Rounding Out Shelter Design

October 27, 2009

Recently the winner of a shelter design contest organized by the Guggenheim Museum and Google's 3-D modeling arm SketchUp was announced--a Danish tidal sea space. But a finalist's garbage-transportation shelter really captured my imagination.

The Design It: Shelter Competition asked entrants to design simple off-grid small shelters where a person could study and sleep. It could be anywhere on Earth as long as the plans didn't require removing any existing structures.

Slovenian architect Alexander Niño Ruiz designed a circular, functional rolling shelter for waste-collectors in Bogotá. Thousands of families in the Colombian city gather waste for recycling and sadly tend to find refuge from the elements in the very materials they pick up. Ruiz's corrugated metal barrels nest to form rolling storage. At night, the reflective wheel expands to become a protective space. While I'm not sure how easy--and inexpensive--it would be to construct one of these from scrap materials, I hope Ruiz puts his idea into motion.

Here's a video with more details about the Waste-Pickers Shelter:

Image: Rendering of a Waste-pickers shelter in Bogota at night. Credit: Alexander Niño Ruiz.

Wide Angle: Tsunami-Proof Buildings Gaining Ground

October 20, 2009

Geotechnical engineer Yumei Wang, who works for Oregon state, warns that it's only a matter of time before a tsunami hits the Pacific Northwest. Yikes. I mean, YIKES!!! Fortunately for the vulnerable populace, Wang has a plan.

She proposes that low-lying communities collaborate to construct what she calls "tsunami evacuation buildings." I think "post-wave outposts" sounds better, but that's just me. Such a building would be made from reinforced concrete and have an 18-foot first floor, wide columns connected to a deep pile foundation, a wide external stairwell, and seawalls along the exterior to dissipate waves. An open plan would allow the building to have other daily uses.

As an engineer with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries in Portland, Wang is meeting with officials in Cannon Beach about potentially constructing the nation's first tsunami evacuation building (PDF) by retrofitting the town hall. While the estimated cost is between $1 million and $2 million, doing nothing would be worse since around 100,000 people live in the state's risk areas. Maybe they could even use green concrete. A retrofit definitely beats my idea: water wings as fashionable accessories.

Photo: Walk this way: Shirahama tsunami evacuation structure in Japan. Credit: Nobuo Shuto.

German Solar Cube House Wins DC Decathlon

October 16, 2009

On the final, rainy, day of judging at the fourth Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC, I found myself busting a move with the German team in their solar house. Maybe that was what pushed them over the top.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that Team Germany from Technische Universität Darmstadt had won the competition, coming away with glory and bragging rights. For the uninitiated, the Solar Decathlon is a DOE-sponsored event where college teams from around the world design and build family homes on the National Mall that run solely on solar power.

When the judges aren't evaluating the homes in 10 different weighted categories, the public can traipse through for inspiration. Despite the cold and steady rain yesterday, the German house was packed with visitors drawn to its futuristic cube shape. The team had cleverly used photovoltaics on all sides for maximum power. Team member Patrick Tauchert told me that one of their strategies was to take features that worked and push them as far as they could go. Even on a gloomy day they still had an impressive surplus, but maintaining a comfortable temperature was key so the whole team danced in unison to generate more heat. I'm pretty sure they're still dancing, but this time in celebration. 

Photo: Visitors flock to the decathlon, and to the German house (far right). Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

Taking Tree Housing To New Heights

September 04, 2009

A research group from the University of Stuttgart is giving "tree house" a new meaning recently with the world's first tower made from living white willow trees.

I've seen benches and even umbrella stands made from manipulating living trees, but coaxing them into a building is a new one. The Baubotanik group--I love their name--focuses on understanding how botany can be used for construction. Headed by Professor Gerd de Bruyn, the scientists planted the trees at the base in the soil, constructed a temporary steel scaffolding to support the growing trees, and placed yet more willows in planters.

