14 Dec
2017
Ultra-green house in Seattle marries aesthetics and sustainability
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
This ultra-green house for a Seattle family of four has achieved an exceptional level of sustainability without compromising on aesthetics. Shed Architecture & Design designed and Hammer & Hand built the Madrona Passive House as a net-zero residence for former Microsoft program manager and renowned environmental advocate Jabe Blumenthal. With a super-insulated envelope and passive design features such as heat recovery systems,…
12 Dec
2017
SCHOTT Solar Company Breaks Record for Screen-Printed Solar Cell Efficiency
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | GERMANY
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Over the years, new solar technology has broken a few records including solar energy concentrationand solar vehicular speed. However this week, SCHOTT Solar announced that they had broken the record for screen-printed solar cell efficiency, after creating the world’s first monocrystalline screen-printed solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 20.2%.Previously the record efficiency generated by a solar cell was 17.6% and was done through the use…
10 Dec
2017
New solar glitter can make virtually anything solar powered
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Small, lightweight, flexible: these attributes when applied to solar cells hint at a far-off clean-poweredfuture to come. But Sandia National Laboratories is now one step closer to seeing the tiny bendy solar cells they’ve developed, which they call solar glitter, on the market. These energy-generating cells could easily be integrated in small gadgets like drones, satellites, or smartphones.Former Sandia scientist Murat Okandan…
08 Dec
2017
This green-roofed castle home in England is cooled by the ocean breeze
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED KINGDOM
Published by : Eco Media Asia
With its thick undulating walls and green roof, this villa in England translates the architecture of traditional Celtic fortifications into the language of sustainability. Tonkin Liu Architects‘s Ness Point House is a castle-like structure that protects its occupants from the elements while achieving a high level of energy efficiency. The house occupies a cliff top site in Dover, South East England, and functions as an airtight…
06 Dec
2017
Twin brothers convert organic waste into truly biodegradable plastic
Others | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
You know plastic waste is a problem. But Jeff and Dane Anderson, twin brothers in California, are trying to do something about it. They started a company, Full Cycle Bioplastics, to make a fully biodegradable plastic. They aren’t the first to do so, but they utilize cheap, readily available organic waste to make their bioplastic. Food waste, dirty paper or cardboard, or agricultural byproducts become compostable plastic…
04 Dec
2017
New fractal concentrated solar power receivers absorb sunlight more efficiently
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Concentrated solar power facilities are often large, sprawling across desert landscapes or the futuristic California of Blade Runner 2049. But smaller plants could offer a clean energy option for villages – if researchers could boost receiver efficiency. Sandia National Laboratories engineers have come closer to that goal with a fractal-like design for receivers that are as much as 20 percent better at absorbing light than…
02 Dec
2017
MIT students find a way to make stronger concrete with plastic bottles
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Americans consume 8.6 billion water bottles — every year. Of those, only 1 of 5 is recycled. Fortunately, a handful of MIT students have developed a solution to this problem, and it involves repurposing waste plastic bottles to reinforce concrete. Because the newly-invented method results in the concrete being more durable than existing concrete, plastic bottles may soon be used to construct everything from stronger building foundations…
30 Nov
2017
Off-grid village with game-changing green solutions blooms in the Middle East
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | ISRAEL
Published by : Eco Media Asia
An oasis for clean-tech solutions has bloomed in an unexpected place—the arid Negev desert. Located at Israel’s Kibbutz Ketura north of the Red Sea, the Off-Grid Demonstration Village is a hot bed for game-changing off-grid solutions that aim to improve the lives of people outside the grid and to provide a testing ground for eco-minded companies. Rapidly deployable housing, low-cost renewable energy systems, and experimental technologies…
28 Nov
2017
Green-roofed village shows a more sustainable way to rebuild after disasters
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | CHINA
Published by : Eco Media Asia
When the 8.0-magnitude Sichuan Earthquake devastated China in 2008, nearly 5 million people were left homeless. Rural Urban Framework, a non-profit research and design collaborative, saw construction in the wake of disaster as an opportunity to improve the lives of rural villagers through new building typologies. Their recently completed project, Jintai Village, is a socially and environmentally sustainable prototype for earthquake reconstruction…
26 Nov
2017
Zaha Hadid Architects’ futuristic KAPSARC named Saudi Arabia’s ‘smartest’ building
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | SAUDI ARABIA
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Despite its name, the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre (KAPSARC) is big on renewable energy, as evidenced by its LEED Platinum certification—the first of Zaha Hadid Architects’projects to receive the title. Located in the Riyadh Plateau, KAPSARC is a non-profit dedicated to studying energy and their environmental impacts. The futuristic, crystalline campus recently opened to the public for Saudi Design Week 2017, and the Honeywell…
