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San Francisco Exploratorium’s New Home to Become Largest U.S. Net-Zero Energy Museum
Salty air breezes off of the Bay. Seagulls are flying about. A six foot diameter concrete pile gets driven into the sea floor. An energizing hum of activity reverberates throughout a waterfront construction site–the future new home of San Francisco’s Exploratorium. In October of 2010, the Exploratorium–the Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception, broke…
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Energy Strategy Brings About ROI for Santa Clara University
Few universities can claim to have a 1-megawatt solar PV system, a wind turbine, a 60-collector solar thermal system, and a smart microgrid system that monitors and regulates the campus energy sources. Santa Clara University isn’t afraid of experimenting with renewable, clean technology that will help it work towards achieving reduced energy consumption and climate…
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West Coast Green Brings Green Building Leaders to PCBC
San Francisco, CA – West Coast Green, the world’s leading interactive conference on green innovation, has partnered with Pacific Coast Building Conference (PCBC), the region’s largest building conference. The two will converge this week, June 22nd-24th, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. With the collaboration of PCBC, a fellow leader in the conference industry,…
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StructureOregon 2011: Boost Your Knowledge on Innovative Uses of Wood Products in Buildings
PORTLAND, Ore. – Most architects and engineers know wood as a flexible, durable and beautiful building material. But in a state that leads the nation in the production of softwood lumber and plywood, do they understand how many different and creative ways they can use Oregon wood products in commercial, industrial and institutional structures? Boosting…
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A Green Transformation of Eichler House Model MS-134
My first in-depth encounter with Eichler homes was a few years ago on a blazing hot 90°F Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto, California. I participated in a self-guided Eichler Home Tour which benefited Habitat for Humanity. It was such a treat to get a glimpse into what lay within the Eichler homes that modernized the…
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Green California Summit and Exposition
California is a well known leader in green: building, technology, services, innovations, and so much more. Government agency purchasers, policy makers, facility managers, and product and service suppliers will be converging April 19th-20th at the Sacramento Convetion Center for the 2011 Green California Summit and Exposition. Sustainability and recovery are intertwined. This year’s theme is…
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Ecobuild 2011: A Global Exchange of Green Building Knowledge
Grey skies with a hint of spring and a peek of sunshine. I called London my adopted home for a few days last week while I attended Ecobuild 2011, held at ExCel London, from March 1st through 3rd. It was called “the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment and the…
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Cradle to Cradle and Beyond
Warren Buffet, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Ford, Brad Pitt, and me. What do we have in common? We all believe in the power of William McDonough—architect, instigator, and inspirer of change and optimism. During my senior year design studio, Professor Galen Cranz organized a field trip to New York City to meet architects at the forefront…
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Architect Hatches an Eco-Conscious Egg Shelter
Unaffordable rental prices in Beijing inspired Dai Haifei (戴海飞), a 24-year old newly graduated architect, to create an eco-conscious makeshift home. His “egg house” features two wheels, sack bags, bamboo splints, wood chippings, grass seeds, a water tank and solar panel, and 130 square feet of “living” space. In 2009 when I was interning for…
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Green Plywood Alternative Begins Full Production After Successful Trials
2K Manufacturing, the Luton based company that has pioneered the revolutionary environmentally-friendly EcoSheet, has commenced full production after successful trials with many of the UK’s leading construction companies. The first orders amounting to over 8,000 sheets have been placed. EcoSheet is a ground-breaking plywood replacement board made entirely from unwanted waste plastic. It has been…