Over the course of five to 10 years the plan is for the trees to grow into a load-bearing structure that no longer needs the steel. The scientists hope that work on this tower will lead to safe and strong living structures. If you're in Germany on September 19, you can go check it out (in German) for yourself because the tower will be open for public viewing. I'll probably just wait until I can imagine moving in.

Photo: A member of the research group aloft in the tower. Credit: Baubotanik.

Wide Angle: Meet the Captain

June 24, 2009

The microbiologist Dickson Despommier has been called a trailblazer in the medical ecology field. You might know this soon-to-be emeritus professor best for his work on vertical urban farm planning--an idea that grew 10 years ago from his students' frustration with the limits of rooftop gardening to feed city-dwellers.

Despommier spoke to me about his cool job from Portland, Oregon, where he's speaking at the city's Summer Sustainability Series. Here are the highlights:

What are you working on now?

The Vertical Farm Project has grown to the point now where it’s consuming every waking moment of my life. I’m in the process now of trying to build one. We’ve been invited by Jordan and Qatar to explore the possibility of establishing an experimental versions of vertical farming in both of those countries, and I’m going over there in another week.

GluBam Wow

April 10, 2009

Remember the GluBam guy? No, not the over-caffeinated man with the headset but University of Southern California professor Yan Xiao. He just completed a house in China made entirely from his super-strength bamboo boards.

When I last wrote about Xiao, he was using a homemade hydraulic press to construct boards from strips of fast-growing bamboo and epoxy resin--technology he's dubbed GluBam. He sees the board eventually replacing questionable concrete that is widely used in his homeland, China. Worldwide, cement production is also responsible for more than 5 percent of manmade CO2 emissions.

Now, Xiao and a group of builders have completed a fully-functional residential home from GluBam in Changsha, Hunan Province. The five-bedroom California-style demonstration house took eight builders around three months total to construct. Costs were on par with what one would pay for traditional materials, according to Xiao.

Next stop is Beijing, where Xiao has agreed to build a second demo home. He would also like to use his bamboo technology to reconstruct homes for the 4.5 million people left homeless after last year's Sichuan earthquake. I'm thinking that between the housing crisis in America and natural disasters like the recent quake in Italy, GluBam boards might sell themselves.

Credit: USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

WIDE ANGLE V2G: How About an Electric Car With That Mortgage?

February 05, 2009

Every once and a while, important and serendipitous collaborations emerge. They're so simple--like peanut butter in chocolate cups--that you wonder why everything can't be so obvious. Same goes for a house and car. Why keep separating them?

That's exactly what Terry Penney thought while comparing the bills from his off-grid cabin and on-grid family home. Penney manages vehicle technologies at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado and explained his thinking to me when I was grilling him on vehicle-to-grid tech for a (very cool) video.

Penney envisions developers, utilities, electric car manufacturers, green builders, and regulators collaborating on smart, sustainable communities. "It’s a system," Penney says. "So you have a mortgage that combines the house and the car as a total package. The package is part of this net-metered system that delivers energy to your car. And in an emergency, let’s say an ice storm, your car can keep essential services going in your house." Solar trees could provide power for the community and, if there's excess power produced, everyone gets cash back.

What's more, you'd sign up to get a bunch of cars over the course of a 30-year mortgage. That helps car companies come up with production schedules and cover the price differential for batteries. Mortgage defaults go down because the utility and fuel costs are low...or nonexistent. Plus, Penney says, insurance reps told him they'd charge less annually because the cars could serve as backup power.

So, where do I sign? "Someone has to take the first step," Penney says, having spent the last few years advocating this collaborative, smart system. There's been interest in Sarasota, Florida, Sonoma County in California, and in Austin, Texas, but so far the plans are still piecemeal. In this economy, I'm thinking car companies and banks will see that it's time to start running with this.

Photo: An electric car fills up under Palo Alto's city hall. Credit: Peter Kaminski.

