We took siestas and we slept out on our screen porches. We soaked our bandanas and wore them around our necks. But no longer…
With the advent of ubiquitous central air conditioning, we are now able to live in inhospitable climates like the low deserts of the Sun Belt. We dash from our cold homes to our cold cars and drive to our cold offices to work, all while the sun beats down relentlessly around us.
Many people enjoy living in sunny climates if they don’t have to experience their actual temperature, and they are willing to pay high electricity bills to do so. Like so many technological advances, the benefits are obvious, the drawbacks, less so.
The Hidden Costs
Ecological Costs
Air conditioning functions by means of hydrofluorocarbons, which are still, slowly, being phased out because they destroy the ozone layer of our planet. Air conditioning is powered by electricity produced predominantly by burning fossil fuels. The spectacle of people turning up their air conditioners to protect themselves from the global warming which those very air conditioners in part are causing is more than a parody of shortsightedness—it’s a tragedy coming true.
A recently published study in Geophysical Research Letters predicts such a response of energy use to global warming. As the Southwest and Southeast summers get ever-hotter, carbon emissions for cooling down the booming cities there will spike, unless some radical shift in understanding develops very soon. Even today, at least half of a typical U.S. household’s summer energy bill is devoted to air conditioning.
Health Costs
Reduced air exchange with the outdoors can substantially increase the level of mold spores and off-gassed chemicals that you breathe. Air conditioning has been shown to aggravate arthritis, neuritis, and sinus problems. People who live and work in constantly air-conditioned environments are more susceptible to upper-respiratory illnesses, in part due to the significant stress a body experiences when moving through extremes of temperature rapidly and to the air-borne virus circulation that air conditioners promote.
When our bodies become accustomed to, and dependent upon, artificial cooling, they have a much harder time coping with real summer temperatures than they would have otherwise. We become more reluctant to go outside, and avoid outdoor activity and exercise—a vicious cycle.
Social Costs
These are less measurable but nonetheless real. If no one walks anywhere because it is cooler to drive, if everyone lives sealed behind glass, our sense of community correspondingly suffers. Viewing the world outside of our air conditioned spaces as essentially “unlivable” creates a truly unhealthy relationship to the planet that sustains us.
Green Alternatives
To successfully create comfortable indoor environments with few or no electric inputs, it’s important to understand how heating and cooling work, both in your house and on your skin. So, here’s a little bit of physics. Heat is transferred via three different processes:
- Conduction is the passage of heat through a solid, such as your home’s roof, walls, and windows.
- Radiation is heat traveling in the form of light, both visible-spectrum sunlight and invisible, low-wavelength infrared.
- Convection is heat being carried in the air as it naturally rises and circulates.
Keeping the sun’s heat out of your home by, for example, insulating your roof, is controlling conducted heat. Putting up awnings so that direct sunlight doesn’t shine in your windows is an example of controlling radiated heat. Installing attic vents and fans so that heat rises and leaves your house through the roof is a way of controlling convected heat.
You can look at it from the opposite side too. You are cooled by convection when air moves over your skin as the warmer air rises and is replaced by cooler air from below. Good ventilation creates convection currents: the faster this air moves, the more refreshing it is.
If your surroundings are cooler than you are, you will radiate your own heat to them, cooling yourself. The cooler your environment, the more heat you will radiate.
High Tech and Future Visions
Because air conditioning is such a large ecological problem, there are plenty of proposals for better ways to cool interior air. Some of these are already used in commercial buildings, and a few are even available for residential use.
Hydronic Cooling
Hydronic cooling, also called radiant hydronic cooling, is cooling by means of chilled water pipes rather than chilled air. It’s “radiant” because (back to the physics lesson) the heat emitted by the people in the room is absorbed by the cool water.
The most common residential delivery systems are via aluminum panels carrying concealed tubing mounted on the ceiling. If there is an existing hydronic heating system of tubes embedded in the floor, the same tubes can be used for both heating and cooling. The water is mixed with glycol and cooled by a heat pump, a cooling tower (in commercial buildings), or sometimes by means of well water or by passing underground.
Hydronic cooling can be difficult in humid climates, as the interior air must be fairly dry in order to prevent condensation problems. In some areas, combining them with an auxilliary air conditioning system (which dehumidifies) is a good solution.
