- Emily Pilloton Discusses the Hippo Roller and other Designs for Humanity (Part One)
- Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design (Part Two)
- Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design (Part One)
- Andy Revkin - Climate in the Obama Age
- Fred Pearce - Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part Two)
- Fred Pearce - Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part One)
- Chris Goodall - Ten Techs to Save Our Butts (Part Two)
- Chris Goodall - Ten Techs to Save Our Butts (Part One)
Jay Knecht said: "What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]
gazelle said: "@ Dallas: The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]
Barry said: "Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda. He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]
JJ said: "Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]
Derek said: ""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]
Lloyd Alter has been an architect, developer, inventor, and builder of prefab housing. He now writes for TreeHugger, is an Associate Professor at Ryerson University teaching sustainable design, and has written for Azure and Ontario Nature magazines. In the course of his previous work developing small residential units and now prefabs, Lloyd became convinced that we just use too much of everything- too much space, too much land, too much food, too much fuel, too much money, and that the key to sustainability is to simply use less. And, the key to happily using less is to design things better.
Recent Posts
11.20.09
Houses Get Small (Sort Of) In Response to Recession
Witold Rybczynski On The Four Paradigms of American Cities
11.18.09
GEO Power System Preheats and Precools The Air with a Vertical Earth Tube
Vertical Farm + Fish Tank + Solar Power = Balanced Diet
Riding the Phoenix Light Rail System
Interview: Tony Gale, Corporate Architect at Starbucks
The Glidehouse Is At The End Of The Road For Green Modern Prefab
11.17.09
The Local Movement Comes to Forestry
Surprises From Greenbuild (Slideshow)
11.16.09
Ice Could Be Key To Storage of Renewable Energy
Cool New Evaporative Cooler From Speakman Sips Electricity, Guzzles Water
Caroma Makes A Toilet With Sink Look Elegant
Best of Show For Green Booth Design: Autodesk
ForestEthics Keeps Up The Pressure against SFI Certification
Steve Mouzon on Learning from Old Buildings
11.13.09
Recycling is Bullsh*t Redux: Let's Declare Nov. 15 Buy Nothing Disposable Day.
Greenward Ridge Vent Turns Your Entire Roof Into a Solar Collector
Smokey Robinson is Green Entrepreneur, Promoting GPS Guided Skylights
11.12.09
Al Gore Rocks Greenbuild
Vinyl and Asphalt are Green at Greenbuild
Toronto's Pearson Airport Display of Great Green Design
11.11.09
The Environmental Consequences of War
11.10.09
Bowled Over By LEED Lanes in Brooklyn
Toronto Gets Its Own Cycle Chic
Off To GreenBuild To Hear Al Gore, Find Green Gizmos and Goodies
Robot Bricklayer Comes To New York
Need a Nap? Rent a Sleepbox
11. 9.09
Rüegg Brings the Wood Stove Back Into the Kitchen
Inkjet Printer + Paper + Science = Cheap & Easy Pesticide Detection
Take Up Less Space With A Vertical Bed
The Politics of Plastics: Food Fights Over Bisphenol A
Do You Approve of Space Tourism?
Climate Change Denial: Where It Counts, It's Not Going Up
11. 6.09
Second Skin: A Pop-Up Room By Rene Siebum
Buffett and Burlington Northern: A Bet on the Past or the Future?
Treehouse Without a Tree By Benoît Fray
Yet Another Video of Amazing Japanese Bike Storage System
11. 5.09
How To Get Killed On A Bicycle
Another One Bites The Dust: Walter Gropius Buildings Being Torn Down in Chicago
Do You Pay More For Green?
Consumers Reports Confirms Bisphenol A Leaches From Tin Cans
11. 4.09
Do Vertical Farms Make Sense?
Your Own Personal Vertical Farm from Philips
Recycling Bowling Alleys Isn't Easy
Bark Design's Minimalist Studio Treads Lightly
Do You Eat Sustainable Seafood?