GET MORE OF THE WIDE ANGLE
Now that you're behind the wheel, fill up on more cool vehicle to grid coverage:

Top 10: V2G Projects

News: Electric Car Gets Network

Video: Electric Car Feeds Grid

Sustainable: Vehicle to Grid Faces Speed Bumps

Puzzle: Electric Cars Got the Look

Podcast: Engineering Works! Fill Up on Electricity

Philly Cheapskate: The $100K Green House

January 30, 2009

Would you go for an eco-friendly house in the city? What if it only cost $100,000 to build? The idea that green building can be affordable is behind a new house going up in Philadelphia.

As National Public Radio's Marketplace reported this morning, developer Chad Ludeman and his realtor wife, Courtney, hope their new home will serve as a prototype for affordable, responsible building. The two-story, 1,100 square foot house in the East Kensington neighborhood isn't complete yet, but it is on budget. How? The modern design makes it easier to keep costs down while improving efficiency, allowing it to get LEED platinum certification. Its features include radiant heat, solar thermal hot water, a rainwater collection system, CFL lighting, and structural insulated panels (SIPs) that effectively combine framing and insulation. The team has plans to build more houses in the area.

I love the idea of an affordable green house that doesn't have to be 100 square feet. It would take more than a $100K house to draw me to Philly, but if this crew expands to NYC and beyond, they'll have quite the waiting list. Now, about that gray exterior...

Image: A rendering of the $100K house. Credit: Chad Ludeman/Postgreen.

The Great Green Retrofit of '09

January 18, 2009

While the (green) inauguration festivities get under way, I've been thinking about the Clean Energy Corps mentioned on Change.gov shortly after the election. What is it going to be, exactly? When will it get under way? And will everyone who joins get to meet Van Jones?

An article in the Boston Globe reports that the Clean Energy Corps could consist of "economically disadvantaged people who would retrofit and weatherize buildings," since buildings are responsible for a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Green-collar-job advocate Van Jones has said that he pictures a Clean Energy Corps that trains participants in green building and areas of expertise such as solar panel installation. The corps would also organize volunteers to plant trees and community gardens.

Recently Jones gave a passionate testimony before the House Select Committee last week, stressing how such work could alleviate poverty and help the U.S. achieve its environmental goals:

I've been searching but haven't found anything yet on when the corps will be launched. If you have inside information, definitely let me know. A future in green building sounds pretty patriotic these days.

Update March 11, 2009: President Obama just tapped Jones to be his "special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation." While Jones shrugs off the idea that he's now the "green jobs czar," I say that if anyone deserves that awesome designation, it would be Jones.

Image: Greenery taking over a building in New York City. Credit: Alyson Hurt.

Bamboo's Hidden Strength

November 21, 2008

University of Southern California professor Yan Xiao might just be proving that alchemy is real by turning bamboo into gold. Xiao, an engineer, created an incredibly sturdy timber from bamboo called GluBam and has tested it successfully in China. Popular Science just included memorably-named GluBam in its list of Best of What's New 2008.

Xiao, inspired by the strength that bamboo had for the kites he made as a child growing up in China, turned to the fast-growing plant as a possible replacement for the sub-par concrete that caused so much tragedy during the powerful earthquake that hit the country in May. He took bamboo strips, put them in a formation to maximize strength, coated them with epoxy resin, and pressed beams using a hydraulic press he created himself, according to Popular Science and an abstract (Word document) he submitted for the International Conference on Modern Bamboo Structures last year.

The pressed boards are far cheaper than imported lumber, safer than the concrete commonly used in rural China, and they're made from a quickly renewable source. While the glue is still a question mark, bamboo's potential to replace concrete could have a widespread effect on the atmosphere and not just in China. The concrete industry is responsible for 5 to 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. So far Xiao has been hard at work building bridges, houses, and schools with GluBam. If he swaps the epoxy for a nontoxic adhesive, I'll definitely be on board.

Image: Bamboo stacks in England. Credit: Fr. Eduardo.