There’s a new green building material on the market that is light, strong, and flexible, and can be made into just about any shape, including complex molded shapes, without the need for any glues, harmful chemicals, or toxic ingredients. This material, called ECOR, is a high-strength fiberboard made using only water, heat, fiber, and pressure,…
Author Archives: Guest Contributor
21
Jul
Jul
John Perlin’s book, “Let It Shine: The 6000-Year Story of Solar Energy,” tells of a scheming thirteenth century priest/scientist who tries to convince the Pope to start a solar weapons’ race by showing him a treatise written by an early Muslim geometrician regarding solar burning mirrors. Had solar energy lived up to its threat as…
16
Jun
Jun
Originally published on Renew Economy. A small terrace house in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe is hosting what is believed to be the world’s first building integrated solar system that generates electricity as well as heat. The array combines thin…
15
Jun
Jun
Smart home technology often seems like something out of The Jetsons – but it’s a fast growing industry, with equipment that can control all elements of daily living. Modern seniors are looking to age in place and reduce their environmental impact…
05
Feb
Feb
As the focus for sustainability has been gaining strength throughout the last decade, many developers are trying to accommodate the mindset. Standardized rating systems provide a measure for those developers to strive for in order to connect to a growing market need. While some of these rating systems may have some good points to them,…
01
Jan
Jan
Does Robin Thicke’s notorious hit “Blurred Lines” contain secret references to graphene? We don’t know, but we are interrupting our New Year’s Day Walking Dead marathon to bring you news that graphene, the notoriously hard-to-handle nanomaterial…
06
Dec
Dec
Special thanks to Ed Ryan, developer of the circhouse, for providing GBE with this guest post. The circHouse is a durable, easily constructed, multi-use building which has been designed to serve many functions, among them, humanitarian and relief housing, offices for medical facilities, storage and logistics applications, and recreational, resort and lifestyle uses. The basic…
07
May
May
Steel is used more now, not only for building commercial and industrial proper ties, but also for homes. Statistics have shown that 50,000 steel framed houses were built in 1997 and an impressing number of 500,000 steel framed houses were constructed in the last 10 years.
Sometimes, the best technologies are the ones that are largely developed, but have yet to be widely embraced. An excellent example is the monolithic dome technology. A building technique that is faster and more materials efficient than traditional methods of building, yet produces a structure with enviable energy efficiency, low maintenance and near perfect disaster resistance.
14
Apr
Apr
Who says completing green updates around your home should take a long time and cost a lot of money? Here are some simple ways that you can enhance your home with products that are better for the environment, and save money.
13
Apr
Apr
This is the conclusion of Building with SIP series. Builders and potential home owners have the initial perception that SIP buildings are “kits” that you buy out of a catalog of predetermined designs and plans. This is not always the case. The home shown here are from a home built by DS Construction, a general contractor in Lake Tahoe, CA. We built a home using SIPs which were designed for conventional construction practices.
24
Feb
Feb
The tragic earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, has left much of the city in ruins, killed more than 75, and left hundreds missing. Even as survivors continue to be dragged out of the rubble, and survivors reel in their shock, it’s worth looking forward to how the city might be rebuilt to better deal with disasters like this in the future. Building for disaster resistance might be expensive today, but in the long run it is the very height of environmental and fiscal responsibility, as it prevents the great waste and expense of having to rebuild later.