A Sneak Peek into the Eco City
by: Cleantech research, 2012-02-24 20:09:16 UTC
As you have probably heard by now, the 2012 edition of the Cleantech Forum San Francisco will be a very special one. The Eco City is one of the features that will make this 10th Anniversary event unique. Built upon the success of last year’s all-electric car show, the Eco City is designed as a public showcase of the latest clean technologies available on the market. Fifteen hand-picked companies representing the automotive, solar, wind, building materials, energy efficiency and smart grid industries will run the show, displaying their coolest products and illustrating this year’s theme: “The Power of Global Partnerships”. The Eco City will take place on Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th of March on Justin Herman plaza, in front of San Francisco’s famous Ferry Building and just outside the Hyatt Regency. As a special treat for cleantech aficionados, the event is open and free to the approximately 20,000 pedestrians that walk through the plaza each day.
So what can you actually do at the Eco City? For starters, test-drive Ford’s brand-new electric car. Come over and have a look at SunPower’s latest solar technologies. Sit and enjoy the sun on our green pop-up park. Get…
Raspberry Pi is a Low-Power, Credit-Card Sized Computer
by: Eco Geek Latest, 2012-02-23 16:01:06 UTC
A low-cost, low-power, credit-card sized computer developed by a charitable foundation set up by some computer science instructors from Cambridge University. Their goal was to produce a very inexpensive, low-power computer that could be used by kids to learn programming. Now the first examples of the resulting low-cost credit-card sized computer are about to reach the market with a starting price as little as $25.
"The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming."
The Raspberry Pi is an ARM-based, SoC (system on a chip) computer that is just slightly too large to fit in an Altoids tin. It will run several varieties of Linux operating system. Fedora Linux is its recommended distribution, and it will also support Debian and ArchLinux (some issues with Ubuntu and the ARM processor prevent Ubuntu from supporting it at this time).
The Raspberry Pi is capable of delivering BluRay quality display. The developers say that "graphics capabilities are roughly equivalent to Xbox 1 level of performance. Overall real world performance is something like a 300MHz Pentium 2, only with much, much swankier graphics." It has ports for composite and DVI (using a cheap adapter for the DVI) video output.
Power to run the Raspberry Pi can come from a phone charger or even from 4 AA batteries. A 700 mA USB charger will be the power source for the Model B, and the Model A can get away with even lower power requirements (300 mA). At that low power level, solar powered options should be practical and not terribly expensive.
The Raspberry Pi comes in two models (A and B) with 128 MB and 256 MB of RAM and priced at $25 and $35 respectively. Lots more information and specifications are available in the Raspberry Pi FAQ. The Raspberry Pi will be available beginning at the end of February 2012.
image: via Raspberry Pi
Hat-tip to @chrissalzman for the heads-up
Time to jump-start eco-design (Analysis)
by: Euractive, 2012-02-27 16:30:16 UTC
After years of delays, hopes are high that 2012 will be the year Europe’s Ecodesign Directive will finally kick into action, saving billions of euros and the environment, says Stéphane Arditi, coordinator for the 'Coolproducts' campaign to promote energy-efficient appliances and other consumer goods.
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TED: Paul Gilding: The Earth is full - Paul Gilding (2012)
by: TEDTalks (video), 2012-02-29 17:30:00 UTC
Have we used up all our resources? Have we filled up all the livable space on Earth? Paul Gilding suggests we have, and the possibility of devastating consequences, in a talk that's equal parts terrifying and, oddly, hopeful.
Mobile Lamp By Nathalie Dewez
by: mocoloco, 2012-02-29 22:48:17 UTC
Designer Nathalie Dewez has created a monumental inflatable chandelier for the great hall of the Mudam Contemporary Art Museum in Luxembourg.
