With increased emphasis on energy efficiency and environmentally conscious design, the Gravia floorlamp has been a focus of attention in environmentally friendly lighting. Earlier this year it was the winner of the Greener Gadgets Competition. Designed by Clay Moulton, the lamp uses a combination of gravity and human power to provide light equivalent to a 40 watt incandescent bulb.
As a weight descends over three to four hours, a weight descends and this energy is coverted to power a series of LED lights. Once the weight reaches the bottom, a the weight must be lifted back to the top to repeat the cycle. The lamp is designed to provide light for 200 years. -Via Techpin.
At the end of last year, ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Google and Specialized bikes sponsored the Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine contest. The winner was this design which proposes a solution to the 1.1 billion without access to clean water. It additionally serves as an environmentally friendly form of transportation. The winning team was made up of California design students Adam Mack, Brian Mason, John Lai, Paul Silberschatz, and Eleanor Morgan. Via Creative Review.
1) Wind catcher (provides cooling ventilation)
2) Solar array (heats water and provides electricity)
3) Improved insulation
4) Biomass boiler
OFFSITE2007 is running through the June 14th in the UK. The conference explores modern construction and is a showcase of sustainable, smart buildings. A standout was a zero emission home built by Kingspan Off-Site. Solar power heats water and provides electricity. The insulation looses 60% less heat than the average home. During the few weeks per year that heating is necessary, a biomass boiler running on organic fuels provides the extra energy. Interestingly, the carbon dioxide produced during burning is offset by the amount absorbed growing the fuel.
Right now the building cost is 40% more than the standard home, but this figure could drop significantly as more homes are built this way. The biggest cost is generating electricity. A development could have additional methods of generating electricity which would further bring down the price. – Via BBC UK
The image above and the detail below depicts the two million plastic beverage bottles used in the US every five minutes. Chris Jordan describes the series by saying, “This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs.”
“My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images.” Visit his website to see more work from the series.
This series will be exhibited at the Von Lintel Gallery in New York from June 14th to the end of July. Opening reception on June 14th. More info at www.vonlintel.com.
Our friends at Modern Self just turned us on to these ceiling tiles by Talissa Décor that install easily over that ugly popcorn texture common in so many apartments. According to this article the whole process can be done pretty easily with a utility knife, putty knife and some adhesive. The tiles are light weight molded polystyrene that can be easily removed when you move if your landlord requires you to get rid home improvements upon vacating. White tiles (which you can of course paint to your liking) are $3.99 so you can get away with this project fairly inexpensively.
We know what you’re thinking, because we thought the same thing, “These look way to cool to be rugs.” Sweden based HZL by Henzel has finally come up with an alternative to the basic flat pattern or Persian choices. By contrast, these designs make every other rug we’ve seen suddenly look dated and boring.
HZL by Henzel offers a fairly large variety of designs in stock to spice up your domicile, all available in several different sizes and handcrafted from 100% New Zealand wool. They have showrooms in most major cities globally and also sell direct through their website. HZL by Henzel can also put together custom projects with the design of your choosing.
