Japanese Precut Timber Construction The traditional wooden construction of Japanese architecture is extremely detailed. Its exacting precision and craftsmanship has stood the test of time for centuries. However, the process of handcrafting each wooden beam with mortises and tenons is quite labor intensive, and with an aging workforce, automation of the production process is key to continuing the tradition. A recent example of this fully automated technology at work is Bakoko’s Onjuku Beach House, which was erected in 1 day by a small construction team led by two carpenters. It all starts at the factory, where the architectural drawings are turned into shop drawings that the computers can read. Check out the video to see the manufacturing process and construction in action. Photographs: Bakoko.com, Flickr user: Bakoko References: Bakoko.com
Israeli Company Turns Trash Into Biogas The Western world may have grown accustomed to microwave ovens and electric burners, but the majority of developing populations still cook their food and heat their homes over an open fire. While that may seem like a more “pastoral” and healthy way to live, the World Health Organization reports that up to four million people die from the direct and indirect effects of cooking with solid fuels, like wood, charcoal and coal. This staggering statistic hadn’t come to the attention of the Israeli inventors of the HomeBioGas system, until the information was pointed out to them by none other than United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. During a visit with Israeli President Reuben Rivlin last year, Ban expressed the global need for a sustainable and safe solution to this dire issue, naming Israel’s HomeBioGas’s bio-digester as a very viable answer. The HomeBioGas team meets with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon From trash to treasured cooking oil
Måla miljösmart och hälsosamt | Kloka Hem Vad är färg? Färger uppkallas vanligen efter sitt bindemedel, till exempel plastfärg, kalkfärg eller linoljefärg. Höstens färger från Pure & original. Varför inte vattenburen plastfärg? Den mest använda färgen idag är vattenburen plastfärg, latex/akrylatfärg. Ibland felaktigt kallad ”vattenbaserad färg”. • Den är petroleumbaserad. • Färgen innehåller miljö- och hälsoskadliga tillsatser som mjukgörare, konserveringsmedel, filmbildare, konsistensgivare, tensider och skumdämpare. • Färgen är statisk och drar åt sig smuts. Nanopartiklar ny fara? Nanopartiklar blir allt vanligare i produkter som färg och spackel. Fantastiska färger från Byta-yta av Malin Allbäck. Miljömärkta färger Många plastfärger är miljömärkta till exempel med EU-blomman eller Svanen. Farliga konserveringsmedel och bristande innehållsdeklarationer Hälsomässigt är tillsatserna värre än plasten. Plastfärgerna avger också ämnen till inomhusluften, framförallt de första månaderna efter målning. Vad kännetecknar en bra färg?
Build a Mars base with a box of engineered bugs - space - 04 October 2012 THE next time humans set foot on an alien world, they may not travel alone. Small, lightweight "bug boxes" packed full of engineered microbes could make life on hostile planets a lot more liveable. Pioneering settlers on a distant world will require food, fuel and shelter if they are to survive, but bringing bulky supplies from Earth is far too costly. Synthetic biology offers another option. Microbes weigh precious little, and would take up next to no space on a spacecraft, but once the mission lands - on Mars, say - they could multiply by feeding on the materials available there. The products of their labour could provide the building blocks essential for a human settlement. NASA has already begun research to realise this dream, says Lynn Rothschild at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Synthetic biology lies at the crossroads of biology and engineering. Take the need for energy. The idea is that the waste produced by astronauts could feed the microbes.
About Worldchanging "Architecture or Revolution. Revolution can be avoided." Le Corbusier, Vers une Architecture, 1923 Le Corbusier had it wrong. One billion people live in abject poverty. The U.N. The Open Architecture Network aims to be just such a catalyst for change. What is the Open Architecture Network? The Open Architecture Network is an online, open-source community dedicated to improving living conditions through innovative and sustainable design. • Share their ideas, designs and plans • View and review designs posted by others • Collaborate with each other, people in other professions and community leaders to address specific design challenges • Manage design projects from concept to implementation • Communicate easily amongst team members • Protect their intellectual property rights using the Creative Commons "some rights reserved" licensing system and be shielded from unwarranted liability • Build a more sustainable future Who is behind this? Who else is behind this? What is our goal?