Meld Intros Luxe Recycled Content Material
by: Jetson Green, 2012-02-27 05:12:41 UTC
North Carolina-based Meld USA, maker of several materials we’ve mentioned including ecoX, Micro, and Plus Plus, introduced a new material in the last year called Luxe. Luxe is made in Raleigh with up to 74% pre-consumer recycled-content material and can be used with various products, including countertops, tiles, and wall paneling. Meld offers six standard colors – Natural, Cement, Graphite, Saddleback, Caper and Southern Mud — and basically infinite custom colors.
[+] More about eco-friendly, concrete products by Meld USA.
Credits: Meld USA.
Related Articles on JetsonGreen.com:
- Plus Plus Pavers from Meld USA
- Micro Recycled Eco-Composite Surface
- Nichiha Unveils Recycled-Content Shake
Build Your 100-mile Dream Home
by: Core77, 2012-02-29 17:30:00 UTC
You've heard of the locavore diet: only eating what's available within 100 miles of you. Now there's loca-arch (yeah, we're still looking for a catchy name), a movement that supports new building with only the materials available in your immediate environment. Want Italian marble countertops? Unless there's a quarry nearby that can provide something similar, you're going to have to either find an alternative or move to Italy.
To promote the idea, the Architecture Foundation of British Columbia launched an international competition to design a 1,200-square-foot, four-person home that uses only materials made or recycled within 100 miles of Vancouver (much like the 100-mile locavore diet challenge, also born in Vancouver). While everyone's in a tizzy over getting LEED certified, 'locavore architecture' is a much more sustainable approach.
According to GOOD, "although a large percentage of the world's population live in homes made from local materials, the idea of intentionally setting geographic restraints on modern building materials is a relatively novel idea. One example of an existing 100-mile house is the home built by naturalist and writer Briony Penn in British Columbia, just across the Strait of Georgia from Vancouver. With help from builder Michael Dragland, she applied the principles of the diet to the 1,150-square-foot home she recently built on Salt Spring Island."
Penn said that while the experience of building the house was fun and allowed her to engage with her community, it wasn't always easy. "The most difficult things to find within 100 miles were insulation and light fixtures," she said. She had many items custom-made, and, at the end of the day, spent $300,000—much more than she would have on a traditional house. Still, she has no regrets. "If you just say, 'Here's my budget,' and then you build smaller, but sweeter, it's just a simple case of changing your parameters and values. Instead of trying to push for maximum space at the cheapest price, you push for maximum quality and you settle for less space, and honestly, you don't miss the space."
Ready to go back to basics and enter the competition to build your own 100-mile home? Submissions are due by the end of April. The first prize winner gets $5,000, which may not buy enough local timber for the whole frame, but if you're the kind of person who enters a contest like this, my guess is money is not a major motivator. Or, sit this round out and see how Penn built her 100-mile dream house.
(more...)
Is it Safe to Drink? New App Guides Travelers in Tap Water Choices
by: TreeHugger Science, 2012-02-22 20:07:49 UTC
When you're traveling, how do you know if the tap water is safe to drink? Yup, there's an app for that.
Audi Launches A3 E-tron Electric Vehicle Pilot Program
by: Inhabitat , 2012-02-27 19:06:34 UTC
Audi just took its first step into the expanding U.S. electric vehicle landscape by launching a pilot program for the hotly anticipated battery-electric Audi A3 e-tron. The A3 e-tron pilot program will help Audi identify challenges and opportunities with plug-in vehicles as luxury car buyers become more receptive to EV technology. The program will be a major component of the discussion at the Audi Social Space at TED2012, where the automaker intends to spark a progressive dialogue about the role transportation will play in the global megacities of the future.
Read the rest of Audi Launches A3 E-tron Electric Vehicle Pilot Program
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Autodesk Showcases Sustainable Design at Second Annual Sustainability Summit
by: Sustainable Design News, 2012-02-28 00:17:42 UTC
Autodesk President and CEO Carl Bass joined Fortune Magazine Sr. Writer and Editor Marc Gunther to discuss sustainable design at the company's recent Sustainability Summit in San Francisco.
Also presenting were a panel of customers discussing their use of Autodesk software to design greener buildings, better manufacturing processes, water turbines and an eco-refrigerator.
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