The Solar Shelf Concept was a design entry to the Green Life Competition, and has come up as one of the top three designs submitted to the contest. A basic requirement of the competition was that the design entered should be environment and design centric, and that the entry should not be unrealistic.

The Solar Shelf Concept from Chinese designer Leon Zhu intends to provide the car with a certain degree of protection, while generating energy by utilizing solar panels. The concept includes a Rear Wing for cars; this rear wing holds on to the solar shelf.

While the car is in motion, or there is no requirement for the solar panels, they remain safely attached to the rear wing. When it is suitable, the user can pull out the solar panels from the wing to cover the car. This provides some protection against the elements for the car, while the solar panels can also generate some electricity to power the car’s auxiliary systems like air conditioning and radio.

Via: Autoblog Green

The Wind Lamp is a concept that could help the environment and natural resources in a number of ways. This green lamp is designed to serve as a street lamp, and it could come in very handy at places with sufficient wind power. The lamp basically consists of LEDs and a wind power generator.

The wind generators harness energy to power the LEDs, and since LEDs themselves are quite energy efficient, they are in a suitable position to effectively use the energy so generated. LEDs in the lamp use the required energy for light, and any excess energy generated can be supplied to neighboring lamps to keep them running.

Designer Kyung Kuk Kim’s concept generates clean power, gets some load off the grid, and probably even manages to do its job well. All those plus points however, come with some negatives as well. This would be one expensive street lamp to install and maintain, and with the resources each lamp would require, it will likely take away more than it provides.

Via: Ecofriend

The Idea House is a modular design created by Broadway Malyan. The design of the house is intended for use by one of Malaysia’s largest property developers, Sime Darby Property. Idea House aims to be the first carbon zero building in South East Asia and is well suited for the tropical climate of the country.

It will be a prefabricated house, built in modules to reduce construction time and costs, and this will also make the house’s deconstruction at the end of its useful life easier. It has deep overhangs to provide shade from the tropical sun, while photovoltaic panels on the roof harness solar energy to power the house and a rain water harvesting system provides the required water for the green roof garden.

The house has low-flow water efficient fixtures, gray water recycling, flexible interior spaces, and planned optimal site orientation to provide an efficient way for ventilation and daylight. This house currently is a prototype that will serve as a model for Sime Darby Property in its outlook for cleaner and modern housing.

Via: Jetson Green

Source: Inhabitat

Indoor lighting accounts for nearly 15% of energy use in most of the households, and while new technologies are working to drastically reduce this energy consumption, things like Sparks LEDs could prove very useful. This design from Daniel Becker uses energy efficient LED light bulbs, which can be put together to create a striking light sculpture.

It is not very difficult to create the light sculpture, the design can be put together and dismantled the same way as one would screw or unscrew a traditional light bulb. But of course, the Sparks offer a lot of creative, aesthetic and environmental advantages over those plain old light bulbs.

These structures can be put together in a number of ways to suit the personal preferences of the user, and require no technical expertise to install, making the design all the more alluring. Spark lights can be installed indoors and outdoors, and their suction cups make it possible to put them on walls as well.

Source: Inhabitat

The proposed Technosphere for Dubai’s Technopark, will be a giant carbon neutral building meant to show the state of the earth in current and future times. It replicates the earth as a structural concept, and studies the issues of self-sustaining life on a smaller level.

Designed by James Law Cybertecture, the Technosphere would have enough room to accommodate office space, residential space, a hotel and public courtyards.

The structure will prove its self sustainable and carbon neutral credentials with a number of innovations to make this miniature earth what it intends to be. The exterior of the structure will house solar panels to provide requisite energy for its inhabitants. The interiors will be shielded from the sun by a sky garden, which will also function as an air purifier to keep a steady supply of fresh oxygen going.

The Technosphere is going to be economical with its water use as well, and water inside the structure will be recycled and used efficiently.

Source: Inhabitat

The Fluid pavilion is scheduled to make itself noticed and admired at the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, South Korea. This exhibition space is in part inspired by the whale, and is an organic structure that utilizes the concept of adaptability.

Designers of the structure, Peddle Thorpe Architects (PTA) from Melbourne say the adaptability of the structure will allow it to be used long after its duties at the World Expo. Fluid will latch on to the structure, and float above water while being anchored in the harbor. Its organic design will ensure that the pavilion does not have a negative impact on the coastal ecosystem.

Once its work at the Expo is done, the structure can simply be unlatched from the site and sent on its way to other cities. A floating pavilion with enough space means that its availability to host different types of events will not be limited to its presence at the expo, the structure could travel to a number of places and do away with the need of creating new structures for many events.

Souce: Inhabitat

Vespa scooters enjoyed a high place during their heydays, but as time passes, these classics from the past get old, rusty and useless, not to mention that their fuel efficiency would be too poor by modern standards. All that aside, there’s still a lot of people in love with the old scooter. Bel & Bel give people a chance to own the Vespa, albeit in an entirely different way.

The Bel & Bel design studio reuses the old Vespa scooters to create office chairs. They use the leg shields from the scooter to create impressive office chairs that look cool, and being made from salvaged scooters, are eco friendly as well.

Some of their designs even use the tire of the scooter with the chair, and some other parts of the scooter are used as well. The major method though, appears to be the use of the Vespa’s leg shields. Just in case you were wondering, there’s a range of colors to choose from.

Souce: AutoblogGreen

We’ve all heard of green rooftop gardens. But, did you know that a team of recent MIT graduates has developed what could prove to be an even better way to make a roof eco-friendly? These innovators are working to produce roof tiles that change color, depending on the temperature.

The tiles become white when it’s hot, and then turn black when it’s cold.

That means in the summer, these roof tiles would be white. They would reflect sunlight off the roof, keep your house cooler, and even help reduce air conditioning costs.

In the winter, the tiles would turn black. They would absorb energy from the sunlight and help keep your house warmer.

What causes the color change? The tiles consist of a common commercial polymer solution sandwiched between a black backing and a clear plastic cover. When the temperature is below a certain level, the polymer stays in solution, and the black backing shows through. When the temperature rises, the polymer condenses to form tiny droplets. These droplets scatter light , producing a white, reflective surface.

The MIT team, called “Thermeleon” (rhymes with chameleon), developed the tiles as part of MIT’s Making and Designing Materials Engineering Contest (MADMEC). Thermeleon took first place in the contest and won $5,000.

But, don’t look for these roof tiles at your local building supply store  just yet.

First, Thermeleon needs to conduct further research about durability, affordability, and production. This research, in turn, will lead to the commercial development of these color-changing roof tiles.

Source: MIT

Photo credit: Patrick Gillooly

Looking at the LEED Silver building, or the Koll Airport Professional Center it would be difficult to believe that this was once an industrial building. The old building wasn’t razed to the ground to build this one, in fact, LPA Inc., which was hired by the Koll Company, has transformed the old building giving it a new look.

Environmental credentials of the building are strong, they are so good that it exceeds California’s Title 24 energy code by more than 17%. To go green all this way, LPA used things like high performance plumbing to reduce potable water use by 40%, another 50% reduction in potable water use comes from a high efficiency irrigation system and 76% of the exterior walls have been carried over from the previous building.

Other noteworthy things include high efficiency lighting, rigid insulation and single ply white PVC cool roof, use of low-E coated glass for perimeter glazing, and deep set windows with louvered canopies and shades. To keep up with its green credentials, the building has a preferred parking space for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Source: Jetson Green