Comprising 70 percent of our bodies, covering 70 percent of our earth’s surface, and providing more than 50 percent of the world’s ‘renewable’ energy, water is also the ultimate adaptor: evaporating, condensing, crystallizing, icing, melting, flowing and filling, according to its environment.
The beauty of water, and its emotional power as a latent energy force, is [...]

Competitions give us a chance to elevate the ideas of transforming our existing cities into something new, inspiring and green.  Tackling the environmental challenges of dense living has been a theme of the eVolo Magazine’s Skyscraper Competition for the past few years.  Their forms reflect idealism and digital visualization, yet the ideas face real-life problems.
Taking [...]

In May 2009, five curious new wavy red-roofed bus shelters were constructed around San Francisco.  Their unorthodox design and interesting features have garnered recognition in many circles around the world, but very few have heard of the highly innovative and collaborative story behind this great green project. 

According to Lundberg Design project manager Ryan Hughes, the [...]

Sustainable cities require sustainable communities as well as care for the environment.  Brazilian architect, Jorge Mario Jauregui has been working in Rio de Janiero for the last fifteen years to use his skills as an architect to bring infrastructure and community facilities to the informal communities throughout the city known as favelas.  Favelas, which house [...]

Those people who want energy efficiency but are turned off by the compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that they are finding at their local home stores should take a look at cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs). They come in the shapes that we all use, such as household bulbs, flame tip and globe; and are available [...]

Grant Street house

Most buildings leak air, and therefore heat, through cracks in their building envelope.  We get cold in our leaky buildings and turn up our heaters to keep warm.  The heat continues to leak out, and we continue to turn up our heaters, and on and on the cycle goes.  In the end, we [...]

Peter Rich of Peter Rich Architects in South Africa has dedicated his career to the service of the less privileged.  His projects include low-income housing, community centers and children’s facilities.  The Mapungubwe Interpretation Center in Limpopo, South Africa, a project recently completed, looks to the local culture and ecology for its design inspiration.  Situated in [...]

For a few weeks in the fall the Solar Decathlon will transform the Mall in Washington D.C., stretching out before the Capitol Building into a laboratory for Green Architecture. The competition, sponsored by the US Department of Energy, brings students from around the world together to test the houses that they have designed, built, shipped [...]

The techniques of lighting have greatly evolved beyond simple table lamps and chandeliers, yet many homeowners have not updated their thinking much beyond this approach.  So much of what we see in current design magazines and books are the ultra modern, ultra clean interiors.  It’s true that progressive design is a hot topic, but it’s [...]

I have to say it’s an exciting time to be practicing architecture. Yes the economy has put all sorts of new pressures on us and challenges in our path. But the mainstreaming of environmental considerations is delivering architects much more enlightened clients and an abundance of new products, materials and strategies that will allow us [...]