David Buckland at Creative Places + Spaces Conference
11. 3.09
Roca Toilet Integrates Sink, Grey Water Cistern
TAB Dining Table Turns Into Office Desk
11. 2.09
Spectacular Urban Transformation in Student Green Roof Design Competition
Before and After: 50s Ranch Eco-Renovation
Pop-Up Camper Looks Like Sydney Opera House on Wheels
Hermitage Hut By Dans Mon Arbre Adjusts to Climate
Design Challenge at Core77: The Future of Digital Reading
Book Review: Climate Cover-up, The New Hidden Persuaders
Triple Treat: Prefab Garden Shed With a Green Roof
Are You Getting an H1N1 Flu Shot?
11. 1.09
Save Energy and Keep Your Breasts Warm and Toasty
10.30.09
A Vision of a Green Future From Arup
How Do You Celebrate Halloween?
10.29.09
Ken Robinson at Creative Places + Spaces Conference
Richard Florida at Creative Places + Spaces Conference
Could Wind Powered Factories Make a Comeback?
10.28.09
Attacking the 100 Mile Diet is the News Meme of the Moment
In What World Can You Call Tetra Pak Green?
All Aluminum House Has Green Roof, Solar Power
Food Portion Sizes Keep Growing
10.27.09
12 Ways To Use Shipping Containers As Offices, Housing and Art
No Screw No Glue Barbeque by Joost van Bleiswijk
10.26.09
Environmental Reporter from UK Sunday Times on CFLs: RUN!
It Isn't Just A Helmet, It is an Ear-Pulling Navigation Device
Moto Designshop Figures Out a New Way To Deal With Cars
Keep Warm With Planet Green's Materials Guide for Insulation
Why Are Children In China Saluting Cars?
Just What We Needed Dept: The Buddy Desk
Book Review: Crude World by Peter Maass
10.24.09
George Will Is Gaga Over Michele Bachmann
10.23.09
Hometta Delivers Good Designs For Smaller Homes Off the Rack
LED Eyelashes Make Your Eyes Look Bigger
Are Solar Panels in a Parking Lot Meaningful or Greenwash?
Google/Guggenheim Shed Competition Winners Announced
SODD: Sustainable Building System from Édouard François
Transformer Furniture: Suited Case by Erik De Nijs
10.22.09
BioOctanic Tower: Vertical Farm Grows Biofuel for Gas Stations
Meadowlark House by Steven Learner Wins Chain of Eco-Homes Competition
Green Building Blocks in the Green Materials Guide
10.21.09
Clippings: Geoengineering, Wine in Boxes, Zero Waste
Graph of the Day: Television Makes You Poor
Mikou Design Studio: Green is the New Normal for Architecture
Sheetseat Cut From Single Sheet of Plywood
Stop Means Stop: Slate on Cycling
10.20.09
It Slices! It Dices! It Cleans Up After Itself! Introducing Panasonic's Robot Kitchen
10.19.09
Installing and Trying The Blue Bidet: I am Convinced
Gas in Afghanistan Costs $400 Per Gallon
Man Drives Wind-Powered Car
The Carbon Footprint of a Las Vegas Fish Dinner
Strange Bedfellows Fighting EPA Regulations for Great Lakes Freighters
Cities Need More Jane Jacobs, Less Marc Jacobs
Living with Less: Rubika Kitchen by Lodovico Bernardi
10.16.09
Quote of the Day: Marcel Coutu Buries Head In Oil Sands
The War on Cyclists and Pedestrians is Getting Ugly
Adaptive Reuse: Turning a Pumping Station into a Monster Home
10.15.09
Will the Smart Grid Be Watching You?
The Princess and the iPod
10.14.09
Facebook HQ Recycles 60s Computer Factory
A North American Journalist Describes Cycling in Copenhagen
10.13.09
Michael Pollan's Dietary Rules To Eat By
Canadian Transportation Agency Rules In Favor of Air Canada Over Intermodal Cyclists
Can Hunting Be Green?
