Tag Archives: green building

A Variety of Sustainable Home Options: Modular Lifestyles and Nueva Vida III

Off-grid Modular Lifestyles' Camper

Two different types of environmentally sustainable homes are being incorporated into neighborhoods or developed as their own neighborhood community across the country giving people the choice to not only be green but to be entirely sustainable in their living situation. They are Modular

Renovations and Repairs Can Boost Our Economy and Environment

Home renovation uses less material and more labor than new construction. When renovating and repairing an already existing structure, there’s less of an environmental impact as well as the potential tax credits, incentives, and boost to the local economy.

Bamboo Building: Good or Bad for the Environment

Bamboo has been lauded for its in home construction and building; however, some concerns have risen with the popularity of bamboo, including biodiversity, soil erosion, and chemical use.

Small Scale Designs Make Big Impact in Sustainable Architecture

Thirty years ago, couples looked to build sprawling homes. The American dream, a mansion on mass amounts of land was ideal. Now this concept is being re-evaluated and “go big or go home” no longer applies to architecture. Tiny homes that are easily constructed and are very sustainable are now in demand. These small dwellings are as beautiful as the giant structures of past generations just measured on a different scale.

Bahrain World Trade Center by Atkins

As sustainable design becomes a more common practice, it is the aesthetic appeal and technological advances which are used in collaboration with these practices that make each building more inspirational. The Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC) in Manama, Bahrain is a beautiful example of sustainability meets design. It was designed by Atkins with the goals…

Taipei 101 is World’s Tallest Green Building

It’s a common saying that size doesn’t matter, but nobody told the people who built the Taipei 101 tower that. The 1,666 foot tall building has just become the world’s tallest green building by achieving LEED Platinum certification in the Existing Building Operation and Maintenance category from the U.S. Green Building Council. Not only is this now the tallest building to receive LEED certification, it is also the largest scale building with a total area of 1.6 million square feet and the green building with the most tenants at 90.

The New Dali Museum: Sustainable and Beautiful Plus Designed to Withstand the Elements

Visitors have always traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida to experience the Dali Museum since it opened in 1980. In January of this year, 2011, the New Dali Museum opened and is receiving an exceptional response. The doors opened 1-11-11 at 11:11am for people to enjoy an incredible art collection within a building that is its own masterpiece.

Straw Bale Homes Offer Energy-Efficient and Cost-Effective Remedy for the UK Government

We all know the story of the three little pigs. The first pig who made his house made with straws got eaten by the big bad wolf. However, for homeowners and builders, homes built with straw bales may have redeeming qualities of being energy-efficient and cost-effective. It has become such an attractive green building material that even the UK government believe it has the potential to bale out the economic crisis felt even abroad.

“A typical straw bale wall is roughly three times as efficient as conventional framing,” says Andrew Morrison, owner of Straw Bale Innovations. “Over the life of a typical thirty year mortgage, this superior insulation can reduce energy costs by up to 75%, saving money and vital natural resources.”

AquaCity Poprad: A Water Park and Resort That is Environmentally Friendly

As temperatures climb higher and the summer sun shines brighter, many people look for a well-deserved vacation destination. Water parks are a high demand attraction and a costly one to the environment in most cases. But one water park is as entertaining as it is environmentally friendly. It is AquaCity Poprad in Poprad, Slovakia. This…

Let Them Eat Cake and Build a Solar-Powered Recording Studio

Cake decided to use renewable energy source to produce their sixth album, “Showroom of Compassion” which debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200. The band installed 13 photovoltaic solar roofs on top of their recording studio in Sacremento, Calif.

“We hired a company with great experience and competence, Borrego Solar, and they set us up with a way to break away from our dependence on the city’s energy grid,” said members of the band, “Working on a new album, we feel satisfaction in the common denominator of together embracing the unlimited resource of the sun.”

Green Cement: Near Reality Or Just A Dream?

Cement is everywhere. The foundations of our buildings, the driveways that lead beyond suburban garage doors, the walls of our schools, and the mortar joints between every brick we lay contain a binding substance we call Portland cement. Cement is the binding agent used to hold together the tough aggregate (rocky gravel) in the concrete…

Monolithic Domes Offer Sustainable and Near Perfect Disaster-Resistant Buildings

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.

Green Building 101: Originate’s Natural Material Showroom

A locally sourced place for customers and clients to go to purchase a large variety of natural materials, consult experts and experience the ‘green’ materials first hand is Originate. This is a natural building materials’ showroom located in Tucson, Arizona. “Originate specializes in interior finishes that are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, durable, and made from natural and renewable resources.”

Hinterland House in Australia; A Nature and Wildlife Friendly Home

A house built by Morris Partnership in rural Australia is a natural retreat with minimal impact on the environment and wildlife surrounding it. The house is known as the Hinterland House, for the region it was designed to be a part of.

Tulikivi Radiant Heat Fireplace Shines in NET ZERO Colorado Home

Custom homebuilder Clark Johnson, founder of Apex Mountain Homes in Silverthorne, Colorado, is living in one of his very own sustainable creations. Johnson’s states his NET ZERO home is one of the most energy efficient homes in the country, producing more energy than it consumes.

Alcoa Paint Provides Look And Texture Of Natural Finishes

Inspired by requests from architects around the world, Alcoa scientists in Merxheim, France, developed the Reynobond Design Line, a collection of Colorweld DL paint finishes so realistic that they’re almost indistinguishable from real granite, wood, travertine and terra cotta.

Green Building with Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs) Part Two

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.

LED Expansion of Intematix’s ChromaLit Lighting Collection

Intematix released their expansion to their existing ChromaLit Lighting Collection which expected to launch this week. Their expansion was in response to their clients’ reception of the original ChromaLit Collection launched in January of this year and their demand for more high performance LED lighting design options.