Amazing Malmo Puts Us All To Shame

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:08:49 GMT

All over North America, people complain about deteriorating cities, dysfunctional governments, decline of industrial base and loss of jobs. That pretty much describes Malmo twenty-five years ago, when the shipping industry collapsed and there was 25% unemployment. In North America, we just let cities fend for themselves and rot; in Malmo, Sweden, they reinvented the City and built a template for the future. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Linking and Pageviews 1850 Style: The American Bookbinders Museum

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:08:21 GMT

Everything is electronic these days; even if you read a book in paper form, it has been typeset on computers, printed and bound by computerized machines. One can forget that putting a book together used to take a lot of people with a lot of different skills, including the trade of bookbinding. Tim James still binds books, but is also gathering the tools, samples and manuals of the trade in a small, quirky San Francisco museum that is open on Saturday afternoons. It specializes in another printing revolution, when cast iron, steam and electricity changed the industry in the late 1800s. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Linking and Pageviews 1850 Style: The American Bookbinders Museum

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:49:16 GMT

Visiting the American Bookbinders Museum

The American Bookbinders Museum just opened in San Francisco, and I thought it would be interesting to visit a museum dedicated to the way they used to do things before the Internet age. But I was confusing printing and binding; as Tim James, the founder of the museum says in the SF Chronicle: "This has nothing to do with printing, bookbinders were around for 1,000 years before printers." Most were also out of business long before the Internet age, as the process was automated and the quality of printing and binding deteriorated. But Tim James has put together a fascinating collection of equipment, documents and samples in this quirky little museum that is open on Saturday afternoons. More: American Bookbinders Museum

Image: Tim James with guillotine, credit Lloyd Alter

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Are Cities Green, Or Are We Just Pigs in a Factory Farm?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:44:25 GMT

Every year the Trudeau Foundation holds a conference around an idea; this year the theme was about cities, about rethinking the urban commons. While issues of governance, homelessness and immigration were discussed, much attention was paid to the greening of cities. The speakers and guests were a mix of politicians, policy wonks, philosophers and professors, with a sprinkling of architects and planners. Kicking off the morning session of the conference was John Robinson of the Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability, who set the environmental tone. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Houses Get Small (Sort Of) In Response to Recession

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:57:48 GMT

Wall Street Journal Is it just the economy or is there a real change going on? Michael Phillips writes in the Wall Street Journal about how builders are offering smaller houses than they have in years. The Scarlett O'Hara stairs and two storey halls are out, and the plans are simpler, square-er, and way more efficient. Some might say that it is simply a response to the economy; as one commenter said " In a down economy smaller houses sell, and in a good economy bigger houses sell. Unless we have all become rabid anti-materialists this is just a phase." But perhaps there are bigger changes afoot.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Witold Rybczynski On The Four Paradigms of American Cities

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:32:25 GMT

Bettina B. Cenerelli, Trudeau Foundation Witold Rybczynski could be described as a public intellectual, a prolific writer of accessible books about houses, cities and urban design. He opened the Trudeau Foundation's conference Cities and the Public Sphere: Rethinking the Urban Commons. with the remark that "one of the advantages of getting old is that you can look back in horror and dismay at some of the things that we did as architects and planners." He then proceeded to look back at the four paradigms of North American cities, and at how things worked out. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

GEO Power System Preheats and Precools The Air with a Vertical Earth Tube

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:48:00 GMT

One of the most important components of a tightly sealed house or a super-sealed Passive House is a fresh air system. Often they are heat recovery ventilators, and others have used earth tubes running under the home or in the garden. Japan's Geo Power Systems has turned it into a clever system. They call it a solar geothermal system, preheating the air from the solar heat trapped in the ground. The ground is a constant temperature and a comfortable one, so it warms in winter and cools in summer. It has a number of components: ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Vertical Farm + Fish Tank + Solar Power = Balanced Diet