Stairs Designed to Keep You On Your Feet
More "Design for the Greater Good" Speakers at Explore Design
Making it Fun To Take The Stairs
10. 9.09
Do Green Products Make Us Better People? No.
10. 8.09
Less Is More: The Half Christmas Tree
Terrific Treehouses You Might Be Scared To Sleep In (Slideshow)
Explore Design Comes Back To Toronto and TreeHugger is There
Shipping Container Radar Tower Proposed For Rotterdam
10. 7.09
Architects: Go Back To The ABCs and Design Buildings Like Letters Again
TreeHugger Deals (NOT!): FEMA Trailers For Sale
Our Car-Centric Built Environment Is Killing Our Kids
10. 6.09
Bisphenol A Makes Girls Mean
Innovative Infrastructure: Separating Cyclists And Cars With A High-Speed Ramp
7 Ways Fixing Building Construction Will Slash Greenhouse Gas Emissions
10. 5.09
Gourmet Magazine Shuts Down; We Will Miss It
Prefab, Portable Green Roof Installed In Toronto
Countdown to Copenhagen: Posters from the Past that Can Guide Us in the Future
Got A Shed Design In Mind? Enter The Shed Design Competition
10. 2.09
Vertical Farm + Amusement Park = Oogst 100 Wonderland
Happy Sixth Birthday, Worldchanging!
10. 1.09
Stop Using Toilet Paper; Get a The Blue Bidet
Green Roofs Help Fill Buildings: Good for Business As Well as the Environment
Working, Talking and Texting While Driving: Something's Got To Give
"Drive-Aid": Artists and Musicians Throw Concert to Save.... Parking Spaces?
09.30.09
Downloadable Designs: DIY iPhone Stand
Cars Make You Fat
Super-Green Eco-Home For Sale, £3.5M (US$ 5.5M)
KPMB Design The "Best Tall Building in North America" For Manitoba Hydro
Sending The Wrong Message: Electronics Retailer Urges Customers To Replace, Not Fix
Vert Catering Eliminates Waste, Delivers By Bike
Michelle Kaufmann Prefab Designs Live Again With Sale to Blu Homes
09.29.09
How Not To Have A Tailgate Party
Wretched Excess Department: SoleiraSun
The Kitchen of the Future Today
MADE Takes Canadian Design on the Road
Do You Pay Attention To Labels?
Greensburg Eco-Home Competition: Two Days Left To Look At Gorgeous Drawings
Be Careful When You Shop For Compact Fluorescents
09.28.09
Margaret Atwood's Year of the Flood Tour: This Ain't Your Usual Book Launch
Just What We Needed Dept: WowBacon
Only Three More Days To Vote in the Chain of Eco-Homes Competition
Transformations Seating: Designed for Deconstruction and Repair
Grow Your Own Meat in Electrolux Design Lab Winner
Do You Buy Green or Cheap?
"Passive" Heating and Cooling Is a Misnomer. It's Active.
09.25.09
Eco Harvest Wood: From Disaster To Sustainable Success
Liberal Media Elites Attack EPA Whistleblower
Goodbye Lego House: Next Time Get Planning Permission
Parasite Prefabs Cling To Walls, Bridges
09.24.09
EPA Looking at Regulation of Gender Bender Chemicals in Drinking Water
Canada's Prime Minister Prefers Donuts to Diplomacy
Transformers: The Genya Chair Folds Up Into Elegant Sloping Slab
Hydration Station Replaces the Water Cooler
Three Turbine Types To Be Tested in Bay of Fundy
09.23.09
Should Chrysler Get Rid of Dead Tree Owner Manuals?
It's Time To Rip Out The Stop Signs And Stop Blaming Cyclists
Holding Pattern: What To Do With Stalled Building Projects
09.22.09
Vote in the Chain of Eco-Homes Competition
Omega Hydroponic Garden Gets Five Times As Much Food Per Watt
Let's Get Small
Infrastructurist on Solar Roadway: FAIL
09.21.09
Gimme A Thermal Break: Get Rid of Radiator Fin Balconies
Aqua Tower Gets Proggy from PETA for Being Bird Friendly
Good Front Porches are Science as Well As Art
Do You Play "Thermostat Chicken"?