All-black house in Poland is clad in sustainably harvested durable ThermoWood | Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building Here at Inhabitat, we're all about new advancements when it comes to design. That's why we are so excited about an interesting technology coming from Scandinavia called ThermoWood, a sustainably harvested, extremely durable type of timber manufactured in Finland. Design studio też architekci chose ThermoWood as cladding material for their new residential project in Poland, prompting Treehugger's Lloyd Alter to take a closer look at the product, which combines benefits of both hardwoods and softwoods and offers an interesting alternative to the often hazardous chemically treated wood. We’ve seen some great new developments in the field of sustainable cladding materials, like low maintenance softwood by Norwegian manufacturer Kebony and clever reclaimed Wabi Sabi. Related: How sustainable is wood? According to the company’s website, the manufacturing process for Thermowood includes three phases of heat treatment, and improves the stability and biological durability of wood. + ThermoWood
Bamboo Composites Bamboo Composites Steel is heavy, environmentally unfriendly and corrodes. Actually 70% of today's structural damage is due to corrosion of steel within reinforced concrete buildings. Steel is also not widely available in many developing countries. Enter the super-fast-growing grass - bamboo - renewable, carbon sequestering, lightweight, corrosion-free, stress-resistant and less expensive than steel. Bamboo grows with abandon throughout tropical and temperate zones. Concrete reinforced with bamboo composite rods. Dirk Hebel of Advanced Fibre Composite Laboratory at FCL in Singapore and Assistent Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich believes bamboo could replace steel in the not too distant future. The team is currently also testing the strength of concrete with bamboo composite mixed directly into the concrete. Resources: hebel.arch.ethz.ch sourceable.net
Comment le pipi et le caca vont changer le monde 500 litres d'urine, 50 kilos d'excréments. C'est ce que chaque humain produit en moyenne par an. Si dans les pays développés, les déjections humaines ne sont pas considérées comme un problème, elles sont à l'origine de graves maladies dans les pays plus pauvres. Alors que faire? Pour produire de l'électricité Des chercheurs britanniques du Bristol Robotic Laboratory travaillent actuellement à la production d'électricité à partir d'urine humaine. Pour fabriquer des briques L'architecte Ginger Krieg Dosier a inventé une brique 100% naturelle, fabriquée à base de sable, de bactéries, de chlorure de calcium et... d'urine. Pour faire la cuisine Dans les prisons du Rwanda, le bois qui servait à chauffer la nourriture a été remplacé par du biogaz, généré à partir des excréments des prisonniers. Pour faire pousser des plantes Les déjections humaines possèdent des nutriments nécessaires au développement des plantes. Pour alimenter sa voiture Vous savez maintenant ce qu'il vous reste à faire.
L'immeuble du futur : un écosystème au service de l'homme Depuis l'antique Rome, les humains ont utilisé la superposition des habitations pour concentrer en un même lieu les citadins. L'immeuble n'a été jusqu'ici que cette simple superposition. A l'avenir, l'immeuble devra avoir des fonctionnalités plus variées. Quelques précisions préalables: Dans cet article, nous ne nous intéresserons pas aux constructions neuves, qui répondent à d'autres objectifs, qui sont laissées à la créativité des architectes et qui, surtout, seront limitées par la densité actuelle des agglomérations. Nous nous interrogerons plutôt sur la transformation des immeubles existants qui devront répondre à des exigences et à des contraintes nouvelles à cause des nouveaux enjeux économiques et écologiques. Phase 1 de la transformation, la surélévation: Dans un premier temps, il s'agira de surélever l'immeuble de un à trois étages supplémentaires. Quels sont les objectifs de cette surélévation? Phase 2: l'aménagement des hauts de l'immeuble Phase 3: l'aménagement des sous-sols