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:59:45 GMT

Inka Biospheric systems It has been a science fiction dream: the completely integrated, closed loop system "micro-farm." And we get it with the Inka Curve, a vertical minifarm that provides herbs, grasses, fruits or vegetables grown on a vertical "bio-quilt." ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Riding the Phoenix Light Rail System

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:16:00 GMT

What with its lack of water, dependence on air conditioning and endless sprawl, people like Jim Kunstler don't think Phoenix has much of a future. That doesn't stop the people there from trying to be greener; an example is their great new light rail system, previously coverd by Mike in Video: Phoenix's Brand New Light Rail Has 60% More Users than Expected. When I left supposedly transit-oriented Toronto for Greenbuild I had to pay fifty bucks for a limo to get to the airport; I paid 10 bucks to get from Phoenix Airport to my hotel in a hotel shuttle. The smoothest, coolest ride back to the airport by Light Rail: $ 1.75.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Interview: Tony Gale, Corporate Architect at Starbucks

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:49:53 GMT

Via Starbucks As Jaymi noted in Green Mood Lighting for Starbucks! Switching 8,000 Stores to LEDs, Starbucks is going through a big makeover, and is aiming for LEED certification of all of its stores starting in 2010. With over 16,000 stores worldwide, going green is a big deal. Corporate Architect Tony Gale used to be Chief Architect for the City of Seattle, the kind of job where you do the tough stuff, working with agencies, communities, entrenched interests and NIMBYs on policy, direction and strategy rather than the fun stuff of designing. It is the perfect background for a job the size of the one at Starbucks. We caught up with Tony at Greenbuild in Phoenix.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Glidehouse Is At The End Of The Road For Green Modern Prefab

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:00:17 GMT

In 2002 Allison Arieff and Bryan Burkhart wrote Prefab and started a revolution. Architects and entrepreneurs all over America started looking at prefab differently. Early off the mark were Michelle Kaufmann, who launched her Glidehouse, and myself, launching the Q. It was an exciting time, we were all going to reinvent the building industry. We had so many cute lines- "you don't build a car in a driveway, why would you build a house in a field" and we had to beat all of the other architects and designers off with a stick, there were so many throwing their pencils into the ring. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Local Movement Comes to Forestry

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:00:42 GMT

In the food world there is the debate between "organic" and "local" and the idea of looking your farmer in the eye. It appears that much the same thing is happening in wood- there is certified FSC lumber, and there is local, sustainably harvested lumber where you look your forester in the eye. There is even a National Network of Forest Practitioners that "promotes the mutual well being of workers, rural communities, and forests by supporting individuals and groups that build sustainable relationships between forests and people."... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Surprises From Greenbuild (Slideshow)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:17:57 GMT

Greenbuild in Phoenix attracted all kinds of people and products, and of course Al Gore always attracts fans and supporters. Quite a few products on the floor didn't have quite enough information or my photography was too lousy to put up an entire post, So we have gathered them together in a slideshow . ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Surprises from GreenBuild

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:14:28 GMT

The Opening Pitch

It wasn't all food and fun and Al Gore and Sheryl Crow; the 28,000 who came to Greenbuild in Phoenix had stuff to show, lectures to listen to, products to see and people to meet. Here are some of the interesting products that you didn't see in our regular posts. More: Al Gore Rocks Greenbuild

Credit: Lloyd Alter

... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ice Could Be Key To Storage of Renewable Energy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:38:36 GMT

75% of our electricity goes into buildings, and much of that runs air conditioning. The entire system is built to try and cope with the peak loads that come in summer. TreeHugger has covered ice storage systems before; they simply make ice at night, when electricity is cheaper and it is cooler, so it is easier to make, and then run air conditioning during the daytime when it is hot and electricity is in short supply. This can knock the peak off the demand curve and significantly reduce the need for new power plants. But we learned In the Calmac Booth that it can have another significant benefit: It can act as a battery for wind power.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cool New Evaporative Cooler From Speakman Sips Electricity, Guzzles Water