24 Nov
2017
These hurricane-proof floating homes are packed with green features
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
These solar-powered, zero-emissions floating homes are packed with green goodness. Designed by Dutch architect Koen Olthuis with Waterstudio in collaboration with Arkup, an “avant-garde life on water” company based in Miami, the livable yachts operate 100% off the grid and feature waste management, rainwater harvesting and water purification systems.The 4,350-square-foot homes are equipped with 30 kW of solar panels,…
22 Nov
2017
Incredible “green dreamscape” made of recycled threads takes over a Taipei lecture hall
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | TAIWAN, ROC
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Taipei’s lush jungle landscape has crept indoors in the form of a “green dreamscape.” MVRDV and Argentinian textile artist Alexandra Kehayoglou transformed a 180-person lecture hall into an incredible sight with wall-to-wall carpets woven out of recycled threads that mimic natural textures like moss, water, trees, and pastures. Located at JUT Group’s head office, this wall-covering artwork references Taiwan’s sub-tropical environment…
20 Nov
2017
New green school in Kibera slum replaces original started by concerned Kenyan mothers
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | KENYA
Published by : Eco Media Asia
A group of concerned mothers started the Anwa primary school in Kibera, Kenya, where extremely disadvantaged children previously lacked access to education. Over time, the school has grown in attendance and needed a new facility that would replace the original 2-story ramshackle building. Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) designed the new main building in close collaboration with the school community as a model for sustainable, context-based…
18 Nov
2017
Recycled plastic paving company Platio installs first 3 solar systems
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | HUNGARY
Published by : Eco Media Asia
We’re so excited to announce that the Hungarian startup Platio, which designed a modular energy-harvesting paving system made with recycled plastic, has now installed their first three systems. Within a span of just two months, they developed projects in Hungary, Sweden, and Kazakhstan. And it’s not just sidewalks that now boast the solar pavers, but pontoons providing energy for ships, and benches where…
16 Nov
2017
Maryland grad turns recycled plastic bags into eco-fashion
Others | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Plastic is Trisha Cheeny’s bag. A recent graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she majored in interdisciplinary sculpture, Cheeny is looking to launch Pälemer, a line of clothing and accessories derived from used plastic bags and other recycled materials. Cheeny created Pälemer to “challenge ‘fast fashion’ and eliminate consumer waste,” she wrote on Kickstarter, where she’s raising funds for her inaugural collection.Cheeny…
14 Nov
2017
Researchers turn recycled aluminum foil into cheaper, eco-friendlier biofuels
Others | IRELAND
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Don’t toss your bagel wrapper in the trash just yet; scientists at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland say they have discovered a way to turn used aluminum foil into a catalyst to create cheaper, eco-friendlier biofuels. Working with engineers from the university, Ahmed Osman, an early career researcher at the school of chemistry and chemical engineering, has developed a technique that extracts 100 percent pure single crystals of…
12 Nov
2017
Evaporation could generate 2.85 million megawatt hours of electricity each year
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
In a world where much energy is wasted, valuable renewable sources may be disappearing into thin air. Scientists at Columbia University and elsewhere are working on harnessing electricity from the evaporation of water. According to Ozgur Sahin of Columbia University, water evaporating from the United States (excluding the Great Lakes) could provide up to 2.85 million megawatt hours of electricity per year – enough energy to meet two-thirds of…
10 Nov
2017
This giant Cup Monster wants Starbucks to use recyclable cups
Others | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
A monster created with over 500 old Starbucks cups prowled outside a Seattle hotel this week. Advocacy group Stand.earth created the Cup Monster to pressure the company to deliver a better, recyclable cup. Although Starbucks has trialed recyclable cups, when you order that pumpkin spice latte or mocha today, the paper cup you hold still can’t be recycled in many regions.Stand.earth says Starbucks…
08 Nov
2017
World’s first 3D-printed bridge opens in the Netherlands
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | NETHERLANDS
Published by : Eco Media Asia
The Netherlands just made history by officially opening the world’s first 3D-printed bridge. On Tuesday, Dutch officials celebrated the opening of the innovative bridge, which is 8 meters (26 ft) long and located near the town of Gemert. Thanks to reinforced, pre-stressed concrete and 3D-printing techniques, the bridge (which is primarily intended for cyclists) can safely bear the weight of 40 trucks. In total, the structure took just three…
06 Nov
2017
Google will be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2018
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency | UNITED STATES
Published by : Eco Media Asia
After 10 years as a carbon-neutral company, Google has announced that all of its data centers and offices will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy by next year. The corporate giant made quick progress towards meeting its goal, which was set in 2016 and will be fulfilled by 2018. In its 2017 Environmental Report, Google declared that it had pioneered “new energy purchasing models that others can follow” and “helped drive wide-scale…