Quote of the Day: Witold Rybczynski on The Green Case for Cities
Curry Stone Design Prize Finalists Announced, Include TreeHugger Fave Rob Hopkins
09.18.09
Celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day on Saturday
Do Helmet Promotion Campaigns Instill a Fear of Cycling?
The Slow Movement Comes To Cars
Clever Rain Barrel Holds Its Own Watering Can
Beat the Flu and Save Money: Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer
09.17.09
Quote of the Day: Van Jones on Getting Becked
Poo-Poo Train Runs on the Weight of Sewage
"Weatherization" Window Salesmen Overselling Savings And Wrecking Historic Buildings
Do You Eat Fast Food?
Green Net-Zero Energy Housing by Mithun Shows How It's Done
09.16.09
Ponoko + ShopBot = 100K Garages: This Changes Everything In Downloadable Design
The History of Jobs In America
The Most Elegant Small Kitchen Yet Folds Into A Box
Fast Food: It Is Worse Than You Know
Poetry Instead of Advertising Graces Indianapolis Bus Shelters
09.15.09
Erika Storage Has A Place For Everything
Save Energy and Time With Ultrasonic Laundry
David Byrne Dreams of a Perfect City
Pop-Up Prefab Plopped on Paris Roof
More Stupid Tricks With LEDs, Furniture Department
Uni-Tool vs Multiple Tools
One Good Chair Competition: Vote On Where You Want To Put Your Rear
09.14.09
Junk+ion: Recycling, Upcycling, Just Turning Upside Downing
Reclaimed Spaces: West 8 Designs Botanic Bridge
Pellet Stoves Are Still Hot
Rm w Vu: Tall, Terrifying and Terrific Towers (Slideshow)
Jevons Paradox and Energy Efficiency
Does Recycling of Tassimo Cartridges Make Them Any Better?
09.11.09
Chartwell School Beats Energy Standards by 60%
Red+Housing Emergency Housing by OBRA Architects
One Good Chair Competition: Peoples' Choice Award
09.10.09
Green Machine Hooked Up to Geothermal Heat Source Makes Electricity Almost Free
Infrastructure FAIL: Fire Truck Sinks Through LA Street
Quote of the Day: Edward Hollis On Buildings "Built to Change"
Surprising Agreement On The Connection Between Obesity and Healthcare Costs
Preform Modern Prefabs
Bridges Are For People: Inhabiting the Bay Bridge
09. 9.09
Habitat Machines by David Trautrimas
Urban Sustainable Design by Jim Gall
More Evidence that Wood and Natural Materials Store Carbon
Beautiful Economy: Bynya House by Andrew Coomer
Phil Kerpen Explains How and Why He Went After Van Jones
One Good Chair Competition: BAMTAK Chair
Are You Concerned About GM Food?
09. 8.09
The Federation for the Advancement of Time Needs Your Help
World's Tallest Modular Prefab Almost Complete
Maja: Prefab from Finland Treads Lightly
One Good Chair Competition: Help Pick the People's Choice
Trash Temple Built of 100 Tons of PET Bottles
Modularean Eco House By David Baker and Partners
Teton Valley Community School Wins Open Architecture Challenge
Can Environmentalism Be Separated From America's Culture Wars?
09. 7.09
So What's Wrong With Carbon Offsets As Indulgences?
Happy Labour Day (And That Is How You Should Spell It)
09. 6.09
Could a Solar-Hydrogen Economy Supply All our Energy Needs?
Van Jones Resigns as White House Advisor
09. 4.09
Toronto Bike Tragedy "The Story None Of Us Can Stop Talking About"
Do You Have A Cellphone?
