Cost-effective energy efficiency measures for real households

ECN (the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands) did a very interesting study on the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency measures in real households. The study shows that real cost-effecitveness strongly depends on specific technical and behavioural characteristics of individual households (which we already knew), but more interestingly, they also show figures about this real cost-effectiveness. Very interesting conclusions!

Green design by Pia Wustenberg



Credits: Pia Wustenberg


Pia Wustenberg is a German designer who lives in England. On her website you find some very nice and poetic examples of design products that make use of sustainable materials that are commonly available around us like moss and paper. Take a look at her Garden Rug and her lamps and tables made of processed paper. Don't forget to watch the video on how the processed paper is made! The result is wonderful!

Building with mud and steel frames

Source: No Tech Magazine - Marcelo Cortes

No Tech Magazine shows 2 nice examples of building projects with mud and steel frames: one from the Kazakh architect Saken Narynov and one from the Chilean architect Marcelo Cortes.

Renewable energy support policies in the EU

Ecofys publiced a new report on the performance of the renewable energy support policies of the EU-27. This RE-SHAPING report describes the efficiency and effectiveness of the support policies of the EU Member states through a set of indicators.

Tap water versus bottle water

Another reason to shift from bottled water to tap water: in 1976 Americans drank 1,6 gallons bottled water every year. 30 years later they drink 30 gallons, despite the much higher cost of bottled water compared to tap water. What this means for the pollution by the plastic for all these water bottles, is described by National Geographic.

Building with bamboo

Source: design boom via webecoist

Bamboo is a fast growing and strong material that might perfectly fit as sustainable building material, under the condition that it is not transported over thousands of kilometres.
Some nice examples of bamboo buildings can be found on Webecoist. 

A very nice bamboo building is the Green School in Bali. And there is a very inspiring TED talk by John Hardy, the founder of this school which is not only a beautiful building, but also an educational project that teaches children how to build, garden, create and get into college.

Solar Decathlon 2011

Winning project by University of Maryland (photo credits: Jim Tetro/US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon) 

People's Choice Award by Appalachian State University (photo credits: Jim Tetro/US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Hanwha Solar CHIP by SCIA-Arc (photo credits: Jim Tetro/US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Last week the Solar Decathlon 2011 took place in Washington D.C. The winner was the University of Maryland and the People's Choice Award went to the Appalachian State University.
My favourite is the puffy house or Hanwha Solar CHIP by SCIA/Arc. An interview with the team and all details on this project can be found on World-Architects.
For the first time, a Belgian team participated, with the E-cube and they got the 16th place out of 19, but they were winner for the affordability criterion.
More information on the teams and a lot of photos of the projects can be found on the website of Solar Decathlon.

Studio H and the student-built farmer's market pavilion

Farmer's market pavilion (source: The Smart Planet)

Studio H tries to use design and construction of public architecture by high school students as a way to educate these students and at the same time to empower the poorest rural communities in America.
A nice recent example of what they realise is the farmer's market pavilion in Bertie County, North-Carolina.
The curriculum concept of Studio H is freely online available.

I posted earlier the inspiring TED talk with one of the founders of Studio H, Emily Pilloton.

Bottle schools: using plastic bottles to build schools

Bottle school La Cereza (source: Hug it forward)

Hug it forward is a non-profit organisation in Guatemala who supports poorer communities to build eco-friendly schools by recycling waste plastic bottles as construction material. They have already 14 bottle schools completed and 3 are in progress.

The High Line NYC: a railroad transformed into a park

By Iwan Baan 2011 (source: The High Line)

Another example of a wonderful, poetical sustainability project: The High Line Park in NYC. How a railroad built in the 1930's, on which the last train rode in 1980, firstly was overtaken by nature, then risked to be destroyed, finally was transformed into a wonderful public park.

On Transition movement

An alternative way of dealing with climate change and peak oil through local environmental and social initiatives, this is more or less what transition movement is about. It started in the UK, but it quickly spreads all over the world.
A more detailed description can be found on wikipedia.
Information on the UK transition network can be found here.
For those interested in transition towns and how this works in reality, certainly take a look at what happens in Totnes, UK, the first transition town.

Also in Flanders, Belgium, the transition movement is spreading out.

• All kinds of initiatives in Flanders can be found on http://www.transitie.be/ (in Dutch)
• For those interested in the transition movement applied to the built environment, the website of Transitiearena Duurzaam Wonen en Bouwen is a good starting point (in Dutch).
• An interesting website on the transition movement from a Flemish researcher, specialized in sustainable materials