SOLAR DECATHLON: University of Colorado Solar House

One of the biggest highlights from the 2007 Solar Decathlon comes from reigning victor University of Colorado- and the design is proving once again that the team has what it takes to be solar design champions. Committed to defending their 2002 and 2005 titles, the 2007 CU Solar Decathlon team...Read more at Inhabitat

BURJ AL-TAQA: Zero-Energy Tower for the Middle East

The recent building boom in the Middle East has given rise to some of the world’s most extravagant and innovative buildings. The latest proposed tower to sprout up among the ever-changing skyline is the Burj Al-Taqa Energy Tower for the Middle East...Read more at Inhabitat

Stitch Room by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

At the intersection of green design, space-making, and textiles, the Bouroullec brothers’ Stitch Room is one part design genius, one part child-like playtime. Known for designs that cross the boundary between furniture and architecture, the creations of this design duo tend to emphasize possibilities...Read more at Inhabitat

Heineken WOBO: The Brick that Holds Beer

The idea of turning waste into useful products came to life brilliantly in 1963 with the Heineken WOBO (world bottle). Envisioned by beer brewer Alfred Heineken and designed by Dutch architect John Habraken, the “brick that holds beer” was ahead of its ecodesign time...Read more at Inhabitat

PREFAB FRIDAY: Drop House

The Drop House landed on the prefab scene after winning the Modular Architecture Challenge in 2005 with its gorgeous aesthetic and easily-customizable system. A partial prototype was installed at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris at the time, and now, the stunning structure has been brought to life...Read more at Inhabitat

KVADRAT Eco-Friendly North Tiles

Flexible and easily reconfigured, North Tiles define space with sensuality and warmth, brought to life with materials and high standards of the indelibly green Danish company and the talent of French design brothers extraordinaire Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec...Read more at Inhabitat

Historic German water tower refurbished into green living space

In Essen, Germany, Architects from the Madako group have transformed an historic water tower into an imaginative space for living and working that showcases a fusion of old and new with lasting environmental considerations...Read more at Inhabitat

SIEEB Solar Energy-Efficient Building in Beijing

Photo by Daniele Domenicali

Static is not a word that describes the Sino-Italian Ecological and Energy-Efficient Building (SIEEB) at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Designed to maximize passive solar capabilities and fitted with state-of-the-art active solar elements, the SIEEB is a dynamic energy-efficient oasis...Read more at Inhabitat

DUSSELDORF'S Energy Efficient Stadttor Gate

City gates in Europe have a long history of being both functional and aesthetically important, and the Stadttor in Düsseldorf, Germany, is no exception. Completed in 1998, the double-skin glass façade building is a nod to traditional design but with high tech 20th century performance capabilities. Its energy-efficiency systems are some of the most high-tech and advanced we’ve seen, from sensors to radiant heating and efficient ventilation.

Designed by Petzinka, Pink & Partners, the Stadttor stands guard over the city’s sunken main artery. Two 16-story towers enclose a 56m high atrium designed to allow maximum natural daylighting, a citywide building ordinance. The interior glass façade features double-pane, low-E glazed doors operable at every other bay and high-reflectance Venetian blinds. At each story, a climate buffer corridor circulates fresh air between facades allowing natural ventilation for 60% of the year.

The Stadttor’s mechanical systems are fully computerized with 14,000 sensors located throughout the building to moderate and maximize energy efficiency. In winter months the structure uses on-site recaptured heat as well as excess thermal produced by Stromkraftwerks, an electrical plant upriver on the Rhine. An on-site geo-exchange system supplements heating with ceiling integrated radiant transfer that also serves the building’s cooling needs.

Cool, long-lasting lighting systems are centrally programmed but can also be controlled individually within work spaces. Natural daylighting, natural ventilation and humidity control provide optimum thermal comfort that enhances occupant experience and the building’s energy performance.

The Stadttor’s whole building design and systems allow a energy savings of 70% over a closed system, conventionally conditioned commercial space...Read more at Inhabitat

‘WING’ PERSONAL PORTABLE WINDMILL

Wind power is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy, yet most often its presence is felt only on the industrial scale, in large wind farms connected to the power grid. How great would it be for individuals to be able to power their devices through their own personal, portable windmill?...Read more at Inhabitat

The Concrete House: How Green is Concrete?

Australian Architects Peter Poulet and Michael Harvey contemplate concrete’s green side with The Concrete House, a free-flowing assembly of gravity-secured precast columns and slabs...Read more at Inhabitat

AGA KHAN AWARDS: METI School of Rudrapur, Bangladesh

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture recognizes distinguished architecture that encourages social development, restoration, re-use and environmental responsibility in the Islamic world. One of the winning projects, the METI School of Rudrapur in Bangladesh, is a great example of these values. The school is an amazing hand-built project that showcases great sustainable design practices and locally-sensitive architecture. Elegantly fusing local knowledge, readily available renewable materials and new construction techniques, the project maintains a traditional identity while embracing modernity in both its form and purpose. Volunteer architects Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag developed the design concept by considering local cultural, economic and ecological aspects. The school is based on regional construction and local materials but implemented with modifications that add efficiency and structural integrity, important factors in the densely populated, flood prone region.

