With the advent of increasingly innovative green technologies, architects are now more than ever able to fully maximize their sophisticated artistic visions, while simultaneously minimizing the negative environmental effects of their structures. As climates and resources shift, environmentally-conscious architecture is beginning to produce more and more complex, sustainable, and awe-inspiring buildings, signifying that green architecture is the wave of the future from both a creativity standpoint, as well as out of ecological necessity. In fact, in the most extreme and inventive cases, architects are now not only working to preserve the natural environment, but actually to positively affect, alter and improve it.

In its most basic form, green architecture signifies building designs and practices which predominantly utilize recyclable and renewable materials to create structures that operate on a minimal amount of energy. Efficient building models are able to run off of solar, wind, and sometimes water-powered energy generation and take up as little land as possible in order to preserve or encourage green space.

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A massive and trendsetting example of green architecture is the Hearst Tower in New York City, which in 2006 was the first building to become certified with an LEED Gold rating.

The towering skyscraper, which is built on top of the 1928 Hearst International Magazine Building, can boast that it was constructed out of 90% recycled materials and currently uses 26% less energy than is required by today’s standard building codes.

An even more space-age like recent example – one which dominates another skyline – is the Bahrain World Trade Center.

The complex’s two towers are connected by giant wind turbines, which are capable of providing up to 15% of the buildings’ total energy consumption.

And it’s not just about the skyscrapers. While plenty of private clients now choose to construct homes, offices, and schools out of recyclable materials, outfitting them with solar panels and energy-saving appliances, some properties go one step further, opting to adopt “green roofs.” This design choice is exactly what it sounds like: soil and grass-covered roofs that provide insulation for the home, give back the green space claimed by the building itself and, in the most sophisticated of cases, help to maintain the ecology for surrounding wildlife.

A stunningly simple residential example of this can be seen in the OS house built in Spain by NOLASTER Architects.

The art department at Nanyang Technological University offers an even more whimsical model.

This, however, is only the beginning. As green technology advances, so too do architects’ visions for its usage. Some, like Vincent Callebaut Architects’ “Lilypad Project”, which proposes ocean-based eco-city islands that run on collected rainwater, will most likely remain pure fantasy.

Others, like Sheila Kennedy’s “Soft House”, that makes use of solar-harvesting textiles, may simply be too costly to ever be put into mass production.

The ideas come in all shapes and sizes, from skyscrapers filled with agricultural farmland to single-family homes that run off of energy produced by the household’s own inhabitants and objects.

CK Designworks in Nanjing, China, has recently unveiled their design plans for a remarkably large eco-city development slated to begin construction shortly. And while some projects are focused on preserving natural resources and finding alternative energy sources, others like the Living Mountain, dream up the creation of entirely new micro-environments.

In this particular proposal, inhabitants will survive the growing desert landscape by building cities inside of massive, mountainous skyscrapers. While creating protection from the uninhabitable outside, the structure will also work to pull water from the region, cycling it inside to produce an entirely new climate and ecology.

One thing clear in all these plans, visions, proposals and dreams is that green architecture provides not only new challenges, but new opportunities for designers. It is an inspiring and growing field full of imagination and innovation, one which puts firmly in the architect’s hands the exciting responsibility of envisioning and constructing a new look for the future.

Source:  Creativefan.com by Maria Nemenman

I don’t know if it’s just me or what but almost every design magazine I come across seems to feature the same interior designers doing approximately the same thing over and over again. Elle Décor looks like Better Home and Gardens looks like Traditional Home. Even the new Lonny Magazine seems to have fallen into the same trap. The website is very cool. But as for the contents: have we really exhausted creativity to the point that we need to publish the same basic design concepts over and over again? And why do all of these designs make the rooms look cluttered?  Does every square inch of space have to have something in it?  What about clean emptiness? As homes get smaller and space becomes a scarce commodity do we really want to be cluttering up each and every room with multiple layers of accessories?  I think not. In the case of design, I say we go back to the idea of less is more. For once I’d like to see a room featured in an interior magazine that actually looks lived in. The worst are the staged rooms. I mean, fantasy is fine. But not at the expense of beautiful but practical design.

We didn’t always think this way. A decade or more ago it wouldn’t have occurred to us. But sourcing materials based on point of origin has become an important design decision. The farther away the source of materials, the more energy intensive the shipping process. And if we are indeed to build sustainably, we need to take all environmental impacts into consideration.

A great deal of reclaimed and recycled materials were also used in the home, shipped in from neighboring states and restored on site. In the end, although we might have spent a bit more time shopping materials because we were concerned about more than just appearance, we achieved results that were a win for the client and for the environment as well.

Would you be willing to compromise slightly for the sake of the environment?

Materials from Rematerialise, Kingston University London (Credit: Image courtesy of Kingston University)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2011) — After 17 years of research sustainable design expert Jakki Dehn is launching Rematerialise, a catalogue of eco-friendly materials for use in the construction industry.

From insulation made from mushrooms to kitchen tops created from recycled glass, Kingston University has catalogued more than 1,000 different sustainable materials for use in the construction industry. The result is a materials library, Rematerialise, which is being launched at EcoBuild, the world’s largest event for showcasing sustainable design and construction practices.

