GreenSource

GreenSource Magazine's website as excellent resources for design students, architects, developers, or anyone interested in sustainable design. The web page has links to news, projects, products, technology, books, forums, photos, blogs and more.

Lead by Example

Many architects are jumping onto the "green" band wagon and most are willing to design to at least a certain shade of greenness but how green are designs themselves in their actions and lifestyle. Two architecture firms in Texas are leading by example when it comes to sustainable design. The case study explains how two architecture firms came together and bought an old junkyard to convert into new studio space. I think one of the best aspects of the project was the fact that they used existing structures on the site instead of starting over and building from scratch. The case study also mentions many of the systems and details that make their studio space sustainable and in some ways these details are put on exhibition for future clients to see. There is hope when architects can turn junkyards into beautiful building. It also says a lot when an architect is willing to be the occupant in their own green project.

World Changing

worldchanging.com is an excellent source for reliable up to date environmental and sustainable news and information. The web page has links to focused topics. These topics range from industrial design, architecture, planning, politics, community development, business, and ecology.

Energy from wood or natural gas?

A Seattle energy company is starting a construction project to convert its boilers from their old natural gas boilers to hybrid wood waste/natural gas boilers. Some say that these boilers will produce more emissions than the natural gas boilers but the company says that waste wood (which consists of construction scrap, saw mill waste, and old pallets and crates) is carbon neutral because the trees converted carbon and CO2 while living. It may not be the cleanest energy source but in many ways it seems to be a positive change because it is a move from nonrenewable energy to a renewable energy that thrives off of the waste of other industries. I feel that the energy price increase will continue to motivate energy companies to take advantage of these newer systems due to the economic incentive. Slowly sustainability is becoming economical and effective.

Architectural Record

Architectural Record has a green tab on their web page that has several great resources for designers as well as news about current projects, technologies, and events.

Future of passive design

Although 'green-washing' seems to be accelerating like wildfire there are also many designers who are taking sustainable design to new levels. Getting Aggressive About Passive Design shared a few examples that showcase how designers are approaching passive design in new ways. It is critical to rethink design and build in ways that truly confront the energy needs of the twenty first century. Passive design forces designers and scientists to understand how the built environment interacts with the surrounding environment and it also reconnects the built environment to systems of nature and science. It will be interesting, however, to see how these aggressively passive buildings preform over time. The systems presented in the article seem to be very functional but I'm not sure how those systems will weather overtime. As the buildings age will the passive aspects of the building continue to preform the way they were intended? Only time will tell but design is a process, and designers will be able to learn and advance from these cutting-edge designs.

Greenerbuildings

greenerbuildings.com has a wide range of topics such as design, energy, materials, land use, water use, and waste management. Each topic has articles that inform the reader about current projects, issues, and stories within different disciplines from around the world. The site has good information but I am not all together sure how credible the writers are. It looks like most of the articles are written by people who subscribe to the site or by staff members. None the less it is a place in which to find news on green architecture.

How green can fast food be?

I read an article that stated that Chopltle, which at one point had ties to McDonald's, has decided to build two "green" restaurants. In some ways I really think this is a good example of "green-washing." The article mentioned a lot of technology that would be implemented into the designs and although I think technology can help boost energy conservation there is a fine line in calling fast food "green." I have heard many stories of fast food chains building "green" buildings but yet the philosophy of fast food is far from sustainable. I appreciate companies stepping up to confront these major issues that we currently face but we need to be careful what we call green. There are without a doubt different shades of "green" but as soon as we settle for "green" fast food joints we may be masking an even larger problem.

Reuse or Recycle?

I have heard of a lot of different groups starting do use steel cargo containers as materials within different projects. Most of these projects started at the residential projects but I just read an article in which a firm built an office building for the Army out of these shipping containers. The idea of recycling these containers is good and the article talks about the amount of energy saved in converting these containers but can't those containers be reused as shipping containers? I mean if we start building tons of building out of these containers then we will then need to start manufacturing more containers to use as cargo containers. I think it makes since to convert a container into a building if the container would otherwise be destroyed but if it could be put back into the shipping system that would be the more sustainable use of materials. Maybe at some point we will localize markets in a way that we will no longer need as many cargo shipping containers but until then these containers play a huge role in global transportation.

Design E^2

PBS has a great series on sustainability that is now in its third season. Each season design e^2 has a unique focus. The first season looked at the broad topic of general environmentally focused design. The following seasons focused on energy and transportation. Every episode focuses in on a certain designer and their design concepts and principles. Many of the episodes can be seen at the PBS website http://www.design-e2.com/

The Village Architect:

In this episode Brian MacKay-Lyons made several great points about the core of sustainable design. First of all he stated that the core problem with the western world is the fact that we over consume. So often we want to fix the problems we are in by buying our way out of them, whether that is buying "green" paints or Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) it is only masking the problem. Maybe we need to focus on limiting our means more than focusing on buying the right product. Maybe instead of buying "green" paint we could use someones "mis-tinted" pain that most companies and stores just throw away, or maybe instead of buying CFLs for every socket in the house what if we left the lights out in the unoccupied rooms.

MacKay-Lyons pointed out that architects needs to be timeless. So many of the modern era buildings we destroyed because the fad changed and the buildings were not near as "functional" as the architects had dreamed. Are all of the sexy images in the glossy architecture magazines going to be sexy in three decades from now?

My favorite thing MacKay said was a building will be under budget if 85% of a building was built with local materials and local labor. So often we over look the vernacular for the modern and so often we miss out on the potential of building on to that vernacular.