‘Round’ is perfect in nature, but ‘square’ is perfect for industrial standard. To illustrate, square tree would enable wood industry to lose less material, to cut easier with machines and to store more efficiently.

WaterSense labeled new homes by Vanguard will be designed to be at least 20 percent more water efficient than homes current]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/vanguard_builds.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/vanguard_builds.php less is more water conservation rivers usa water Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:11:45 -0500 Enough is enough according to the nuns at an ageing Victorian convent. They are tired of being caretakers for an old country mansion that is eating money in fuel bills and upkeep. Now they have commissioned a new home in the remote countryside that will be environmentally friendly. It will have rainwater harvesting, reedbed sewage systems, sedum roofs, recycled materials, a woodchip boiler and be built of responsibly-sourced timber. "We are supposed to love creation and respect the environment. We're living in and taking care of it." said the abbess. To that end they have hired Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, prize winning architects who h]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/eco-nunnery-in-uk.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/eco-nunnery-in-uk.php Design & Architecture architecture communities green building Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:27:42 -0500 Andrew Maynard plug in housing When I asked Is Home Ownership a Good Thing? a few months ago, the consensus was very much yes. Now some thoughtful people are coming down on the other side. Richard Florida:

Our reliance on single-family homeownership is a product of the past 50 years – and the experiment has outlived its usefulness. Not only is it now readily apparent that not everyone should own a home, and th]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/home-ownership-a-good-thing.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/home-ownership-a-good-thing.php Design & Architecture coop design housing housing industry urban life Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:25:18 -0500 We wrote a year ago about Michelle Kaufmann's assault of the booming prefab modern gingerbread scene, noting that "as the mortgage crisis deepens, this may be the only modern prefab market left." We are disappointed to note that whereas last year her house was a modest, one storey number, she has gone all McMansion on us with her GingerLotus, which is definitely more than we can chew in a sitting. ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/michelle-kaufmann-gingerbread-mcmansion.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/michelle-kaufmann-gingerbread-mcmansion.php Design & Architecture architects design food holidays Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:58:27 -0500 My favorite talmudic anecdote is from the Rabbi who noted "my life has been blessed, because I never knew I needed anything until I had it." I know exactly how he felt; How have I coped without this One Click Butter Cutter? found on Dvice. No wonder North American kitchens are so big, they have to accommodate all of this crap.]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/7-useless-appliances.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/7-useless-appliances.php kitchen appliances just what we needed kitchen untreehugger wretched excess Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:59:00 -0500 They are just so cute, those kids on the cement promotion site. The concrete manufacturers advertise themselves as green, and whenever we go to the trade shows, all the insulated form manufacturers are calling themselves "green"- there was a whole row of them at Greenbuild. My usual complaints are the amount of Carbon Dioxide generated in its manufacture or the damage done by aggregate extraction; now we have a new one: cement kilns are among the worst emitters of mercury on the continent. ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/laugh-when-they-call-concrete-green.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/laugh-when-they-call-concrete-green.php materials greenwash watch insulated concrete forms materials Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:41:40 -0500 Old Thomas Alva was no slouch with the elbows in the corners when it came to patent battles or discrediting competitors, and neither are his successors at General Electric. While we generally admire the company, we were not impressed with their announcement a year and a half ago that they were working on more efficient incandescent bulbs, that "In addition to offering significant energy savings comparable to CFLs, the 21st century version of Edison’s bulb provides all the desirable benefits including light quality and instant-on convenience as incandescent lamps currently provide at a price ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/ge-folds-on-efficient-bulb.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/ge-folds-on-efficient-bulb.php lighting business compact fluorescent light bulbs incandescent bulbs lighting Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:33:42 -0500 Lots of companies have "guides"- that simply take you around their own products. EcoTimber, (seen on TreeHugger here) which has been selling sustainably harvested wood since 1992, has produced a wood guide that is well laid out, fairly complete, and as they say on Fox, "fair and balanced"- a really useful resource if you are considering a wood floor. ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/eco-friendly-flooring-guide.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/eco-friendly-flooring-guide.php materials fsc materials renovations wood Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:04:38 -0500 Pop-out to a pop-up has got to be London's theme this month. Everywhere temporary shops selling Christmas goodies are appearing...and then disappearing. Last week's was an eco delight with ecological and green gifts for everyone and this week's caters to the design crowd. Brought to you by Designersblock, the group behind the most interesting displays at the London Design Festival, they are calling this a "pop up thrift shop, where people can find economical solutions to Christmas." Findings range from the beautiful ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/pop-up-design-shop.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/pop-up-design-shop.php Design & Architecture artists designers recycled consumer goods Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:08:12 -0500 Personal Computer Environments Photo credit to ifyr A "green ergonomic office" can refer to several different things. Today, we are looking at salvaging and reusing your current office equipment, rather than purchasing a whole new set. You may think that new and improved "ergonomic" stuff will vastly improve your office performance and comfort, when in truth, it may not be as much improved as you think. Voodoo Ergonomics Tony Biafore of Ergonetics has been in the ergonomic business for 25 years, plus]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/green-ergonomics2.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/green-ergonomics2.php Food & Health chairs news workspace buy nothing eco-friendly office living with less zero waste Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:43:05 -0500 Photo credit to Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com Setting up a green office has less to do with buying high tech ergonomic equipment, and more with using what you already have correctly. Buying less office equipment, means less chance for your old stuff ending up in the landfill somewhere, and quite frankly, no matter what you currently have, it is probably a lot more functional than you may realize. Sometimes the best way to reuse old office equipment, is to have never thrown it away in the first place. We spoke with one of the foremost experts on office ergonomics, Tony Biafore, to fin]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/green-ergonomics.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/green-ergonomics.php Food & Health chairs news workspace buy nothing eco-friendly office living with less zero waste Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:25:58 -0500 Thanks to the gang at Daily Candy for their great tip on new eco-store Hammocks and High Tea. The designs are described as "home goods inspired by life and fusion of the tropics" and the cute, simple designs are a beautiful touch to any backyard retreat or bedroom hideaway. All materials are eco-friendly, recycled and/or non-toxic, and make great gifts for a housewarming party.]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/tools-for-enjoying-hammocks-and-high-tea.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/tools-for-enjoying-hammocks-and-high-tea.php Design & Architecture bedrooms cotton design sustainable fabrics Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:00:00 -0500 Image source: Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Watching the world around us and the changes big and small that occur all the time, sometimes you just have to do something to reflect what you are experiencing. It is this need to create that brings Human Nature: Artists Responding to a Changing Planet to the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego. The exhibit, on display until February 1, 2009, is part of an artist residency program "investigating the relationships between fragile natural environments and the human communities that depend on them." In practice, that meant Design & Architecture Travel & Nature events brazil canada china ecuador education global climate change indonesia kenya mexico pictures san diego south africa Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0500 It is hard to build in Washington DC; there is a lot of history and a lot of approvals required. Surprisingly, it is easier to build there than it is the Canadian wilderness; that is what philanthropist Joseph Hirshhorn found out when he tried to build a new town "planned towards happy living" north of Lake Huron, with Philip Johnson as his architect. Blake Gopnik writes in the Washington Post:

