Cool Blue Roofs May Be The Secret To Energy Savings – on the amount of energy savings that could be realized if more buildings had ‘cool’ roofs, roofs that reflect rather than absorb sunlight. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Heat Island Group says a national campaign could save …
World’s first facade featuring light transmitting concrete opened to public – media facade designed by Carpus & Partner for RWTH Aachen University in Germany uses LUCEM-manufactured translucent concrete panels, part of their Lichtbeton series. Each panel is fitt[ed] with colour-changing technology, with the colours becoming brighter approximately one …
Earthen Architecture: A Technique of the Past Helping Us Toward a Greener Future – UNESCO and Building Green Futures are working together to build a women’s center in Palestine made out of earth, or mudbrick, an ancient tradition that’s excellent at conserving energy. … over one third of the world’s population lives …
Knocking Down Huge Buildings Quietly, Floor by Floor – Japanese construction firm Taisei has developed a new system for taking down a building that reduces noise and dust pollution dramatically. It involves housing the crew and machinery in a structure at the top of the building, called the “big …
Here’s a start on collections of ‘the best’ of 2012. Check back for more, suggest your favorites – this a live list. PSFK’s Top 20 of 2012 – with source of image Best of the best of 2012 science and tech articles – from the BBC; thanks to Oleg Kravtsov …
Cardboard cathedral being built in earthquake hit Christchurch – short news clip (1:45 min) about Shigeru Ban’s design for a cathedral made of cardboard tubes which is to replace the structure destroyed last year by earthquake. The city wants to use the cardboard building, designed to hold 700 people, …
Oscar Niemeyer died last week at the age of 104, a Brazilian master of modernist architecture famous for his inventive use of concrete and for the architecture of Brasilia. Type his name into Google these days and you’ll get pages of appreciations of his work. Here’s a selection – …
A Treehouse Made From The Trunk Of A 100-Foot Tree – park structure in Indiana uses every part of one huge tree trunk, assembled puzzle-like by Visiondivision. The shingles are maintenance free for 80 years.
Living Architecture Monitor magazine – if you’re into green roofs and walls, take a look at the quarterly publication Living Architecture Monitor. It works with the organization Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), and is focused on North America. Scroll down on the home page to see past digital editions. …
Venticool | The European platform for ventilative cooling – This is a just-launched website. See articles on the energy-saving potential of ventilative cooling at the end of the FAQ section.
New fluorescent lighting won’t flicker, shatter, or burn out – It’s called FIPEL technology (stands for Field-Induced Polymer ElectroLuminescent). Scientists at Wake Forest University have developed “an entirely new light bulb” that’s quiet, won’t shatter, is efficient, and lasts a very long time. The device is made of three …
New technology is piping sunlight into windowless rooms – South Korean and British scientists have developed patented technology that delivers “natural daylight to windowless spaces … without heat gain or loss.” A mirror tracks the sun throughout the day, reflecting its rays onto a parabolic dish, which then focuses …
Predicting material fatigue – about a concept developed by a team of German scientists for “self-reporting composite materials,” i.e. materials that detect fatigue, failure (for example cracking), or mechanical stress that’s happening inside the material. The concept utilizes zinc oxide tetrapod crystals as a filler material for composites which at …
A healthy grant to support healthy buildings | Official Google Blog – Google recently gave $3 million to the USGBC to support research into green building materials, especially in the workplace. Read more about it on BuildingGreen: In one of the biggest announcements to come out of Greenbuild 2012 in …
Safer Self-Healing Coating for Aerospace Aluminium – don’t know if this applies to building materials, but it sounds like a hugely welcome development in what has been a very hazardous process for workers.
Q&A: Robert Ivy, CEO, the American Institute of Architects | SmartPlanet – Ivy talks about how architecture effects public health. A huge area where design can affect public health is materials selection. Our choices of materials make an enormous difference in both individual and mass health. An unhealthy system can …
The bleeding edge of self-healing skin-like materials – BBC post about research being done by U of Illinois engineer Nancy Sottos on self-healing polymers. Inspired by human skin, Sottos creates plastics that “bleed” when cut and can heal themselves over and over again. Her work is paving the way for …
Kamppi Chapel of Silence – small chapel in a busy urban section of Helsinki was designed by K2S Architects. Light touching down on the curved surface and the feeling of warm materials define the space. The chapels inner walls are made of thick oiled alder planks. The furniture is …