Eco-Friendly Nunnery Features Solar Panels, Composting Toilet

Not every nunnery has solar panels on the roof. But, most nunneries don’t have cats named after Britney Spears running around either. The Benedictine nuns at Stanbrook Abbey in Worcester, England are preparing to bid goodbye to the Victorian convent that has been their home for many years to move to a new environmentally friendly monastery being built in the North York Moors national park.  The new convent – made of recycled materials and responsibly-sourced timber - will have rainwater harvesting, reedbed sewage systems, sedum roofs, and a woodchip boiler.

From The Guardian:

“We’re running a big building, spending thousands of pounds that we don’t have on looking after the place and heating it with oil and gas, which isn’t good for the environment. We’re here for the monastic life and it is being impinged on,” she said.

“Stanbrook Abbey was built for the time, they didn’t have heating. They had one tap and no bathrooms. It’s been adapted since but it’s still too big for us and we’re not museum curators.”

In a brief to the architects, the nuns stated their vision for their new premises. In addition to being sensitive to environmental concerns, a monastery for women should “contain some natural curved surfaces and shapes”. The new building, designed by the 2008 Stirling prizewinners Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, will allow them to live simply. There will be broadband-ready bedrooms for up to 30 nuns, a church, library and ancillary buildings. It also incorporates a retreat for up to 15 guests as hospitality is common to Benedictine traditions. The nuns will be in harmony with the heritage of their surroundings, studded with the ruins of Whitby, Rievaulx and Byland abbeys and Mount Grace Priory. “We are supposed to love creation and respect the environment. We’re living in and taking care of it,” said Savage.

How inspiring. It’s so great to hear about this sort of thing happening – and truly, how better to show gratitude for the wonders of nature than to be a responsible steward of the land and its resources? No doubt the nuns and their cat, Britney, will thoroughly enjoy their new eco-friendly country home.

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: BenedictineNuns.org

Green Building Market Still Growing Despite Weak Economy

The economy may be on a downward spiral, with investors keeping their funds closer to the chest, but so far the green building market looks like it’s still on the rise. Public perception of the costs of green buildings is changing – people are becoming aware of the fact that many aspects of green building save money in the long run.

From BizJournals Green:

McGraw-Hill Construction released a report on Wednesday that found the value of green building construction starts was up five-fold from 2005 to 2008. According to the Green Outlook 2009: Trends Driving Change report, starts were up from $10 billion in 2005 to $36 to $49 billion this year and could triple by 2013, reaching $96 to $140 billion.

The report — based on data found in the McGraw-Hill Construction Network — was released on Wednesday at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston. The survey found that, since 2005, the perceived benefits of green building have increased as people become more informed about green building. The decrease in operating costs is the most often cited benefit (13.6 percent, up from 8 percent to 9 percent in 2005), followed by the increase in building values (10.9 percent, up from 7.5 percent in 2005).

It’s yet another example of how the green market is going to continue to shine through this downturn. As we’ve noted before, during tough times, the things people do to save money are often environmentally friendly by nature. Now is a great time to push green ideas that save money, energy and resources.

Link [BizJournals Green]
Photo credit: Independence Station

Floating House Inspired by Nature

Portland, Oregon-based architect Robert Oshatz created this beautiful, floating home for the Fennel family on the Willamette River. Oshatz is known for his curvaceous, swooping architecture and unique approach to design. Since active construction is prohibited on the Willamette, Oshatz had to construct the home off-site on the connected Columbia River and pull it by barge to its mooring. This unique home is kept afloat by locally sourced 80-foot Douglas fir logs, and the exterior design takes its cue from ocean waves.

I’ve always wanted to live on a houseboat. It seems like it would be so relaxing, enjoying the gentle sway of the houseboat as it’s rocked by waves. Sigh.

Link [Environmental Graffiti]

Dubai Reveals Plans for Green Skyscraper Shaped Like a Wind Turbine

When it comes to eco-skyscrapers, Dubai’s definitely at the front of the pack, revealing plans for a new one practically once a month. Everything that’s been coming out of Dubai has been grand, innovative, and visually breathtaking, so it’s no surprise that the latest one – Anara Tower – is so spectacular.  It’s designed by Atkins Designs Studio and developed by Tameer Holding Investment, and will stand 2,150 feet tall. The developers are aiming for LEED silver certification.

