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During the first few weeks of August 2007, the American Midwest was devastated by heavy and repeated flash flooding as a result of Hurricane Dean and Tropical Storm Erin dumping massive amounts of rain on several states. And of the US$549 million or so in property damage that came from it, more than two-thirds was caused by water running off pavements or overflowing from drainage systems. So what's the solution? — Science Alert
Alongside a video that's quickly circulating on social media, Tarmac has announced a new type of porous concrete meant to help mitigate flooding by absorbing water.Capable of taking in some 4,000 litres in the first minute and an average of 600 liters per minute, per meter squared, the concrete... View full entry
The drought in California has gone on so long, and is so severe, that it's beginning to change the way people are designing residential communities — in unexpected ways, and unexpected places. [...]
There will also be a system for treating and sending wastewater back into the aquifer underneath the city. [...]
Not everyone is convinced it will use less water. Phil Desatoff is with a local water district that is suing Reedley over the development's environmental review.
— npr.org
Got some design solutions up your sleeve that could help alleviate California's ongoing historic drought? Check out Archinect's recently launched Dry Futures ideas competition, and submit your entry by September 1st. Have an idea for how to address the drought with design? Submit your ideas to... View full entry
These have been boom times for companies that rip out lawns and replace them with drought-tolerant landscaping, but now their business might be drying up.
The Metropolitan Water District said Thursday it would no longer offer rebates to entice homeowners to get rid of their lawns because the agency ran out of money much sooner than it expected.
That is bad news for [...] landscape contractor in Los Angeles. Grass removal has become about 40 percent of his business, driven by the rebates.
— scpr.org
As a result of the sudden end of the government incentives, some Los Angeles landscape contractors, that had made turf removal their main business in the past months, began laying off staff. The LA Times reports: "Turf Terminators, which ballooned from a staff of three to more than 450 over the... View full entry
Californians in May shot past Gov. Jerry Brown's water conservation targets in response to the drought emergency [...].
New numbers, released Wednesday, show that the state's ambitious conservation campaign is working, with statewide residential water use declining 28.9 percent in May from its baseline 2013 levels. The figures surpassed Brown's order in April to cut water use statewide by 25 percent.
— mercurynews.com
Click here to read the full report issued by the California State Water Resources Control Board.Drought-related news on Archinect:Enlisting the Internet of Things against California's historic droughtCalifornia Water Crisis? Now there's a board game for that!California Farmers Using Oil... View full entry
Lego's 57-year-old toy empire was built on plastic. But now the giant Danish toy company is investing millions into getting rid of it. By 2030, Lego bricks will no longer be made from ABS, the oil-based plastic in the 60 billion blocks the company makes each year. — Fast Co.Exist
Lego has already spent a good deal of effort trying to minimize its carbon footprint, including investing in wind farms. But the plastic toys themselves account for roughly three-quarters of their footprint. Three years ago, the company set a goal to find a sustainable alternative to... View full entry
Fittingly, Poolside’s version of “Harvest Moon” echoed off the wooden planks of the Broad Arts Center at UCLA on June 10th as a crowd of optimists, architects, and Ira-Glass lookalikes drank their way in and out of the opening reception for BI(h)OME, Kevin Daly Architects’ proposed... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
Whether you think Alex Garland's film "Ex Machina" is a mind-bending classic or a future camp hit (the Dancing Scene, anybody?), one thing is certain: the architecture of the real-life Hotel Juvet is stunning. Designed by Jensen & Skovdin Architects, the hotel is located in northwestern Norway... View full entry
The downside of giant banks of windows or glass walls, though, becomes obvious when the relentless afternoon sun makes the heat and stuffiness inside intolerable [...].
The makers of “smart glass” say they can address this problem. Smart-glass windows transform from transparent to opaque, and every shade in between, in seconds. They often rely on electrochromic thin films embedded in the glass.
The upshot: Less energy is needed to heat or cool a building. Shades and blinds become optional.
— qz.com
The people of Nijmegen aren’t taking their good luck for granted. With climate change expected to bring more intense storms like the one in 1995 (and a previous one in 1993), the city is embarking on a massive flood-control project. That may be expected in the Netherlands, a low-lying country where most homes are built behind protective dikes [...]. But even here, the approach underway in Nijmegen is unusual, and filled with ideas that river cities anywhere can learn from. — citiscope.org
Since breaking ground last summer, the U.S. Pavilion -- titled “American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet" -- has opened to the public at the Milan Expo 2015, which is now in its first week. The U.S. joins the more than 140 participating countries that prepared exhibitions and pavilions that... View full entry
The AIA and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) search the U.S. for sustainably designed projects that convey a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology in the annual Top Ten Green Projects. Now in its 19th year, the program is considered to be the most... View full entry
I have to admit to a degree of wariness when I first opened Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World, a new book edited by Jared Green and published by Princeton Architectural Press. The introduction makes some bold claims for a rather slim book with little text. “We... View full entry
The Holcim Foundation finally announced today the three winning projects for their global 2015 Holcim Awards. Every three years, the awards competition seeks architectural design interventions that address sustainable building and construction issues worldwide. As a global competition, the Holcim... View full entry
Even on a dry day, tens of millions of gallons of dirty water dumps into the ocean through the region’s vast storm drain system. The 3,500-mile network was designed and built to empty streets of rainwater, but tons of litter also flow into the ocean through the intricate system of curbside drainages, underground channels, pumps and creeks. Stormwater pollution puts beach swimmers at risk, particularly after it rains. Marine animals and plants can also get sick or die — LA Times
This is a really fascinating piece that attempts to trace how a cigarette butt flicked into a gutter in Bel Air could make its way across LA and end up in the ocean via Marina del Rey. Visualizations like this feel important because, while we may notice signs on the sides of the sidewalk saying... View full entry
