Where design and sustainability cross paths

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Designers Using Recycled Materials: Furniture From Available Objects

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Malafor has come up with a simple and easily stored furniture design entitled the Blow Sofa. It is made of 100% recycled and recyclable (inflatable) paper dunnage bags, which are traditionally used for cushioning and stabilizing cargo amidst rocky transportation.

For a comfortable rest, one just has to blow up the bags, which are completely transportable and easy to assemble. The materials used to construct this sofa are the recycled dunnage bags, a metal rack, rubber straps (and air).

More new furniture from Malafor can be found by clicking here.

Via Daily Coverage.

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Greener, Cleaner Dishes… Without Detergent

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Dr. Youngblood at work. Via Treehugger.

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A water-favoring, anti-oily treated surface. Via Discovery News.

Imagine the possibility of grease and grime being lifted from your dishes with just water. Jeffrey P. Youngblood, an associate professor at Purdue University, and his colleagues are currently in the process of formulating a coating for dinnerware that will eliminate the need for polluting dishwater soap.

This coating, made up of long chains of polymers, is based on perfluorinated end-cap polyethylene glycol amphiphilic macromers that had been polymerised with a variety of comonomer. This eco-friendly alternative to the harsh chemicals of traditional phosphorous soap contains a Teflon-like molecule that repels oil while allowing water to filter through and rinse off surfaces.

Youngblood and team have engineered the polymer chains to have different properties, leading to different cleaning solutions. One causes oil to gather into easier-to-clean beads, and, like other potential methods, simply has the oil “remove itself.”

One may argue that the coating material itself is not very eco-friendly due to the usage of the Teflon-like molecule, but Youngblood states that the elimination of soaps and detergents streaming into our waterways will be more than a good tradeoff for the minimal polymer coating that will run off from treated products.

The next step for Youngblood and his team of researchers is working with plastic substrates, anti-fog products, as well as easy to clean paints.

Via Treehugger. Read on at Discovery News + Chemistry World. Read more on the harmful effects of phosphorous soap at Treehugger.

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Sea-Level Rising: A New Look For New York

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With the 2007 IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) prediction that sea level will rise between 0.6 and 2 feet by the year 2100, we need to seriously consider how to adapt to such drastic global changes. MoMA and P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center realize the importance of planning for the impending rise and how it will affect New York City and the surrounding harbor. They have launched a joint program called “Rising Currents” that brings together interdisciplinary teams to re-envision New York’s coast line in the event of climate change-related sea-level rise. The models, drawings, and other documentation generated by their eight week architects-in-residence workshops will be displayed in MoMA’s Architecture and Design Galleries from March 24 to August 9.

The plans take the dyer predictions of the IPCC and give them a positive spin, re-imagining New York’s coast as a dynamic ecological reservoir where city flows seamlessly into sea. The plan incorporates new “blue space” as well as porous streets and an oyster reef. “Rising Currents” has harnessed the “city’s remarkable pool of architectural talent” and placed them into groups, each with an assignment: redesign a specific zone of the city. Here’s the breakdown:

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Zone 0

Members of the Architecture Research Office and dlandstudio looked at the northern edge of the Upper Bay and Lower Manhattan. Inspired by an early name for the Hudson River, the Muhheakantuck, or “river that flows two ways”, the team is blurring the boundary between land and sea. The area, as noted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, is actually a “tidal estuary, an arm of the sea where salty sea water meets fresh water running off the land,” so the team wanted to expand upon the filtration qualities inherent in the estuarine setting.

They envision a new Lower Manhattan that is part “twenty-first-century business district,” part “center of regional ecological renewal” and have proposed using porous streets as well as extending the lower part of the island.

Our proposal consists of two basic components that form an interconnected system: wetland edges and filtering streets. The water’s edge is transformed from the present hard sea wall to a gradient composed of three ribbons of open space: a public parkway, fresh water, and salt-water wetlands. Within the city, street infrastructure is rebuilt into a connected series of porous conduits that drain rain water and storm water into the wetlands. These streets continue up to the elevation flooded by a category two storm surge. Water will be the new connective tissue between the city and the harbor.

