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“We are simply not making significant strides in crucial metrics that predict building performance,” states Greg Mella, FAIA, Director of Sustainable Design at SmithGroupJJR and co-chair of the AIA 2030 Working Group, in a new report that gauges the progress made by firms voluntarily... 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
We might think that most of the carbon emission come from the industrial sector and livestock, but a new study suggests that the real environmental problem is represented by the things we buy. [...]
“We all like to put the blame on someone else, the government, or businesses ... But between 60–80 per cent of the impacts on the planet come from household consumption. If we change our consumption habits, this would have a drastic effect on our environmental footprint as well”.
— nextnature.net
You can read the full report, "Environmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption", published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, here.Related on Archinect:A cardboard and carbon-emission economy: the long-term effects... View full entry
How do building shapes vary from one city to the next, in particular with city size? And could this lead to a more general understanding of how energy consumption changes as cities grow or shrink? [...]
They conclude that on average, the shapes of buildings in North American cities converge on a cube-like shape as cities get bigger—that’s the most energy efficient shape.
That should have important implications for energy use in future megacities.
— technologyreview.com