Joe Hirshhorn, a child of the tenements, had made]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/new-town-philip-johnson.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/new-town-philip-johnson.php Design & Architecture architecture artists canada urban life wayback machine Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:19:14 -0500 Kokuyo Co Ltd has been in the news recently thanks to the creative new look for its office in central Tokyo. With a focus on reducing CO2 emissions and lowering power consumption, the stationary maker introduced LEDs, zoning that reduces the need for lamps, and divided the office into several areas. Such efforts have resulted in a 28% reduction in power consumption by the overall office.]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/kokuyo-office-reduces-power-consumption.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/kokuyo-office-reduces-power-consumption.php workspace carbon emissions energy efficiency green building japan lighting tokyo Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:08:57 -0500 Image source: Oeuf Oeuf (pronounced UH-F. Means "egg" in French), maker of children's furniture, toys and clothes, brings more multi-functional items that can age and change as your child does. Items are all manufactured in Europe from socially responsible manufacturers. The children's clothing is all very cute and has a very grown-up, European look to it.]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/oeuf-good-design-is-for-all-ages.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/oeuf-good-design-is-for-all-ages.php bedroom accessories bedrooms clothing furniture reusability united states Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:34:00 -0500 click here to enlarge But hey, with the US$ so strong, thats only $ 382,469 and it is for two dogs, so that is a lot less per dog. So what if people are hungry or losing their jobs, let them build doghouses. Inside:

the dogs will sleep on sheepskin-lined, temperature-controlled beds, soothe their aches in an 18in-deep spa, howl along to a £150,000 sound system and watch dog-friendly programmes on a 52-inch plasma TV. Automatic dispensers will ensure that chilled, filtered water and deluxe dry food are always available. The two dogs will each have a bed]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/wretched-excess-doghouse.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/wretched-excess-doghouse.php Design & Architecture conspicuous consumption pets UK wretched excess Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:41:19 -0500 Pikachu is full of helium, which the New York Times describes as "a finite and increasingly scarce resource, produced extremely slowly by decaying uranium and thorium." Like anything else, (gas prices anyone?) when it gets scarce and expensive, people start thinking about using it more carefully. So this year, instead of just releasing it into the air, the are going to try and recover it.