Zone 1

The rise particularly imposes upon the Northwest Palisade Bay and Hudson River area in New Jersey which includes Liberty Park, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The team led by LTL Architects sees this imposition as a boon and proposes harnessing the new aquatic area that would be created for

productive new uses, from agricultural fields to aquacultural zones, and from protected existing biological reserves to tidal research fields. A new series of program anchors, including an aqua-hotel, an open-air concert dock, a regional terminal produce market, and a research station complement and enhance the existing tourist sites of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, amplifying the uses of the area.

This “new engagement between water and ground” would be created by substantially lengthening the coastline and adding variations in ground height and water depth to the mostly flat site to better serve as a buffer against storm surges.

Zone 2

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The conversion of an archaic industrial fuel site to a more progressive biofuel resource and recreational area is central to the Matthew Baird Architects-led team’s proposal for the Southwest Palisade Bay/Kill van Kull area, including Bayonne, the Bayonne Piers, and northern Staten Island. They plan to take 600 used oil tanks in Bayonne, New Jersey and use them to create biofuel from algae fed by wastewater. In addition, team members envision turning the area into a hub for recycling projects, including producing reef-building units from recycled glass, and opening the site for tourism.

Along the Bayonne Pier on a strip we call the “waste line,” where our recycling plants are located, people will be able to explore (on foot or by car) the processes that convert trash into useful products. Hiking or driving in this reactivated post-industrial landscape connects people to a new natural order.

Zone 3

In the South Palisade Bay and Verrazano Narrows area, which includes eastern Staten Island, Bay Ridge and Sunset park, the nArchitects-led team envisions a dispersed infrastructure of new piers, islands, ferry stops, inflatable barriers, waste-treatment wetlands, elevated residential neighborhoods, and waterfront development corridors. This will create an area that is more resilient to sea-level rose and storm surges, which are predicted to increase in the coming decades. They hope to create “a progressive extension of city life from land to water.”

Infrastructural islands, located within the shallow areas of the estuary, create an archipelago of slowly accreting habitat. During a storm surge they also connect via inflatable barriers (”urban airbags”), forming a protective line of defense for the city’s new multilayered edge.

Zone 4

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The Northeast Palisade Bay, Buttermilk Channel and Gowanus Canal area, including Governors Island and Red Hook, was once an “archipelago of small islands interconnected by shallow tidal flats and meandering waterways that teemed with oysters and aquatic life.” The SCAPE Landscape Architecture team wants to revitalize this area and get back in touch with its past. They propose a reintroduction of oysters and muscles to “colonize the sub-tidal and inter-tidal reef netting, filtering excess nutrients out of the water” and creating a reef that would protect against storm surges. The system would consist of a series of oyster nurseries combined with underwater rope scaffolding for reefs. SCAPE envisions:

Impromptu islands emerge through the process of sedimentation in the slowed and protected waters of the flats, providing sanctuary for horseshoe crabs, marine birds, and the occasional seal. Public space with boat hookups, BBQ grills, diving platforms, and amphibious trails form a signature new regional “blue” park network.

Via Treehugger.

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Nanosys is Working to Improve LED Light Quality

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Image via Treehugger.

Nanosys is currently working on LED technology that will greatly improve the quality of light produced. They describe it as “spectrum engineering for LCD device displays using Nanosys’ QuantumRail™, where high-brightness applications call for improved color gamut, saturation and power efficiency from LED sources.” Using nanotechnology, fluids are created out of semiconductor materials, which are then layered over blue LED lights, the most energy efficient of the hues. All colors displayed will be more vivid and just as energy efficient as present LED technology.

With the advancements made, Nanosys has discovered how to produce LEDs in any color that are far more saturated than current LED-backlit LCD displays and in warmer tones. Standard blue LEDs are used with the addition of a nanomaterial based phosphor material to create warm white lights, a process nature uses that provides a greater wavelength range. They claim that energy input can remain low while boosting picture quality.