09. 3.09
Office Folds Up Into Retro Steamer Trunk
Quote of the Day: Prince Charles On Sprawl
"Buycott" at Whole Foods Organized in Support of John Mackey
Jargon Watch: "Transportation Energy Intensity" of Buildings
Bill Lishman's Underground Dome Home
Yellow is the New Green: The Pee Tree Provides Convenient Urban Collection
Prefab Pod House Design By Broissin Architects
200 Year Old Alpine Hut Looks Like It Has A Few Years Left In It
Are You Shocked By The Treatment of Baby Male Chicks?
09. 2.09
Shanghai Pavilion is Built From Recycled CD Cases
Update on Toronto Cyclist's Death : It Gets Complicated
SIGG Folds, Offers (Not Quite) Free Replacement of Bottles Made with BPA
Sex Sells, But Is It Right for the Green Message?
09. 1.09
Selfish, Uninformed Europeans Hoarding Incandescents as Ban on 100 Watt Bulbs Takes Effect Today
New Buildings from Old Bunkers in Bremen
Transparency is the New Black
Why Does California Burn Every Summer?
Your Choice of Chocolate Matters (Slideshow)
Former Attorney General in Cyclist/Driver "Altercation"
Will You Switch to an E-Book?
08.31.09
New York Times Behind the Times on LEED
buBle is More than a Tent, Less than a House
Transformer Furniture Gets Affordable
BauBike is Tribute To Bauhaus
What Is Your "Top Concern?"
08.28.09
Quote of the Day: Michael Pollan on Boycotting Whole Foods
Are the Galapagos Being "Regreened?"
Are We Entering a Nuclear Renaissance?
08.27.09
A Picture is Worth....42 Folding Bikes vs. One Car
Bring Back the Mini!
Elizabeth Kolbert Goes After Green "Stunts"
Is It Time For A Higher Gas Tax in the USA?
08.26.09
NYC Bike Helmet By Yves Behar is Latest Fashion Accessory
Spacing Makes Urbanism and Planning Hip
Why are Old Buildings Like Green Gadgets?
BPA Industry Fights Back with Tobacco Industry Tactics
Are Young People the Most Wasteful?
08.25.09
Wood Construction Goes Seriously Vertical. But Does it Really Sequester Carbon?
"Common of Houses" Competition Results Could Actually Work
Tic-Tac House Components Move with your Mood
Are You Throwing Out Your SIGG?
Today's Toxin: Atrazine, the Weed Killer in your Water
08.24.09
RIP: London's First Living Wall Isn't Any More
Canadian Medical Association Calls for Ban on Triclosan
Fight Global Warming: Support Your Neighborhood Stores
Cob House Built For Less Than $3,000
Do You Care If They Stop Saturday Mail Delivery?
Does the Benefit of Community Based Tourism Trump the Carbon Footprint?
Find a BPA Free Alternative To SIGG
08.21.09
Double Your Chance of Obesity and Heart Attack with the KFC Double Down Sandwich
Floating Spaceframe Home by Copenhagen's N-55
Should I Dump My Old Sigg That Was Made With BPA?
Rethinking the Kitchen: Flow2 kitchen by Studio Gorm
They Are Building Bicycle Superhighways in Copenhagen
Cyclists Cause Less Than 10% of Bike/Car Accidents
SIGG Update: Did We Get It Right?
08.20.09
Marketing 101: Humor and Style Sells, Even With A Tough Market
Vancouver Approves Laneway Housing
When it Comes to Fridges, Small is the New Big.
How To Turn Your Car Into A Clunker: Kill a Cyclist
SIGG Bottles Now BPA Free. But What Were They Before?
The Wildlife of Ecuadorian Amazonia (Slideshow)
Should "Progressives" Boycott Whole Foods Over CEO's Statements on Health Care?
08.19.09
Are Flush Toilets Appropriate in Third World Countries? (Slideshow)
Ice Bear Thermal Storage Units Come to Canada's MEC
Quote of the Day: Thomas Edison on Waste
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
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