This year, workers from Linde and Macy’s will poke long wands into the chambers of the small- and medium-size balloons, sucking the gas out and into tubes. The]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/recycling-helium-thanksgiving.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/recycling-helium-thanksgiving.php recycled events new york recycling Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:30:45 -0500 There was an entire row of exhibitors showing various incarnations of insulated concrete forms (ICFs) with their styrofoam walls and their plastic ties that are filled with concrete and then labelled green. Then there is Durisol, that has been around for half a century. it is made of wood chips and a bit of portland cement, 78% recycled materials, is noncombustible and is the original insulated concrete form. So why is it always ignored?]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/greenbuild-durisol.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/greenbuild-durisol.php materials canada greenbuild insulated concrete forms materials Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:00:54 -0500 I really felt sorry for Richard Moe, and a bit angry, too. Here he is, the keynote speaker for Thursday morning, with a hall that can seat thousands, and there are maybe two hundred people. Downstairs they are crowding in to other seminars on how to build green buildings, not realizing that up in the ballroom the President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is talking about what is by far biggest green market for architects in the country- fixing what we have. Moe reminds us in his introduction that 43% of America's carbon emissions come from the operation of buildings. And that doesn't include the carbon that is generated by extracting, manufacturing ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/greenbuild-richard-moe.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/greenbuild-richard-moe.php Design & Architecture ban demolition demolition green building greenbuild Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:00:48 -0500 Photo of Fairfield University Photo credit to WalkingGeek Good news travels in pairs and today we have two stories from two separate universities who have taken the steps to reduce their carbon footprint through various program initiatives. The first green effort comes to us from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, which has eliminated trays for their students in their food halls. Fairfield University The Fairfield effort is designed to reduce food and beverage ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/universities-reduce-carbon-footprint.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/universities-reduce-carbon-footprint.php food less is more news carbon footprint colorado new york state universities Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:27:31 -0500 Image source: Yumi & Laurie The new, 100% organic cotton and bambo blend towels/wraps/blanQuettes by Yumi and Laurie offer an eco-friendly towel with multiple colors and patterns on each towel - something not often seen in the world of eco-friendly homewares. The designs are inspired by a recent trip to Asia and the blanQuettes are large enough to cuddle up with on the couch or use as another layer in bed during those cold winter nights. ]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/yummy-yumi-and-laurie-blanquettes.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/yummy-yumi-and-laurie-blanquettes.php bedroom bamboo designers united states Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:35:00 -0500 From November 28 until December 2 the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden will host Sustentable '08, the first edition of an annual festival entirely dedicated to sustainable design. The event will present over 100 environmentally and socially responsible objects created by Argentinean designers, and will offer a set of conferences and workshops for both professionals and general audiences, all with free entry. Find out about the designers and the program of conferences in the extended.]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/sustentable-08-sustainable-design-festival-buenos-aires.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/sustentable-08-sustainable-design-festival-buenos-aires.php Design & Architecture events argentina buenos aires exhibits Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:10:06 -0500 at Wikipedia), there is still a proper place in the countryside for a well-designed outhouse. For a small cabin or prefab in the woods, especially with a dwelling occupied a few weeks each year by only a handful of people, it's a cheap solution to a human problem as old as civilization. The outhouse shown here is made entirely of recycled materials - nails included - except for the roofing. Way cheaper than a composting toilet. At night, a 12 Volt DC bulb provides inside lighting. And]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/from-bauhaus-to-outhouse-a-view-for-two-improves-the-design.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/from-bauhaus-to-outhouse-a-view-for-two-improves-the-design.php bathroom poop toilet waste water Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:40:37 -0500 They took all the trees Put em in a tree museum And they charged the people A dollar and a half just to see em Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till its gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot -Joni Mitchell]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/tree-museum.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/tree-museum.php Design & Architecture architecture designers finland green design Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:45:49 -0500 Martino Gamper is surely the king of chair recycling with innovative projects such as 100 Chairs in 100 Days, that recently won a Brit Insurance Design of The Year Award. Last month at the Frieze art fair in London Gamper displayed his latest adventure in chair recycling, this time teaming up with the celebrated Italian architect Carlo Mollino, albeit posthumously....click through to find out how.]]>... http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/martino-gamper-carlo-mollino.php http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/martino-gamper-carlo-mollino.php Design & Architecture chairs recycled chairs designers london united kingdom upcycling Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:54:27 -0500 ca-discovery-green_js 1 true RSS