Nanoysys CEO, Jason Hartlove, estimates that we will see around 60% of notebooks made in 2010 utilizing LED backlights. With mandates such as the ones in California, the television market is also sure to jump on a technology that creates displays of higher picture quality without consuming additional energy.

Via Treehugger.

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Starck Wind Power For Your Home

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Philippe Starck, known for his chic hotels, high-tech lamps and modern-style furniture, has now applied his renowned design aesthetic to domestic wind turbines. The designer unveiled two high-tech turbines for your home in Milan on Wednesday after two years of research and work.

The turbines will be produced by Italy’s Pramac, which makes power generation equipment and will come in two models of varying power generation capacity and expense. The first, a clear quadrangular model (400W WT), looks like a rectangular version of Dyson’s recently announced blade-less fan. It will generate 400 watts of power and cost 2,500 euros or $3,515. The second, a helicoidal model (1KW WT) will be able to generate 1 KW of power and cost 3,500 euros or $4,921.

“We have to help people to produce energy, to be part of the fight,” Starck said at the unveiling in Milan. “Energy should not be a punishment, we should create a desire (among people to produce it).” Starck reverses the typical “not in my backyard” response to wind power and has designed these turbines to become backyard fixtures perfect for your garden or roof.

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Via Inhabitat and Reuters.

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The Playful Side of Upcycling

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Ryan McElhinney redefines upcycling with his new collection of lamps and mirrors. Transforming trash to treasure, McElhinney has created beautiful sculptural pieces from old toys and some high-gloss lacquer. Check out the rest of the collection here and keep your eye out for more innovative upcycling ideas and products!

Via Buzz Beast.

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Wearing Your Batteries On Your Sleeve

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A new research break-through at Stanford University is bringing us one step closer to wearable electronics and conductive fabrics. Beginning their investigation into how carbon nanotubes can be used to create thin, flexible batteries with plastic and paper, the team has now discovered that fabric such as cotton and polyester might be a better alternative.

The team has developed single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) ink that allows them to turn paper and fabric into highly conductive batteries with a remarkably low resistance. In their paper experiments they found that, “The small diameter helps the nanomaterial ink stick strongly to the fibrous paper, making the battery and supercapacitor very durable. The paper supercapacitor may last through 40,000 charge-discharge cycles – at least an order of magnitude more than lithium batteries.” The use of fabric allows for increased flexibility and durability over paper.

BBC reports, “The interwoven fibres of fabrics, like those of paper, are particularly suited to absorbing the nanotube ink, maintaining an electrical connection across the whole area of a garment. Cloth is simply dipped into a batch of nanotube dye, and is then pressed, to thin and even out the coating. The fabric maintains its properties even as it is stretched or folded. Even rinsing the samples in water and wringing them out does not change their electronic properties.”

There is still a lot of research needed in this area, such as how the fabric can be applied to more useful batteries, the safety factors of having carbon nanotubes in fabric that could be worn against human skin, exactly how much more efficient this is over current battery technology, how long the storage capacity will last, and many other important elements. However, the researchers feel that this could be a next step for wearable solar cells, giving our clothing the ability to charge – or become – our gadgets.

Via Treehugger (Nanotechnology Turning Your Cotton T-Shirt and Polyester Pants Into Batteries and Breakthrough? Ordinary Paper + Ink + Nanotubes = Battery)

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VOUWWOW [Vow-Wow] – Wow! It Folds!

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Fusing the sustainability of a re-used cardboard box with the structural integrity of the golden ratio of the vaunted triangle, Dutch designers Joost Van Nort’s and Maartje Nuy just won the Thonet Mart Stamprijs 2009 Chair Design Competition for their cardboard folding chair, VOUWWOW. It won recognition for its wise materials use, ease of assembly, portability, and innovative bohemian aesthetic.

Vouwwow forges a new aesthetic—one that acknowledges the need for a new paradigm for all the stuff we produce and discard every day.

Via 3rings.

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