Photovoltaic Batteries

My friend is on a role today. He just sent me these great photovoltaic batteries.  I think I'd still prefer my Solio but the flexible solar panels have me very intrigued... Check it out. 

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/02/18/suncat-solar-batteries-by-knut-karlsen/

Growning Water in Chicago

A fellow architect sent this article to me via email and I thought it was too cool of a concept to not pass on.  It is right in line with my electrified roads for electric cars, think bumper cars with the grid coming from solar panels and wind turbines along said road and attached to any bridges over said road. I think these two plans would work beautifully together... 

Anyway, this idea from Urban Labs won a big award in 2006 and has been further recognized by the AIA in 2009 with the $100,000 Latrobe Prize. Their concept is simple, build on Chicago's vast green spaces to create green boulevards to the Lake that will naturally clean used water and return it to the lake.  They are also calling for the reversal of the Chicago River (which unfortunately would need a MAJOR clean-up first) and the reuse of the current deep tunnels that collect run-off and divert it to the Mississippi basin as new 'L' lines for the CTA since these tunnels would no longer be required.  This is an idea that could be a great model for many other Cities, so all I have to ask as a Chicagoan is: Mayor Daley, when do we start? 

The blog that was forwarded to me: http://arcchicago.blogspot.com/2009/02/theres-gold-in-that-there-h20.html

The Urban Lab website with more details: http://www.urbanlab.com/h2o/

Use the Revloving Door Everytime

This my friends is an easy green idea that pretty much any abled body person can follow.  If you are going into a building and you have a choice between either a revolving door or a side door with no vestibule, use the revolving door.  First of all those side doors are meant for handicapped access and they are usually clearly marked, if you are using it and someone that physically can't using the revolving door comes up you'll feel like a schmuck, so just don't do it.  Secondly, if the air temp warmer or colder then the inside controlled temp, you are adding to the demand of the air handling system by adding cooler or warmer air into the building in very large bursts,especially if it is windy. The revolving door mixes air by the shear nature of the door and does not add to the demands of the air handling systems, therefore not adding to the energy demands of the building.  So bottom line if a revolving door is an option use it to help conserve energy.  

A side note to this one, because I see people doing it all the time, is hitting the ADA button to electrically open a door.  This wastes energy when you can just push on the door yourself if you are able. I think bottom line is if you are able bodied don't use the items clearly marked for those that are not. It is that simple.

Ecofont

A friend of mine just sent me a copy of a daily email she gets called Daily Candy, usually this is full of great new stuff around Chicago, and typically offers some discounts, but today it was touting Ecofont.  Here is the excerpt:

Hole Lotta Love
Download the New Ecofont Typeface

Our holidays were neither silent nor holy. (But we're on our knees thanking someone they're over.)

It's not too late to become a holey roller. Just download Ecofont, a brand new typeface designed by some Dutch geniuses that's made up of tiny little holes.

Here's the backstory: Most printer cartridges end up in landfills. The more ink we use, the more garbage we create. So Spranq designed a font that uses 20 percent less ink by simply removing as much of each letter as possible, while still leaving it readable. Basically, the whizzes got rid of the line that connects the dots to create the characters.

It's free to download and use, so there's no reason not to.

Unless you're just a total a-hole.

Available online at ecofont.eu.

Download, use, share, support and let us know how it works for you. So far for me it works really well in emails, word docs and excel.  I'm going to see if it is compatible with my CAD software next.

Christmas Decorations

I, like many others in the world, love to decorate for the holiday season.  In recent years I have been thinking of how to do this in a way that helps the enviroment.  The first thing I decided to do was buy a fake tree. (Don't scream about PVC hazards just yet) This was back in college almost 7 years ago now, and finding a sustainable live tree was both impossible and my poor college kid salary couldn't afford it. So I searched for sales and got really lucky with a nice sized tree that didn't look to fake and was metal and plastic, but spefically did not contain PVC, for the cost of 2 real trees, at the corner lot. I have not been able to find any clear cut stats on whether a fake tree or a live one is more sustainable, most seem to split down the middle, but I have to go with fake, simply because the amount of reuse it provides seems to have to outway the impact of cultivating, cutting and transporting the live ones every year, not to mention the pesticides, ick. Then if you don't recycle that tree (the City of Chicago does by the way, click here) it ends up in a landfill and so on. However, the benefits of some carbon dioxide scrubbing might be useful, so if anyone finds any research that points one way or the other, please let me know!  I did see one suggestion for getting a tree with roots in tact that you could replant, but problems with that are A. I don't have a yard big enough and B. you only can keep it in the warm indoors for a week before you have to plant it. This just doesn't seem like a good alternative for me, so I'll stick to my fake tree.  The next step I took was last year when my lights gave out, I went for LED's and found a place that would recycle my old lights, click here.  I love the new LED's, they so much more vibrant then my old ones.  Well, those are the steps I have taken so far, below are my ideas for the rest of decorations, I'll keep adding as I come up with ideas:

• Lights - Replace and recycle standard lights with more efficient LED lights
  
• Cards - If sending holiday cards consider e-cards, if not make sure to buy only cards with recycled content
  
• Wrapping Paper - Either buy recycled content paper only or reuse paper scraps (I am an architect and our scrap drawings make for some nice wrapping paper, you can even spice it up a bit with stamps or markers and such.)
  
• Recycle - We can't always control what lands on our doorstep as gifts, so make sure in the frenzy of the day you remeber to get a bag out to put all the paper in for recycling.  If you decide to go for a live tree make sure it gets recycled.  When you take down the cards make sure to recycle those as well. 
• Food - All of the holidays seem to be surrounded with food. Make sure what you bring to the table is organic and/or locally grown/produced.  It is healthier for you and the environment that way'
• Ornament and Decorations - Sometimes too much, is too much. Keep things simple here, buy local handcrafted items rather then those made and shipped from overseas.  In general buy less, remember there are 3 R's, REDUCE, reuse and recycle. 
• Gifts - For the kids buy made in the US items (I have a couple sites listed on my links page) For the adults think sustainable, fair trade or organic if your giving food. Homemade treats are always a welcome present and if you make them yourselves reuse containers to give them in then you control how environmentally friendly your gifts are.  Locally crafted items are always a good way to go as well. 

Most Important Produce to Buy Organic

Since we can't all afford to buy only locally grown, in-season organic produce, here are the top items to purchase organic due to pesticide residue.  In addition to Organic, look for local, in-season produce to make that much more of an impact.  

Apples

Bell Peppers

Carrots

Celery

Cherries

Cucumbers

Imported Grapes

Green Beans

Hot Peppers

Nectarines

Lettuce

Peaches

Pears

Potatoes

Raspberries

Spinach

Strawberries

Sources:

http://www.foodnews.org/

http://www.coopamerica.org/

Turn off the lights

I have become obsessive about this one, not sure why, but it is good because it is just becoming a habit. I watched a Mythbusters episode where they busted the myth that leaving the lights on all day actually saves energy.  Not only did they bust it but they found that even being out of the room for a few seconds you save energy by turning off the light, so I have made it a habit to turn off the light of all rooms I am not using at that exact moment. I do this at home and my husband has started too as well. We used to leave the hall light on (4 downlights) on all evening so we could get around the house, now those stay off unless we are in the hall.  

I do this at work to an extent as well, I sit near the conference rooms and our materials library and I am constantly turning those lights off after people when I get up to go somewhere.  Another place would be the break room, copy room, mail room, server room, etc... 

Mythbusters - Lightbulbs On or Off