“Compared to conventional silicon based photovoltaic technology, Dyesol’s technology has lower cost and embodied energy in manufacture, it produces electricity more efficiently even in low light conditions and can be directly incorporated into buildings by replacing conventional glass panels rather than taking up roof or extra land area.”
Biomimicry, the interdisciplinary practice of adapting nature’s solutions to human designs and inventions, has made a big move into the built environment. The international architecture and engineering firm HOK has announced an alliance with the Biomimicry Guild, the preeminent biomimicry consultancy, with the aim of integrating “nature’s innovations in the planning and design of buildings, communities, and cities worldwide.” The alliance has begun its work by exploring the use of “bio-inspired ideas” in designing a major residential development in Lavasa, India.
Biomimicry brings nature’s solutions to design problems and AskNature.org brings current internet technology to the biomimicry discussion.
AskNature.org, created by the Biomimicry Institute, offers the beginnings of an encyclopedia of nature’s solutions to common design problems such as structural support, adhesion, energy harvesting, and cleaning. Natural design solutions are linked to products based on that solution when they are available (an entry on photosynthesis, for example, links to an entry on dye-based solar cells).
Each entry on AskNature.org features a single design solution from nature, such as the way butterfly wings scatter light to create colors without the need for pigments.
Users can generate content through online discussions and submissions and can also apply to be curators of content in their fields of expertise. In this way the site will grow beyond the expertise of the current team of editors at the Biomimicry Institute, creating the potential for rapid growth in access to innovative, environmentally friendly technologies.
Global warming is happening faster than predicted and human activity is responsible.
The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.
350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. 350 PPM is the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. It is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet.
The planet is in the danger zone because we’ve poured too much carbon into the atmosphere, and we’re starting to see signs of real trouble: melting ice caps, rapidly spreading drought. We need to scramble back as quickly as we can to safety.
Dr. James Hansen, of NASA, the United States’ space agency, was the first to publicly testify before the U.S. Congress, in June of 1988, that global warming was real. He and his colleagues have used both real-world observation, computer simulation, and mountains of data about ancient climates to calculate what constitutes dangerous quantities of carbon in the atmosphere. The Bush Administration has tried to keep Hansen and his team from speaking publicly, but their analysis has been widely praised by other scientists, and by experts like Nobel Prize winner Al Gore. The full text of James Hansen’s paper
about 350 can be found here.
Global warming is caused by releasing “greenhouse” gases into the atmosphere, the most common of which is carbon dioxide. Many of the activities we do every day like turn the lights on, cook food, or heat or cool our homes rely on energy sources like coal and oil that emit carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. This is a major problem because global warming destabilizes the delicate balance that makes life on this planet possible. Just a few degrees in temperature can and will completely change the world as we know it, and threaten the lives of millions of people around the world.
In October of 2006 the developer and design-build team of the ‘Uptown Monterey’ project [Trader Joe's] committed to making it the first LEED certified shopping center in the state of California… with little to no flexibility in the schedule or budget.
A key component was the deconstruction of a former grocery store on site, followed by the reuse of salvaged building materials in one of the new buildings.
In August 2008 the project finally received its long-awaited certification – LEED® Silver.
How did they do it? The activities were filmed as part of a new 32 minute documentary which you can watch here
Green Building Elements