Today in Washington D.C. the AIA strongly voiced its support of bipartisan legislation that makes permanent a key energy efficiency tax incentive for owners and designers of energy efficient buildings and that expands its benefits to designers of hospitals, schools, tribal community facilities and... View full entry
Wasteful, inefficient, and pointlessly expensive to operate: most of Donald Trump's namesake properties, as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner's new "666" edifice, are oozing energy by virtue of their poor design and indifference toward conservation. A report by the IBTimes noted that:As of... View full entry
According to a press release from Apple, it will take six months to move all 12,000 employees into the 175-acre campus, which will officially open for occupancy in April. In addition to the 2.8 million square foot, naturally ventilated Foster + Partners'-designed "spaceship" building, the campus... View full entry
In terms of financial benefits to consumers from reduced utility bills, energy codes could save $126 billion dollars from 2010 to 2040. This equates to a CO2 reduction of 841 million metric tons (MMT). These savings are approximately equal to the greenhouse gases emitted by 177 million passenger vehicles driven for one year or the CO2 emissions from 245 coal power plants for one year. — U.S. Department of Energy » Building Energy Codes Program
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) evaluates impacts of model energy codes in residential and commercial buildings. The most recent assessment focuses on the current model codes and their prospective national and state-level impacts from 2010 through 2040. View full entry
Forming a closer, more harmonious bond between humanity and nature is the underlying goal of Javier Senosiain's organic or so-called "bio-architecture." His buildings often take the shape of organic forms--in one case, mythic serpent Quetzalcoatl--while simultaneously harvesting rainwater and... View full entry
Pretty much every element of MAD's design for the Xinhee Design Center factors in sustainability: water features, full-blown gardens and offices commingle on the six star-shaped floors that sprout from the central atrium, while an envelope of PTFE provides ventilation and shade.Solar panels occupy... View full entry
Christopher Hawthorne, in keeping with his exploration of the ever evolving urban identity of Los Angeles, reached out via the L.A. Times to Michael Maltzan to see if the architect had any ideas about transforming L.A.'s freeways from noisy polluting agents into civic amenities. Maltzan has... View full entry
In bone, the proportions of protein and mineral are roughly equal – the mineral gives bone stiffness and hardness, while the protein gives it toughness or resistance to fracture. While bones can break, it is relatively rare, and they have the benefit of being self-healing [...]
“All of our existing building standards have been designed with concrete and steel in mind. Constructing buildings out of entirely new materials would mean completely rethinking the whole industry."
— cam.ac.uk
Bioengineer Dr. Michelle Oyen of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering and her lab are working on ways to build artificial compounds that mimic bone and eggshell. Eventually, once scaled up, the compounds could be used as building materials.When the mineral compounds are "templated" onto the... View full entry
With over half of the world's population currently living in cities, and seventy percent of it predicted to be urban by 2050, Nissan and Foster + Partners have undertaken the design problem of creating a refuelling network that, among other things, allows electric cars to recharge wirelessly while... View full entry
Researchers at MIT have shown that by surrounding the filament with a special crystal structure in the glass they can bounce back the energy which is usually lost in heat, while still allowing the light through...
Usually traditional light bulbs are only about five per cent efficient, with 95 per cent of the energy being lost to the atmosphere. In comparison LED or florescent bulbs manage around 14% efficiency. But the scientists believe that the new bulb could reach efficiency levels of 40%
— the Telegraph
President Obama gave his final State of the Union speech last night, which prompted the AIA to issue a statement outlining policies it feels President Obama and Republicans in Congress should enact this year in order to bolster the health of the architectural profession. These include:•... View full entry
In this rush to urbanize, China also has an enormous opportunity to move toward a “new pattern of urbanization.” Chinese cities could fulfill their potential to be the most energy-efficient human habitat rather than stoking energy consumption. — NextCity.org
With a projected urban population of one billion by 2030, China needs a few more cities—but it needs them to be sustainable, a challenge that could be met if smart growth and planning is instituted now. According to this article, no perfect eco-city model exists yet, but certain practices could... View full entry
The Stevens Institute of Technology of Hoboken, New Jersey won the 2015 Solar Decathlon with their storm-resilient SURE HOUSE this past weekend. One of the crowd favorites in this year's competition, the SURE HOUSE scored the highest in seven out of the 10 contests, which put the team in the lead... View full entry
In the first, “Ideation” phase of the initiative, those working in the building efficiency area are invited to submit problem statements describing challenges that need to be overcome in order to promote better engagement with building occupants and to improve the ability to balance energy and occupant comfort objectives in a building. In addition to submitting problem statements, participants are invited to vote and comment on ideas that have already been submitted. — U.S. Department of Energy
