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warren said: "I would indeed suggest that the leather was primarily selected, not for style, but rather for function. It was used, predominately, in hig..." [read]

Traciatim said: "I would like to know if the included all the lives saved by the less intense winters (up until this year, which was exceptionally bad) that would b..." [read]

TM said: "USAA obviously missed the whole State Farm debacle...here's an excerpt from their latest "USAA Your Money" newsletter to members about 10 Smart Mov..." [read]

Abi said: "Wow, these are so pretty. Would have saved a lot of accidents if they'd made bike helmets look a bit more 'cool' years ago, I think......" [read]

David Zetland said: "Increase the price of water and people will switch to xeriscaping, as they are in San Diego (see this post: http://aguanomics.com/2007/12/water-sup..." [read]

ron said: "we were not fighting. i think a lot of what we said was productive. i never said that there was no progress with this company, just that l..." [read]

Architects' Home and Office is Less Than Eight Feet Wide

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05. 9.08
Design & Architecture

2008-05-09_092802-Treehugger-narrowhouse.jpgSo often the space between buildings is just wasted, a source of heat loss and little else. sculp(IT), a "young, progressive and complementary team of architects who apply their passion for architecture to every task given" from Antwerp, have taken a 7'-10" wide space and turned it into a home and office.

"Four wooden floors between two existing walls, hanging in a steel skeleton, organize this house: downstairs for work, dining on 1st, relaxing on 2nd, sleeping on 3rd, and on the roof, go and enjoy the view."

All photography Luc Roymans

Read more: Architects' Home and Office is Less Than Eight Feet Wide

Ponoko Brings On-Demand Design to the U.S.

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04.30.08
Design & Architecture

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TreeHugger has been a fan of Ponoko ever since they launched last year (full disclosure: head TreeHugger Graham Hill is now on their Board of Advisors); their ability to mix ideas like mass customization, downloadable design and flat pack means efficient resource use, design that can be customized to your exacting specifications, and manufacturing that isn't sourced in China (and the good news is: it really works!). For us in the U.S., though, it did often mean shipping from New Zealand, where the company started, but not any more.

Ponoko announced yesterday that they are establishing a new global head office and manufacturing facility in San Francisco, making it possible (for those of us on the west coast, at least) to get truly custom, locally-manufactured design with just a few clicks of the mouse. Designers get what amounts to their own factory and online showroom, and consumers can have them made to order and delivered right to their doors.

Read more: Ponoko Brings On-Demand Design to the U.S.

Cube 6: Dining Room Furniture for Small Spaces

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04.25.08
Design & Architecture

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TreeHugger is always on the lookout for sleek ways to do more with less; it's a good thing any time you can, say, get six extra seats from a cube slightly larger than one cubic foot. That's the idea behind Japanese designer Naho Matsuno's Cube 6, an ingenious construction that fits six stools into a diminutive cube just bigger than a foot (35 cm) each way. Dinner party time? Bring out the cube! Party's over? Put the cube away; no need for a whole dining room to store a full set of full-size chairs.

Matsuno showed the design in the Salone Satellite at the recently-concluded Milan Furniture Fair; like Cube Style's Dining Set, it'd go great with the amazing BEDUP, the bed that retracts into the ceiling, and any other compact living solution that helps you live large in a small space. It isn't quite a whole apartment in a box or a whole apartment's worth of stuff in 43 square feet, but it's a pretty great way to add tons of possibilities to small space without adding tons of stuff. See how it works, and see the three-stool version, below the fold. ::Naho Matsuno via ::dezeen


Read more: Cube 6: Dining Room Furniture for Small Spaces

Transformer Patio By Picque

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.18.08
Design & Architecture

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Collin usually covers the transformer beat, but he is on the road pedalling to Epic in Vancouver , so I get to show the Vertical Patio by Seattle's Pique Architecture. It makes the most of a small back yard by transforming from a backyard fence to everything from a picnic table to a bar, complete with folding stool. What a brilliant way of dealing with a small backyard.

Read more: Transformer Patio By Picque

Onzo Energy Meter Displays Carbon Footprint

by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 04. 5.08
Design & Architecture

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Onzo is coming. 2 million pounds sterling start-up funds for Onzo have been secured in a deal with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE). Can this device live up to the great design promises that are being made for it?

Read more: Onzo Energy Meter Displays Carbon Footprint

Department of Energy Creates Energy Star Criteria for Water Heaters

by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 04. 3.08
Design & Architecture

GE tankless gas water heaterEnergy efficiency isn't considered sexy. Water heaters even less. But when you look at the numbers and realize that these energy-monsters that lurk in our basements are ranked third in energy consumption in U.S. houses (behind heating/cooling and kitchen appliances) and represent 17% of total demand, it's not hard to figure out that something needs to be done.

One step in the right direction is the inclusion of five categories of water heaters in the Energy Star program: high-performance gas storage, whole-home gas tankless, advanced drop-in or integrated heat pump, solar, and gas condensing. For more details on the requirements for each categories, you can see this Energy Star announcement.

GE hasn't wasted any time announcing two new models that will meet the new Energy Star criteria. The first one is a tankless (aka on-demand) gas water heater that should "save up to 25 percent annually on water heating costs compared to the operating costs of a standard 40-gallon gas tank water heater." The second model is more intriguing. It is a hybrid electric water heater (pictured below) that promises to use half as much energy as a traditional model yet use the same footprint and connections.

Read more: Department of Energy Creates Energy Star Criteria for Water Heaters

School of Week Leads Way During Great Copy Machine Epidemic of 2008

by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 04. 1.08
Design & Architecture

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With two new confirmed cases of a strange, contagious disease striking schools across America, it’s no surprise that this week’s Go Green School of the Week is none other than the Robert Moses Middle School in North Babylon, NY. They were the first school to recognize the apparently contagious disease that’s causing school photocopiers to chew up trees at an amazing rate, and leading to global warming through the release of CO2.

Now it seems the student physicians in North Babylon are working feverishly to diagnose their machine, which first began exhibiting symptoms several weeks ago. But so far they’ve been unable to discover just what disease it is, and they’re asking schools to help solve the crisis by joining them in a national day of action to stop global warming this April 17th , shutting down their photocopy machines and putting them under quarantine to put this disease to rest.

Read more: School of Week Leads Way During Great Copy Machine Epidemic of 2008

Book Swapping Is a Greener Choice for Book Lovers

by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 03.29.08
Design & Architecture

book-lending-2swap.jpgAfter pointing out the bizarre, “eco-friendly” claims of businesses trying to rent college books to students via the internet, I recently came across a site which does, in fact, make eco-sense.

It’s not geared specifically towards college books, but it enables book-lovers everywhere to swap theirs with other members of the 2Swap community just by paying the postage to mail out a book from their collection that they no longer need.

Read more: Book Swapping Is a Greener Choice for Book Lovers
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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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