Building Archives - Page 2 of 3

Solar-Powered Modular Relocatable Building Wins Top Eco Award

This article originally published on RenewEconomy Blue Planet Buildings, a Sydney based “solar energy building company” has won the Australian Business award for Best Eco Product in 2013 for a solar-powered, modular and relocatable building. Blue Planet says its structures have special solar panels built into the roof to power appliances such as air conditioners, computers and hot water systems, emit no carbon and in fact generate carbon offset credits. CEO Mark Ottery says the company has begun manufacturing and supplying the buildings for construction companies, government authorities, mine sites and farms – both in Australia and overseas. The buildings an be used both on or off grid (battery storage is available), are flat packed, making them easy to transport and install – and can be erected in less than an hour. Ottery says they are “clean, green, energy efficient and cheap to run.” Solar-Powered Modular Relocatable Building Wins Top Eco Award was origin…

Sustainability Needs to be Integrated in the Communities

Dr Anna Gritching is seen with her students on a field trip in Qatar. As part of her teaching and research at Qatar University, she is looking at Food Security as a new paradigm for Urban Planning and Design. This involves examining how to integrate the production of food into the architectural, urban, and landscape design and also to design more productive landscapes. Just as change doesn’t necessarily imply a change for the better, movement does not always denote a forward escalation in a progressive direction. Similarly, while urban development is a positive step forward, there are aspects which can add impetus to the thrust and value to the larger picture and make the pace of progress even more progressive. Glance anywhere in Doha and there is one uniform feature that remains constant throughout the landscape — construction is everywhere, in one form another, as far as eye can see! Urban development and progress are more than just mere terms in Qatar’s environment yet s…

One Stop Solar Shop – Grocery Market Chain Goes Solar

Stop & Shop announced yesterday that it has completed the installation of solar panels on eight of its stores in Mass., Conn. and N.J. The solar panels will reduce the amount of energy consumed by these stores by more than seven percent. The completion of this project marks an extension of the company's commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2015 using 2008 as a baseline. The photovoltaic (PV) solar power generating systems were developed by Alteris Renewables, Inc., the largest design-build renewable energy company in the Northeast. The amount of electricity that will be generated by all eight stores annually is estimated to be 1,759,572 kWh, offsetting 1,264 metric tons of CO2. This is equivalent to the CO2 emissions from the total electricity use of 153 homes over the course of a year. The solar project is among a series of green solutions Stop & Shop is rolling out across its 375 stores in the Northeast. (more…)

Kaiser Coughs Up $1M for Green Health Clinic

A $1 million grant from Kaiser Permanente helped to construct a community health clinic that could be the first of its kind to earn LEED certification. The newest La Maestra Community Health Center located in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego will sport a slew of green features expected to earn the facility a LEED Gold certification. Project designers had a goal of constructing a building that would play many roles: Aside from providing a high level of comfort and using less energy, the building would also serve to introduce the concept of green building to the community. Green elements include high performance insulated glass, a rooftop solar photovoltaic array expected to generate 15 percent of its energy needs, recycled materials, energy management system, and materials with low volatile organic compounds. The site was the building was chosen for its solar orientation and prevailing breezes. A high-efficiency landscape irrigation system was installed, in a…

The Most High-Tech Green Buildings

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 hi…

ENGEX Conference in San Diego

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…