Dehumidifying Advancements
New ways of dehumidifying are generating intense interest because most of the air conditioning energy used to cool buildings in humid climates is used to simply dehumidify them. Technology using desiccants, improved condensers and compressors, and even electrostatically-induced precipitation of water vapor are in development and trial phases.
Green roofs cool buildings (among their many other advantages), both by insulating from the sun and by evaporative cooling via plants giving off water.
These ideas are exciting, but the truth is, most of our home cooling needs can be addressed by simple, non high-tech changes in the way we build houses and live in them, and a bit of adjustment to the expectations we have for our personal comfort. With a bit of creativity, we can live without relying on air conditioning!
Clean Water Appears Out of Thin Air
The EcoloBlue Atmospheric Water Generator
Imagine a machine that makes clean water out of the air.
It might sound crazy, but it exists, and you can get one for your home. It’s name? The EcoloBlue Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG). To be honest, I was a little skeptical when I got an email about this product, but the more I learned about it, the more interested I grew—and I’m not the only one. Organizers of the Green Inaugural Ball nixed bottled water for an EcoloBlue machine, and the Global Green Pre-Oscar Party—supported and attended by Leonardo DiCaprio, Rosario Dawson and Neil Patrick Harris to name just a few—also had EcoloBlue’s AWG on hand.
EcoloBlue Atmospheric Water Generators
(AWGs) draw water from the air, with the home/office model providing up to 7 gallons (28 liters) of clean water each day. The unit features a stainless steel tank, biodegradable plastics, and a filtration system that produces water that tests better than most purified water systems you can buy. The AWGs work best at 50 percent humidity, so they’re perfect for reducing the effects of those hot, sticky summer days and nights. The down side, of course, is they’re not as effective in the winter months when humidity levels are lower. But the nice thing about these units is they will produce water as long as humidity levels are at 30 percent—and if they’re not, you can hook it up to a water source so your drinking water is still filtered.
Clean Drinking Water Anywhere
In addition to making their way into homes and offices, EcoloBlue is popping up in a variety of public spaces. The Frank Lloyd Wright Unity Temple Restoration is getting an EcoloBlue 28 for the historic site. The company has also donated a 200-liter industrial model to the Illinois Institute of Technology for the student activities building—and engineering students will get a chance to study the technology. Another great application is the AWG offers a source of clean drinking water in the face of natural disasters or in areas without clean drinking water. And since industrial units can run directly off a solar panel or on wind power, they aren’t reliant on the power grid.
EcoloBlue’s Hefty Price
To put it bluntly, they’re not cheap, but at $2,000, the EcoloBlue 28 home/office unit is priced in line with water coolers. In the end you’ll save a bundle on costs compared to buying 5-gallon bottles of water. The average operating cost per gallon is just 20 cents for the EcoloBlue (for electricity), but most people pay about $1.60 per gallon for home delivered bottled water, assuming they use one 5 gallon bottle per week. In all, savings total about $364 per year, plus you’ll have ditched the bottle.
Green garden roof
How to transform any flat or sloped roof in garden roof
I found this company’s product (Hydrotech) that allows you to transform you existing roofs into a garden roof.
Hydrotech’s Garden Roof® Assembly allows the design professional to transform virtually any flat or sloped roof into a landscaped environment. Designed as a lightweight, low profile system, the Garden Roof Assembly can be safely installed on roof and plaza decks not engineered to handle the heavy load requirements of a traditional green roof. And because the assembly incorporates Hydrotech’s Monolithic Membrane 6125®, a proven roofing/waterproofing membrane, the building owner can be assured of a water-tight structure.
The Garden Roof provides building owners and tenants with many ecological, technical and economic benefits.
Garden Roof Assembly
The Garden Roof® Assembly combines Hydrotech’s superior waterproofing technology with a system of drainage/water retention components. The following components are installed, working from the roof deck on up…
Roofing Membrane -
Monolithic Membrane 6125EV® is a hot, fluid applied, rubberized asphalt produced with a minimum 25% recycled content. MM6125EV is the industry’s premier waterproofing membrane, offering tenacious bond to substrate, no seams, simplified flashing details and self-sealing capabilities. MM6125EV is applied only by authorized, trained applicators. The MM6125EV is applied in two coats, with a layer of fabric reinforcement between layers, to a thickness of 215 mils.
