MetaFilter posts tagged with energy and design

"Ecology is not just an urgency of the economy and protection of our world but also creativity and elegance"

Artw — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:22:45 -0800

A Philippe Starck designed Wind Turbine?

Zed's zero carbon, baby: hydrogen-cell motorbikes

nthdegx — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:58:29 -0800

If hydrogen-cell cars are no good, how about hydrogen-cell motorbikes!

Interaction and the buildings of tomorrow

nthdegx — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:25:17 -0800

Two articles on how interaction may shape the buildings, work places and urban spaces of tomorrow: Design Week's Study takes sensory approach to improve office of the future [which mentions Duncan Wilson, who works with and blogs about this stuff]; and City of Sound's The Personal Well-Tempered Environment.

solar chic

madamjujujive — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:33:29 -0800

The Solar Decathlon is a just-completed competition in which 20 teams of college and university students competed to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. View a photo gallery or take video tours of the homes. Inhabitat has been blogging the event - here's their view of Germany's winning entry. Note: There are links above each photo in the photo gallery that will bring you to details of the project and a link to the college or university's home site for each project. More coverage from Inhabit:

Second prize: University of Maryland’s Leaf House
University of Colorado Solar House
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
University of Cincinnati
2005 winning entry led to business launch: Cornell Zero Energy home

Climate-safe home design - alternative building is ready to go mainstream.

Listener — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 14:13:22 -0800

Passivhaus/Passive house design that saves mucho energy, does not require air conditioning, does not require heating even when outdoors it's 10 below! Since, for example, more than 30% of energy consumed in the UK is for homes and 82 per cent of that is space and water heating, [Monbiot, "Heat,"chapter 5, "Our Leaky Homes,"] changing our standards of home design is important. Diagram shows that basic solar design concepts are well understood and technically easy to implement in new construction. [If only my house could be turned 45 degrees!] Possibly through ignorance, and partly through the desire to cut corners instead of doing things right, we do not make these wise concepts a priority. There are lots of cool alternative building techniques, many of which are traditional and being revived. This leading design standard saves 90% of energy used in the home. Here in Canada it's called the net zero energy home.

sustainable living in ontario

heatherann — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 06:55:46 -0800

miniHome: "What is it? A cottage? A Trailer? A Home? All of the above. Technically, the miniHome is classed as an RV - or recreational vehicle (yes, it is on wheels!) but it is designed to work as a comfortable, year-round dwelling in extreme climates. While we see it as the future of sustainable housing and urban infill, it is ideally suited as a ski chalet, cottage, vacation retreat, guest cabin, a place for the kids or family - basically as a luxurious yet simple home-away-from-home." Welcome to life off the grid in Ontario.