To allow for a second story, the designers improved the bamboo structural system and lashing. They also opted for a brick foundation with a damp proof course to overcome the inevitable rising moisture in the earthen walls. The kiln brick detail enlisted craftspeople from a district 20 kilometers away. The rest of the construction was a collaborative effort between the architects, local craftspeople, students, parents and teachers.

The school building embodies many of the guiding principles behind METI (Modern Education and Training Institute) teaching, an initiative of the Bangladeshi sustainable development NGO Dipshikha. Learning with joy, team-based education, and utilization of nature are all elements of this Montessori-like school.

This hands-on connection was central to the architects’ vision. They wanted technical improvements to become part of local knowledge for application in future development. Locally available expertise, skills and materials are all a part of the school’s sustainability goals as an environmentally sound, structurally superior catalyst for the local economy and education system.

At the center of the project are the students themselves, many who helped form the thick walls that keep their classrooms cool and hung the shutters that allow natural daylight and ventilation. Under the shaded garden façade where colorful sari material contrasts the school’s earth tone walls, the students of the METI School leave their shoes along an expansive veranda and enter the handmade structure built to bring out the best in them. It is with intent that the principles guiding their education take form in the building that surrounds them. The structure, like the program within, serves as a wonderful example for a sustainable future.

The METI School in Rudrapur is a recipient of a 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The project has also been recognized by the 2007 International Bamboo Building Design Competition as a Visionary Design for Ecological Living, received a 2006 AR Award for Emerging Architecture and the 2006-07 Kenneth F. Brown Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Awards.

+ METI School
+ Donate to the school here Read more at Inhabitat

AGA KHAN AWARDS: Royal Netherlands Embassy

With a site-integrated, passive solar design, the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia pays homage to the surrounding nature and cultural diversity with an inherent sensitivity to place. Surpassing functional constraints, the structure’s design quietly supports security while placing emphasis on experience, encounter and efficiency.

Architects Dick van Gameren and Bjarne Mastenbroek used the site’s existing topography to integrate the embassy’s main building into the landscape. Surrounded by a dense eucalyptus grove, the structure rests along sloped terrain on an east-west axis. Combined with highly insulated concrete walls, floors and ceilings, the orientation captures natural solar and thermal processes to heat, cool and ventilate, minimizing dependence on mechanical systems.

Like the country that surrounds it, the embassy building reflects a convergence of cultures. The texture and tones of the walls and roof mimic the red-ochre earth of Ethiopia and regional architecture like the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. On its roof, a garden of shallow pools and raised islands suggest the low-lying landscape of the Netherlands.

As a stunning example of a building concept that responds to its cultural and ecological surroundings, the Royal Netherlands Embassy design has been honored with a 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The award recognizes distinguished architecture that encourages social development, restoration, re-use and environmental responsibility in the Islamic world. Dutch architects Dick van Gameren and Bjarne Mastenbroek share the award with Ethiopian firm ABBA Architects.

+ Aga Khan Award for Architecture
+ Aga Khan Development Network
+ Royal Netherlands Embassy Read more at Inhabitat

OFF LIGHT SWITCH HANGER by Die Electric

With OFF, the light switch hook from Die Electric, form follows function and then some. OFF is a fully functional light switch that doubles as a place to hang essentials when in the OFF position – prompting the user to choose to save electricity...Read more at Inhabitat

ELECTRIC CORD SHELF by Die Electric

Die Electric is an experiment in powering down and rethinking electrical components for uses other than just spinning the meter. Case in point: SHELF. Using a cut power cord, SHELF forms a rigid surface for storage making energy sucking fixtures the second choice...Read more at Inhabitat

SOLAR BOTTLE: Water-purifying drinking container

Good design can save lives and improve human society. That’s the thought behind the Solar Bottle by Italian designers Alberto Medo and Francisco Gomez Paz. Winner of a 2007 INDEX award, the sleekly designed Solar Bottle uses simple solar technology to...Read more at Inhabitat

Medlock Ames Solar-powered Winery

In a sunny valley of Sonoma County two winemakers have forged green building, renewable energy and biodynamic agriculture into a bountiful endeavor. Founded in 1998 by Christopher Medlock James and Ames Morison, the Medlock Ames Winery has come to full fruition beautifully...Read more at Inhabitat

BORDBAR RECYCLED AIRPLANE TROLLEYS

A scratch here, a ding there – it’s all part of the charm that Bordbar airplane trolleys bring to their second life on the ground. When retired from long hauls at a comfortable cruising altitude, these functional pieces get a redesign from Cologne-based creative...Read more at Inhabitat

Extreme Solar Living: The Gemini Haus

What’s one way to ensure the sun always shines on your photovoltaic array? Act like a planet, or at least look like one. This extreme home’s round design allows the solar equipment to rotate with the sun...Read more at Inhabitat

GREENLIGHT CONCEPTS Reclaimed Traffic Light Lamps

Imagine if sitting at a stoplight created ambiance instead of idle time. This idea, together with the desire to divert old traffic lamps from landfills, is the vision behind Greenlight Concepts’ beautifully recycled traffic-light lamps. Crafted from reclaimed traffic lights, these fixtures tap into the waste stream...Read more at Inhabitat