Buildings that communicate and change shape to keep their occupants comfortable and safe.
By Jonathan Fahey, Forbes
In England there is a building made with insulation that can be inflated or deflated to adjust to outside temperatures. In Germany there is a house designed to be easily disassembled and recycled. The New York Times Co. building is draped in shades that automatically adjust to the movement of the sun. In Milwaukee a museum changes its very shape to shade itself.
The point of a building is to keep its inhabitants comfortable: Humans want to be warm (but not too warm) and dry. The problem comes in providing heating or cooling, and replacing the light lost when the sun is shut out. The solutions are becoming ever more creative.
“Heat and light are the things people are most concerned about, and they are the things that take energy,” says Brendon Levitt, an architect with the San Francisco Bay Area firm Loisos + Ubbelohde, which specializes in so-called high-performance buildings. He also teaches construction technology at California College of the Arts. (more…)
July 10th, 2010 by Amanda Crater. Posted in Building, Certification, Design, Featured
Why Attend EngEx?
Access to over $500+ Billion!
SAN DIEGO will be the place to be this summer for an estimated 10,000 of the nation’s top professionals in the energy, water, transportation and environmental industries. EngEx 2010, taking place at the San Diego Convention Center from July 29 – 31, will make America’s Finest City home to some of the top technologists, researchers, policy makers, governmental agencies and investors all looking to collaborate together under one roof.
“We are looking forward to having a great conference that really creates some strong business and innovation opportunities for our nation’s future,” said Kris Ellis, VP of Operations, with EngEx 2010. “The plan is to evolve some big ideas into action from this conference.”
9 Government agencies hosting workshops to help businesses grow:
* How to get government contracts? $500 Billion Given Annually!
* How to get access to government grants? $2.2 Billion Given Annually!
* BLM: How to access Gov’t lands for Oil/ Gas/Wind/Solar/Geothermal projects
* How to export and tap government resources to find international buyers?
* Learn how to work with utility companies to commercialize products!
* Keynote Speaker: Shell Energy North America President “Counting Carbon”
* Alternative Fuels Vehicle Showroom!
[read more]
July 7th, 2010 by admin. Posted in Building, Design, Energy, Events, Jobs, Technology