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:07:40 GMT

Speakman is better known for its luxury shower heads, but it was fitting that in the hot, dry atmosphere of Phoenix, that they demonstrate the latest in evaporative coolers. For those who haven't been following our search for the solar powered air conditioner, when water changes state from liquid to gas it absorbs a great deal of heat. People have been using this fact to build desert coolers for over a hundred years. But the traditional ones added a lot of moisture to the air, which makes it feel warmer because you don't sweat as efficiently. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Caroma Makes A Toilet With Sink Look Elegant

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:09:01 GMT

We have been showing toilets with sinks built into the lids of the tanks for years, including home-made and aftermarket plastic versions. Now Caroma gives us a dual flush toilet that they claim will save a family of four 30,000 gallons of water per year over an older toilet. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Best of Show For Green Booth Design: Autodesk

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:13:13 GMT

Autodesk says it is "committed to sustainable design" and they certainly tried to show it in their booth, which is made entirely of recycled cardboard, sustainably harvested BC fir, recycled cardboard sonotubes, all treated with a 100% biodegradable fire retardant that makes it possible to build a booth out of paper.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

ForestEthics Keeps Up The Pressure against SFI Certification

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:07:04 GMT

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Is now battling in the courts, in front of the Federal Trade Commission, at the US Green Building Council to gain credibility. That doesn't cut any ice with ForestEthics, who never miss a chance to expose it as greenwashed lumber. They ran full page ads in USA Today during Greenbuild, naming the companies that use wood from "destruction as usual" logging with the SFI Label on it.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Steve Mouzon on Learning from Old Buildings

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:25:05 GMT

When you show up at GreenBuild you are overwhelmed by the new, the high-tech, the inevitable "LEEDING the way" slogans, and you see and hear very little about the old and the existing; it isn't shiny. There are a few voices out there in the wilderness that have something to say about old buildings, ignored in this milieu like Richard Moe was last year. Another ignored voice is Steve Mouzon, who designs new buildings that work by learning from the best of old buildings, and writes about them in books and online. I caught up with him at GreenBuild.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recycling is Bullsh*t Redux: Let's Declare Nov. 15 Buy Nothing Disposable Day.

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:27 GMT

We said it last year: Lets call recycling what it is- a fraud, a sham, a scam perpetrated by big business on the citizens and municipalities of America. A method of getting citizens to pick up corporate waste and for our towns and cities to get stuck with trying to sell the stuff. And lets call America Recycles Day what it is- a marketing ploy by the biggest producers of garbage to make us pick up their crap. And what a change in a year. The National Recycling Coalition is virtually bankrupt and recyclables are piling up in warehouses around the country because nobody wants them, or they are being sold for far less than the cost to taxpayers to pick it all up. All so the main sponsors of America Recycles day, Nestle waters and the American Chemistry Council, (which never saw a toxic disposable chemical it didn't love) can keep making us feel good about picking up their garbage and storing it for them. Enough. It is time to celebrate Buy Nothing Disposable Day.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Greenward Ridge Vent Turns Your Entire Roof Into a Solar Collector

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:21:07 GMT

Sometimes the most impressive products at Greenbuild are the most innocuous and boring looking things; last year I thought the best of show was Agriboard, a SIP made from straw. This year I spent some time trying to figure out this ridge vent for a standard shingled roof with tubes running through it, thinking that there wasn't much surface area on it and it isn't going to do much. Then I realized that all of the heat in an attic runs through the ridge vent and this thing turns your entire roof into a solar collector. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Smokey Robinson is Green Entrepreneur, Promoting GPS Guided Skylights

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:58 GMT

Smokey Robinson on the environment from Lloyd Alter on Vimeo.