From Inhabitat:

Shaped like super-massive wind turbine, Anara Tower is a mixed-use high-rise that will features residences, offices, retail spaces, a hotel, and a world-class art gallery. The 125 story structure will incorporate sky gardens every 27 floors and will boast a luxury restaurant situated within the glossy glass capsule in the center of the tower’s peak. Atkins Design Studio is aiming to maximize the skyscraper’s efficiency by incorporating water and energy efficiency strategies and potentially installing renewable sources of energy.

Construction is set to begin in 2009, so we’re not too far away from seeing it completed.

These designs coming out of Dubai make me feel like I’m looking into a portal at the future of green architecture. Everything seems so advanced. I guess that’s one perk of having so many billionaires eager to be at the forefront of the country’s environmental movement.

Link [Inhabitat]

Thai Temple Made of 1 Million Recycled Glass Bottles

A temple in the Sisaket province of Thailand is built of more than a million recycled glass bottles in shades of green and brown.  The Wa Pa Maha Chedio Kaew temple is nicknamed ‘Wat Lan Kuad’ or ‘Temple of Million Bottles’, a fitting name for a structure that takes low-tech eco-friendly architecture to a whole new level. The crematorium, surrounding shelters and even the toilets are made of glass bottles.  The monks continue to gather recycled bottles so they can create more buildings with them.

From Inhabitat:

The bottle-collection-turned-building started in 1984, when the monks used them to decorate their shelters. The shiny building material attracted more people to donate more bottles, until eventually they had enough to build the temple standing today. Bottle caps are also integrated as decorative mosaic murals. Going beyond use of glass as a sustainable building material, the bottle bricks don’t fade, let natural light into the space and are surprisingly easy to maintain. So if you’re looking to find Nirvana in a bottle, you might want to consider making a stop at the Wat Pa Maha Kaew Temple.

Who would have thought that you could build such a beautiful temple from items deemed by most as trash? Instead of piling up in a landfill, these bottles have given the monks a place to worship and live. I can only imagine what it looks like illuminated by sunlight – it must be quite a sight! Check out the rest of the photos over at Inhabitat.

Link [Inhabitat]

‘Walking House’ Designed to Beat Floods

The world’s first ‘walking house’ has debuted in Copenhagen, Denmark, hailed by its creators as “the ultimate property” that will help people escape the ravages of floods. The structure, which stands on six hydraulic legs, was designed by art collective N55 in Copenhagen along with engineers in Massachusetts.

From The Daily Mail:

The 10ft high home is solar and wind powered and can stroll at walking pace across all terrains.

Designers say it provides a solution to the problem of rising water levels as the house can simply walk away from floods.

Like normal homes, it comes equipped with a living room, kitchen, toilet, bed and wood stove.

However, the house can walk thanks to a mainframe computer which controls the legs.

Helen Robinson of the Wysing Arts Centre said; ‘This is far more than a caravan. It’s all about sustainable living - it can sustain a life for many years.

This is a cool idea, but come on – it’s hardly a practical solution for low-income people. The prototype cost £30,000 ($47,556) to build, and that’s not counting the land it sits on. Though designers claim it can be constructed for less, it still wouldn’t likely be inexpensive enough to be realistic for most of the people who would benefit most from a flood-proof home. Plus, it’s so small.

Good thinking, though – it’s incredibly innovative.  We’d like to see the designers build on this idea and find a way to make it more applicable to the communities that have the most to lose in a flood, like the New Orleans area, the west coast of Africa and Bihar, India.

Link [The Daily Mail]

Skyscraper Farms Could Feed Millions by 2050

As the years have marched on and technology has progressed, one very important aspect of life has suffered: food quality.  Instead of using space wisely and growing food as locally as possible, we’ve come to rely on factory farms and produce shipped from hundreds – sometimes thousands – of miles away.  But, just because there isn’t space on the ground for traditional farms doesn’t mean urban areas can’t have fresh, local food.  Skyscraper farms have the potential to not only bring food production back to the local level – they could divert a major worldwide food shortage.

Scientist Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, came up with the concept and hopes to see it implemented on a worldwide scale as soon as possible.

From Mail Online:

The revolutionary scientist proposes gleaming 21 storey skyscrapers that could potentially be as productive as 588 acres of land and grow up to 12 million lettuces a year.

He said the farms, projected to cost £45m to build and £2.7m a year to run, would be both environmentally friendly and economically profitable.