Reader in sustainable design, Jakki Dehn has been developing Rematerialise at Kingston University’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture for 17 years and believes designers will find it invaluable when planning new products. “They can come and touch and feel a whole range of materials all in one place — materials which, otherwise, they might have to spend weeks investigating themselves,” she said.

Several firms have already drawn on Dehn’s expertise to help with ongoing projects. Product design company Jedco, based in Weybridge in Surrey, has developed a scaffolding board made from recycled polymers and a solar-powered bus-stop. “The scaffolding boards have proved useful on oil rigs, because unlike wood, they don’t absorb water. So, in this case, the sustainable product is actually better than the material it’s replacing,” Dehn said.

Dehn began her research into sustainable materials in 1994 and received Arts and Humanities Research Council funding in 2003. Rematerialise now houses more than 1,200 materials from 15 different countries. It contains recycled materials, products made from resources that are very plentiful and easy to re-grow and products made from resources that are not generally used very much. The University hopes eventually to put the entire library online so planners can do initial research before making an appointment to view the materials themselves at Kingston University’s Knights Park campus.

As word about the resource has spread, new products have started arriving on an almost daily basis. “We recently received a new type of insulation material made from mushrooms. The piece we were sent was only an inch thick but, apparently, you could put your hand on one side of it and take a blow-torch to the other side and you wouldn’t be able to feel the heat,” said Dehn, who admitted she was yet to put it to the test. Another eye-catching material is resilica, which is used to make kitchen worktops as an alternative to granite or formica. It’s made mainly of glass recycled from cars and building sites.

Source: Science Daily

We talk about the use of reclaimed building materials on our blog a lot, and while this may seem like a new concept, making use of salvaged materials is nothing new. Since humans began living in built structures, using and re-using various building materials has been a pretty common practice. According to the design blog Networx, today there is a renewed appreciation for these old-world methods, as well as the desire to be environmentally friendly.

Salvaged doors are a great reclaimed material to use in the construction of a new home. They provide a great deal of character to your home. Just think of the story a beautiful craftsman-style door could tell, with unique features like stained glass and architectural details. A salvaged door in good condition is a true piece of art and can add a lot of beauty to your home.

Would you consider adding a salvaged door as a design element in your home? Share your thoughts and ideas with us!

Image Courtesy of Anyajazz65 on Flickr via Networx.com.

About a decade ago my brother and I bought 2 lots in the Highlands Development in Breckenridge. On one of them we decided to build a spec home.  We needed a design concept and the one I came up with involved a story. After all, I did come from the movie business, and a good movie (or project) always begins with a good story. The story of this house would be this:  Once upon a time around the early 1900s a man named Caleb (don’t ask me why his name was Caleb, it just popped into my head) decided to build a home for himself. He’d been building homes for other people all his life, and now it was his turn. Caleb was a saver. Over the years after each project he had taken the leftover materials, beams, siding, boards, and saved them in a big pile behind his tiny cabin. Until one day he decided he had enough of these leftovers to build an entire house.

So, with Caleb’s Journey I first began to design and build using reclaimed and recycled materials. The result was fantastic. Not only were we doing something good for the environment, but the reclaimed siding made the garage doors look fantastic and truly original.  The reclaimed flooring and ceiling cladding gave the interior great depth of character. I’ll talk more about my use of reclaimed materials in later postings, but here’s some photos of the home we called Caleb’s Journey.

Earlier this month we posted about Vanity Fair’s Greatest Work of Architecture in the 21^st Century. The clear winner was Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum, in Bilbao.  Lance Hosey with Architect created his own list with his own criteria that seemed to be absent in Vanity Fair’s. Hosey was looking for buildings that were a little more “green”. Lance asked 150 green building experts- including architects, engineers and educators- to name the “Top 5 most-important green buildings since 1980”. See their findings below.

THE G-LIST

Top Green Buildings Since 1980

13 Votes
– Adam Joseph Lewis Center (Oberlin, Ohio), William McDonough + Partners, 2001

11 Votes
– California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco), Renzo Piano Building Workshop, 2008

9 Votes
– Genzyme Center (Cambridge, Mass.), Behnisch Architekten, 2003

7 Votes
– Beddington Zero Energy Development/BedZed (London), ZEDfactory, 2002
– Chesapeake Bay Foundation (Annapolis, Md.), SmithGroup, 2001

6 Votes
– Bank of America Tower (aka One Bryant Park) (New York), Cook + Fox Architects, 2009

Top Green Buildings Since 1980: Winner with 13 Votes - Adam Joseph Lewis Center (Oberlin, Ohio), William McDonough + Partners, 2001

Which list do you prefer?

Much has been discussed on the merits of the LEED program in the last month.  Even renowned architect Frank Gehry strongly criticized LEED certification, claiming that it was more of a political issue and not based on performance.

According to an opinion piece in the New York Times by Alec Appelbaum, “The LEED program, which awards points for incorporating eco-friendly material and practices into buildings’ design and construction, has led to a sea change in the industry, introducing environmental awareness into everything from regulatory processes to rents.

But while the standard is well-intentioned, it is also greatly misunderstood. Put simply, a building’s LEED rating is more like a snapshot taken at its opening, not a promise of performance. Unless local, state and federal agencies do their part to ensure long-term compliance with the program’s ideals, it could end up putting a shiny green stamp on a generation of unsustainable buildings.”

We’d love to hear what you think about all the negative press LEED has been receiving lately.