Protection Course/Root Barrier -
For extensive roofscapes Hydroflex 30 (our standard protection layer) and Root Stop work together to prevent roots from penetrating the waterproofing/roofing membrane. For intensive roofscapes Hydroflex RB a heavy-duty protection course/root barrier or Hydroflex 30 with Root Stop HD (our heavy duty root barrier) must be used. Hydroflex RB is intended for more intensive roofscapes or plaza decks which will be subject to high amounts of construction traffic or where plants with deeper and more aggressive root structures are to be planted.
Insulation/Air Barrier -
Dow STYROFOAM® is a CFC free, closed cell, extruded polystyrene that exhibits high compressive strength and moisture resistance, while maintaining excellent long term insulation value. Use of insulation is optional, (not depicted) depending on the thermal value requirements of the structure.
Water Retention -
Depending on the needs of the vegetation, additional water retention can be achieved through the use of a Moisture Retention Mat. Moisture Mat is composed of recycled, non-rotting, polypropylene fibers stitched through a polyethylene carrier sheet that is rolled out over the root barrier or insulation/air layer.
GardendrainDrainage/Water Storage/Aeration -
Garden Drain
Gardendrain™ provides superior water drainage, water storage, and aeration to create a harmonious balance of air and water in the substrate soil. Gardendrain is available in a variety of profiles for use in extensive and intensive assemblies, and are lightweight panels of 100% recycled polyethylene, molded into specially designed retention cups and drainage channels. The unique design allows for the free drainage of excess water, achieving flow rates from 2.5 to 28 times higher than that of conventional drainage methods. At the same time, the system is engineered to promote irrigation through capillary action and evaporation into the soil/vegetation level. Gardendrain is installed loose-laid over the Moisture Retention Mat or insulation. It is easily cut to fit around penetrations, perimeters, and drains. In intensive applications, the retention cups are typically filled with mineral soil.
Filter Fabric -
Systemfilter is a geotextile filter sheet made of non-rotting, non-woven polypropylene fibers. It is highly resistant to all natural acids and alkalis, and chemically neutral. Systemfilter is unrolled over the entire roof area completely covering the Gardendrain element in both extensive and intensive systems.
Soils -
While the heart of the Garden Roof is the drainage/water retention elements, the most critical part of any green roof system is the soil. LiteTop® lightweight engineered soil provides a stable structure for the anchorage of the plants’ root system, while remaining as light as possible to prevent excess loading of the roof structure. It also supplies essential nutrients, water and oxygen. Contact Hydrotech for soil specifics.
Vegetation -
A wide variety of typical landscape/garden plants aresuitable for a Garden Roof. The selection of the appropriate plants depends on the building construction, anticipated use of the roofscape, whether an extensive orintensive roofscape is desired and the local climatic conditions. Typical characteristics for plants utilizedin Extensive Garden Roof assembliesinclude shallow root system, resistance to direct radiation,regenerative, and drought, frost and wind resistant. A much larger variety of choices are available for intensive roofscapes, including sod grass lawns, perennial flowers, shrubs and even small trees.
Codes/Certification -
Monolithic Membrane 6125EV has been approved by several testing and certification organizations, including Underwriters Laboratories (Class A rating), Factory Mutual (Class 1 Roof Cover), ISO 9001-2000 and the British Board of Agrement. Standards are currently being developed within the United States for green roofs and their components. Hydrotech’s components are manufactured to be in conformance with various German construction standards (DIN, FLL, DDV) which are considered to be the benchmarks in the green roof industry.
If you want to know more about this company:
http://www.hydrotechusa.com/garden-roof.htm
Residential Solar Power – Financial Benefits and Advantages
Many home owners yearn to utilize residential solar power. However as they encounter the expenses of installing home panels, they get disillusioned. The initial costs needless to say can be exorbitant and this prevents many from buying their own home solar panels. But then, people must realize that these are just one-time expenses and should consider such as investments – which they actually are. There are many benefits for people who decide on using residential solar power.
For one thing, there are some US states which boast of credits on taxes or even rebate programs that their residents can take advantage of. Residential solar panels are also a sort of financial blessing to many home owners who are able to produce surplus electrical power as the excess electricity can be sold to the local utility. So obviously there is a way on which one can actually recover the initial expenses that he paid for his home solar panel.
For those who have little means of paying for their residential solar power, that are ways by which the government can be of help in financing home owners who want to install solar energy systems. Other means that can be of help to individuals and companies in purchasing solar energy panels are bonds, loans and grants, which are likewise available from the appropriate government and private agencies. Image credit: larkspurlazuli
