"A Better World by Design" Conference: Students Rethinking our Planet, Coming Soon

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:15:09 GMT

A group of Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design students have organized the second annual "A Better World by Design" Conference in Providence, Rhode Island. It's being held between both campuses which are in close proximity to each other from Friday, October 2nd to Sunday the 4th. The conference will focus heavily on design, integrative thinking, and social and environmental change, to excite professionals and students alike on the potential of ideas and collaboration across disciplines.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Kirei Board: A Radical Material with a Big Impact

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:11:58 GMT

Kirei (pronounced "key'-ray") is a company which produces modern, innovative, eco-friendly materials. The word represents the Japanese character meaning "beautiful" or "clean." Although this material has been covered on TreeHugger before, it's environmental benefits have never been truly explored. It really is a remarkable material. Kirei Board was the companies first product, developed for architects and interior designers as a low-impact, nontoxic material. It's made of Sorghum Straw, KR Bond adhesive, and Poplar wood. Kirei Board has been in use for wall coverings, cabinetry, furniture, flooring, and other decorative and finished products. It is different than particle board because the stalks left over after harvesting the Sorghum plant (which is used to produce food products) are woven tightly and then heat-pressed with a no-added-urea-formaldehyde adhesive. The production of Kirei Board serves as an additional income source for farmers who would otherwise burn or simply discard Sorghum stalks after harvest.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Shipping-Container "Box Office" Breaks Ground in Providence

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:24:17 GMT

Courtesy of owner, Peter Gill Case Sure, shipping container buildings are nothing new conceptually, but when was the last time you actually saw one being built in the US? That's what we thought. Earlier this week in Providence, Rhode Island, a new project broke ground. An office space made from reused shipping containers, the "Box Office" is being built on a land parcel in a post-industrial neighborhood of the city and is quickly becoming an attraction for local start-ups. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recycled, Rigid Board Material for Furniture, Product Design and Architecture: X-Board

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:25:10 GMT

Ever wonder why IKEA furniture is so light? Want to know what's inside a hollow core door you might find at Lowe's or Home Depot? In the production process, many manufacturers of inexpensive furniture will add a structural core of paper or fiberboard support. X-Board is a material which is comes in sheet form employing this construction method. It's composed of recycled honeycomb material which is sandwiched between two layers of thick paper. When the seemingly flexible and flimsy core material is adhered to the paper surfaces, it gives the material structure and incredible rigidity.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Greener Rubber Shoe Soles from Vibram: A Step in the Right Direction

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:17:57 GMT

Photo credit: M.J.S. @ Flickr In the 1840's, Charles Goodyear discovered a way to make rubber incredibly stable and a new material was brought into the world. This process still exists today and is called vulcanization; learn more about rubber chemistry from HowStuffWorks. So why is rubber which has been vulcanized, or chemically strengthened, becoming a controversial issue? ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Building the World with FlexForm Natural Composite Material

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:48:53 GMT

Composite materials are wonderfully handy -- they can be used in hundreds of applications -- but what about the materials' environmental footprint? Happily, there is a composite material that, when compared to its traditional counterpart, has a much smaller impact, and it can be used for almost anything; I've seen this material being used to construct everything from furniture to parts for cars. FlexForm Technologies has created a line of natural composite materials with a very attractive set of properties. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

TreeHugger Welcomes Matt Grigsby of Ecolect!

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 08:43:09 GMT

Matt Grigsby is an Industrial Designer, social entrepreneur, and sustainability expert. He is the CEO and Co-founder of Ecolect.net, the leading online database of environmentally friendly materials. Through materials, design, technologies, and life cycle analysis, Ecolect consults to provide tangible solutions to the tough environmental challenges facing product-based companies today. Matt is a graduate of the Industrial Design program at the Rhode Island School of Design and studied Transportation Design at Strate College Designers in France. In addition to his role at Ecolect, Matt is the Chair of the EcoDesign Section at the Industrial Designers Society of America.... Read the full story on TreeHugger