International Architect Hits Big with Harvard’s New Student Housing.

Architect Kyu Sung Woo has completed what is considered a great example of what environmentally considered design can do for residential space. His new student housing center for Harvard in Cambridge, MA is not only drop dead gorgeous, it’s designed to achieve a high level of LEED certification. The building is packed with renewable bamboo flooring, considered wall paneling, low VOC finishes, and regionally sourced siding with recycled content. His 115,000 sq ft project is a part of Harvard’s ongoing effort to house 50 percent of their undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. Kyu Sung Woo is a world renown architect. He has made great achievements, moving towards sustainability and evolutions in architecture. The Ho-Am Prize for the arts was awarded to him recently for $200,000. The award is commonly referred to as Korea’s Nobel Prize and has a 17 year history. Kyu Sung Woo represents the first ever architect who has received this sought-after award.

Below are links to two source articles which talk in detail about Kyu Sung Woo and his career.

worldarchitecturenews.com
archrecord.com

Ecolect’s Materials Petting Zoo at IDSA Rhode Island’s Nextup Conference!

On Thursday September 25th, designers, business owners and individuals gathered together for ISDA Rhode Island’s Sustainability Conference in Providence. Presentations were given by four speakers; Meaghan O’Neal of TreeHugger.com, Sean Brennan & Kelly Sherman of Continuum, and Emily Pilloton of Project H Design spoke on the importance of understanding consumer behavior and choices. Emily discussed her current ongoing project, Hippo Roller, a water transportation device. Meaghan educated us about a new form of eco-friendly graffiti, and Sean and Kelly spoke passionately about the importance of the consumer mindset and understanding how consumers think about the environment. Most importantly, all of the guest speakers discussed ways of designing to guide consumers in choosing greener options. Afterwards, guests and speakers took part in an engaging discussion of causes, relevant issues, and solutions. Everyone congregated on the green roof of the historic and sustainably redeveloped, Peerless Lofts Building for cocktails and a small version of Ecolect’s Materials Petting Zoo, the cutting-edge traveling exhibition of environmentally considered materials.

Project H
Tree Hugger
Continuum

The Eco-Friendly Keg Party!

The infamous disposable plastic cup that has been a mainstay of college campuses around the country has finally received a much needed overhaul. The Solo Cup Company has just announced a launch of their first ever use of recycled content in a disposable cup for wide spread sale.

Solo’s Bare™ line of disposable plastic cups is made from 20 percent post-consumer recycled polyethylene (PET) plastic. According to Steve Jungmann, Solo Cup Company senior vice president of consumer sales and marketing, “Sustainability is an ongoing priority for Solo and for our consumers. Our Bare products deliver environmental benefits with all the performance, strength and style consumers expect. We are committed to providing alternative choices in convenience tableware while reducing our own footprint on the world’s environment.”

The Release of Solo’s Bare™ line of sustainable products is a step in the right direction for the disposable tableware industry. Not only are these cups made from recycled plastic, but they themselves can be recycled anywhere plastic bottles are accepted.

Although there is still a lot more that can be done in this industry, Solo has provided the weekend picknicker, or partygoer with more sustainable alternatives than ever before. Cheers to that!

www.barebysolo.com

Toys for Elementary Math Education in the Developing World

Project H Design is an Ecolect partner and a global design nonprofit who believes design can change the world. Their team has assembled a group of industrial designers, social entrepreneurs, and manufacturers to conceive and produce a toy for elementary math education with applications in the developing world and the US retail markets. Their case study is the Kutamba School for AIDS orphans, located in Uganda. Project H’s team will develop a locally-made version of the toy for Kutamba and broader distribution in the developing world, along with a sister US retail version based on the same system.

In addition to taking donations on their site, Project H is submitting their proposal on Ideablob “the living, breathing community of ideas”. Their team is striving to delve more deeply into the design development, prototyping, user testing and distribution. According to Emily Pilloton, Founder of Project H Design, “We will be able to fund the initial production of the math toys for both the Kutamba case study school as well as the US retail production and associated legal/intellectual property protection.”

If you like what Project H is up to, sign-into Ideablob and give them a vote!

Take a break for Green Drinks

If you don’t know about the international phenomenon Green Drinks, you’re missing out. The equation above from the Chattanooga chapter sums it up. For all those who need the really technical breakdown we’ve cited greendrinks.org.

“Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organising network. These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.”

Can’t find one near you? Get tips on making a Green Drinks happen in your city by emailing edwin@greendrinks.org