Dr Despommier created his concept in 1999 with graduate students during a class on medical ecology.

With the world’s population expected to increase to 3 billion by 2050 and almost 80 per cent of farming land in use, the idea has never been more relevant.

City planners and developers across the world have regarded Despommier’s idea with suspicion, but we can’t see why.  It seems so basic, so obvious, that we can’t believe people haven’t already begun doing it.  What’s the hold up?  We want to see these things built ASAP!

Link [Mail Online]

Who’s Who in Green - William McDonough

William McDonough, along with last week’s Who’s Who in Green, Michael Braungart, developed one of the most important eco-concepts of our time: the Cradle to Cradle design philosophy. McDonough, a Hong Kong-born American architect, is also the founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, a sustainable design firm with clients like IBM, Nike and Gap Inc. Through McDonough’s work over the years, we’ve all come to realize how important it is to keep the environment in mind when building new structures.

McDonough has won three U.S. Presidential awards: the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the National Design Award (2004) and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003). He’s been recognized by TIME Magazine as a ‘Hero of the Planet’, and enjoys world renown for his work as an architect and designer.

Along with German chemist Michael Braungart, McDonough founded McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), a product and process design firm that emphasizes their concept Cradle to Cradle design and the implementation of eco-friendly design principles. Cradle to Cradle products and services are designed to mimic processes in nature, eliminating the concept of waste to instead give something back to the earth when the item’s usefulness has passed. Since McDonough and Braungart published their co-authored book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things in 2002, the concept has been eagerly embraced as an innovation that could very well help us save the earth from a future clogged with trash.

The Nike European Headquarters and the Chicago City Hall Green Roof, by William McDonough + Partners

In February of 2005, McDonough addressed a crowd in Monterey, California about signs that our planet is in danger, what motivated him to join the environmental movement and how Cradle to Cradle can help us move in a better direction. Check out the video below:

McDonough spoke of his limited scientific knowledge and how he gets around that, and what he’s most excited about to the Architectural Record in a 2007 interview:

I rely on a chemist for chemistry, and I need a multi-disciplinary team to do my work, but I don’t have to know chemistry. I think the important thing for architectural education is to teach that we need multi-disciplinary teams to do the green work. Not every firm can have a chemist, but they can rely on us for chemistry. We’re doing the chemistry of products and materials. We’re looking to create a cadre of thousands of designers who use the same index for ecological intelligence.

Two aspects are exciting to me in terms of my work. One is that many people are adopting cradle to cradle and the specific strategies that Michael and I are proposing. It’s a framework that can be understood by anyone. Things go back to nature; they go back to industry. The result is clean water, clean air, people being treated fairly, and life goes on. The other is that with so many people taking this up, I can now move on to the next level. Clients have become sophisticated, which allows us to continuously push the envelope. So we don’t market ourselves; we respond to the marketplace.

McDonough may not be a scientist, but he’s one of a very promising new crop of environmental leaders who are helping to get our society back on track. The Industrial Revolution is deeply flawed, and we’re only beginning to see the consequences of 20th century manufacturers’ lack of consideration for the waste factor. Cradle to Cradle and other eco-friendly design principles are going to help us move forward in a way that’s responsible and sustainable.

If you’d like to hear William McDonough speak in person, check out the Green Festival in Washington, DC on November 8th.

William McDonough’s Green Score: 79,593

Namba Parks: Awesome Green Architecture in Japan

Does this look like the future, or what? One of the major drawbacks to living in an urban area, in my opinion, is the lack of sufficient green space. I find all the concrete and asphalt depressing – I need nature. Architecture that incorporates green space into the design can be a big draw to get people into urban centers and putting a stop to suburban sprawl. I would love to see more buildings like this worldwide.

The details from MetaEfficient:

In a city with few green spaces, Namba Parks is a welcome swath of green for the inhabitants of Osaka. Check out this full size photo of this amazing piece of architecture. The complex stands where Osaka’s baseball stadium used to be until 2003, and consists of a 30-floor skyscraper, Parks Tower, and a shopping mall with eight floors of terraced gardens. The sloping park connects to the street, welcoming passers-by to enjoy its groves of trees, clusters of rocks, cliffs, lawn, streams, waterfalls, ponds and outdoor terraces.

Link [MetaEfficient]
Photo credit: Flickr user A Posh Sentinel