The King of Motown is worried about what kind of planet his grandchildren are going to grow up in, and loved the idea of Ciralight sun-tracking skylights. They have a little solar panel that runs a GPS-guided mirror system that tracks the sun throughout the day, eliminating the need for artificial light in stores, schools and factories. The Beatles may have covered his song "You really got a hold on me" but the theme song for Smokey's skylight company really should be a cover of the Beatles' "I'll follow the sun" because that is what the Ciralight does.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Al Gore Rocks Greenbuild

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:54:54 GMT

Al Gore was in fighting trim at Greenbuild, speaking to 28,000 people who flew in from all over the country to learn about and celebrate green design. While his presentation was a bit wooden, the content was golden: "We still have a climate crisis, an economic crisis and a national security crisis ... they are united by the thread of dependence on carbon-based fuel, you pull that thread and the crises unravel." ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Vinyl and Asphalt are Green at Greenbuild

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:53 GMT

Or so they are trying to tell us. The Vinyl Institute claims that vinyl is sustainable, versatile, energy efficient and durable. They even built a website, Vinyl in design, to "familiarize architects and designers with the range of solutions vinyl provides for today's and tomorrow's design challenges." No mention of its manufacture from chlorine and fossil fuels, Phthalate plasticizers, dioxins, recyclability, or any of the other reasons that so many green designers are trying to build without the stuff.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Toronto's Pearson Airport Display of Great Green Design

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:30:59 GMT

Bonnie previously showed Toronto's Pearson Airport's Eco-Design Show in the international section of Pearson Airport. Over in the US terminal, there was an entire display that could have been ripped out of the pages of TreeHugger. Start with the model of the Canuhome, then a display of IDS09: CISTA Green Rainwater Harvesting">Moss Sund's interior vertical garden, a couple of cans of Boomerang paint, a gorgeous table from Urban Harvest and finish off with a couple of Ovopur water filters. So much good green design in one place, put there for the edification of a few travellers waiting for a plane to the States.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Environmental Consequences of War

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:02 GMT

Vimy Ridge On this Veterans Day in the States and Remembrance Day in Canada and Australia, it is worth reading a Sierra Club of Canada document about the Environmental Costs of War. It starts with a quote from Clauswitz from 1831: "War is never an isolated act."... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Bowled Over By LEED Lanes in Brooklyn

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:56 GMT

Images via Brooklyn Bowl LEED buildings are getting pretty thick on the ground these days, and don't often make it into TreeHugger unless they are pushing platinum or or doing something really special; Brooklyn Bowl falls into that latter category- a century-old iron foundry where Peter Shapiro and Charley Ryan have built a hipster bowling alley and music venue and gone to the considerable trouble of getting it LEED Certified. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Toronto Gets Its Own Cycle Chic

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:30:47 GMT

Mikael Colville-Andersen started the original Copenhagen Cycle Chic to "take back the bike culture by showing how the bicycle once again can be an integral, respectable and feasible transport form, free of sports clothes and gear, and how it can play a vital role in increasing the life quality in cities." He has been very effective and influential; If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery than he must be feeling good these days, as yet another city gets a cycle chic site. As Spacing describes it, Toronto's new 416cyclestyle showcases "images by velotographers Xander N' Dante of trendy, hipsters as they peddle around the city." And nary a helmet to be seen. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Off To GreenBuild To Hear Al Gore, Find Green Gizmos and Goodies

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:03:19 GMT

TreeHugger will be at Greenbuild in Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow to hear Al Gore give the keynote address. He will have a tough act to follow after last year's Van Jones' barnburner. The expo is also pretty spectacular, with a lot of green gizmos and gadgets, but also some simple, effective green building products. Some of the highlights of last year's Greenbuild:... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Lloyd Alter, Toronto

Amazing Malmo Puts Us All To Shame

Linking and Pageviews 1850 Style: The American Bookbinders Museum

Linking and Pageviews 1850 Style: The American Bookbinders Museum

Visiting the American Bookbinders Museum

Are Cities Green, Or Are We Just Pigs in a Factory Farm?

Houses Get Small (Sort Of) In Response to Recession

Witold Rybczynski On The Four Paradigms of American Cities

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

The Local Movement Comes to Forestry

Surprises From Greenbuild (Slideshow)

Surprises from GreenBuild

The Opening Pitch

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

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

Al Gore Rocks Greenbuild

Vinyl and Asphalt are Green at Greenbuild

Toronto's Pearson Airport Display of Great Green Design

The Environmental Consequences of War

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