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posts tagged "sustainable design"

Wind Turbine/Solar Light Lamps

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Tadd Miller

mixed-use-lights-300x300As long as we are an automobile driven society, no real hope for true sustainability exists, however, I am hopeful that the pace of technological innovation, government underwriting, and public perception will help make some impact to trend toward a sustainable future. In my constant quest to attempt to make my personal lifestyle as well as my projects more sustainable, I am very curious to see both the viability and the impact of all the crazy gadgets and information currently coming to market. My real question is how much is marketing to take advantage of the current sustainability perception vs. financially viable. I am hopeful the current trends and momentum really do create some game changing innovation for real sustainability.

With that being said, I am always intrigued by the options developers have for carbon footprint reduction with minimal time and costs when they design a new project. This week alone I circumstantially ran across a few different products that piqued my interest that I am interested to see the reality of their implementation and actual viability, such as:

It will be interesting to me to check these out in 3 – 5 years, and see what their impact is and if they are still viable sources for continued sustainability.

This entry was posted in Design, Sustainability and tagged solar, sustainable design, construction products, sustainability, wind energy

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Passive housing

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Greg Martin

mixed-use-sun-300x223While the focus on conserving energy seems mostly focused on renewable energy, there is another alternative that can also complement other sustainable practices. Passive housing design incorporates building orientation, window types, building materials, etc. to capture and store as much solar energy in homes as possible. A friend of mine, Melissa Baldridge, writes on her post, Live Outside the Box, on June 15, 2010, that energy costs are nearly zero for houses designed to be so tight that they joke “that you can heat them with a hair dryer.” It is an interesting read. In it she highlights the benefits that the Europeans are experiencing from housing standards which promote energy conservation. If we can figure out how to incorporate some of these techniques into mixed use and multi-family projects, then there could be substantial operational costs savings. Whether the tenants or the owners are saving money, there will be value created.

This entry was posted in Housing, Sustainability and tagged mixed use, energystar, LEED, solar, sustainable design

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