We’ve poked around New York fashion week a bit in past years, but have never seen anything particularly green. This year’s Fashion Week, however, is shaping up to be very exciting indeed. Not only are there several green fashion shows and green fashion events about town, but many of them are being put on by super chic, cutting edge designers - finally proving that sustainable style doesn’t have to be about hemp dresses and Birkenstocks. We’re looking forward to Linda Loudermilk & Organic, but the most exciting show on our agenda this year is SANS, the NYC label that wowed us recently with their innovative, avant-garde take on eco-friendly fashion. Keep it tuned to Inhabitat throughout the weekend and next week for up-to-the-minute green fashion week coverage.
Upping the green ante in the hybrid car market, Ford and InterfaceFABRIC recently announced that the new 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid will have 100% recycled fabric seating – a first in the U.S. automotive industry. What’s more, the new upholstery also employs an innovative backcoating technology, developed by Interface, that minimizes the use of traditional flame retardant chemicals. Hmmm, does that mean no more toxic new car smell?
Like something plucked right out of a 1960’s sci-fi flick, the model of a Driverless bus wowed visitors at the Science Museum in London - where it is currently on exhibit - with its claims of reducing air pollution and traffic congestion, wrapped up in a slick, futuristic package.
Form truly follows function when it comes to the façade of the lean green O-14 (pronounced “oh-14″) office tower which broke ground this past December in Dubai. At 22 stories tall, the 300,000 square-foot commercial tower’s most unique feature is its façade, which is made of 16″ thick concrete containing over 1,000 circular openings.
If you own a home in the Bay Area, don’t miss your chance to turn your abode into a lean green energy-efficient machine. Sponsored by local news radio outfit KGO, Flex Your Power, ABC7, Sustainable Spaces and Lowe’s, the $50,000 “Energy Efficient Home Makeover” contest ends this Wednesday, January 31st!
[Image: Ed Mazria, photographed by Doug Hoeschler for Metropolis].
Last year, Ed Mazria and his New Mexico-based non-profit organization, Architecture 2030, released the 2030 Challenge to get the building industry completely carbon neutral by the year 2030.
Buildings are the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions, worldwide. As Mazria states in the following interview: “48% of total US energy consumption… can be attributed to the building sector, most of which… can be attributed just to building operations.” By 2030, to prevent “catastrophic” climate change, the building sector must become carbon neutral ? reaching that state is the 2030 Challenge. If this sounds impossible, Architecture 2030 reminds us that “these targets are readily achievable.”
Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing. It grew out of a small swap party that was held by Wendy Tremane in her apartment to events that have now taken place from Vancouver to Israel. So if one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to clean out your closet, why not participate in a swap?
Our first week’s ASK INHABITAT focuses on green electronics — and to deal with this often complex subject matter we’ve brought in Jennifer Van Der Meer, product designer, research consultant, chair of O2-NYC and sustainable electronics guru extraordinaire… READ MORE >
We included Perfect Organics in our recent Holiday Gift Guide for Her not only for their all-natural, so-good-you-could-eat-them body products, but more importantly for the company’s holistic green approach to business operations, production, and packaging. Many companies tout the green qualities of their products. But Perfect Organics values environmental responsibility at every level of the business- from their products’ ingredients to their waste-reducing packing techniques, the design of their Virginia headquarters office space, and the fixtures installed in their retail stores.
David Hertz, the always-crafty architect and principal of Syndesis, has impressed us before with his homes constructed from everything from dismantled airplanes to refrigeration panels. And now, thanks to a partnership with Steve Glenn, he’s the designer of LivingHomes’ newest prefab design, aptly named the LivingHome by David Hertz. Between CEO Steve Glenn’s commitment to the highest green standards and David Hertz’s forward-thinking design concepts, it’s no surprise that the newest LivingHomes design is at the vanguard of environmentally-friendly, livable, modern architecture. Built using a panelized aluminum system, the home measures a spacious 2,650 square feet with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a green roof, and a slew of other green materials.
This morning we touted Chris Burton’s Repose Lounge as an example of his “upcycled” furniture, made from a variety of construction site waste and other miscellaneous dumpster detritus. His equally-ingenious Yield shelves provide a modular shelving system based on the order of an equilateral triangle. Yield’s various vessels are made from plywood, various wooden off-cuts, and even drywall, giving a unique texture and tactility to each unit. The Yield system was featured, along with the Repose Lounge, as part of Burton’s recent student exhibition at Savannah’s Red Kite Studio gallery.
The next time you pass by a construction site, take a closer look… you may find designer and Savannah College of Art and Design MFA student Chris Burton scouring through the debris, hunting for material for his next chair or table. His recent exhibition at Savannah’s Red Kite Studio, entitled “Upcycle of Waste,” features clever designs that utilize construction waste, dumpster debris, and other urban detritus as raw material for some lovely pieces of furniture. His Repose Lounge chair, for example, is “designed to utilize all lengths of wood used in construction.” It combines plywood with PVC piping cut-offs, which form the slats of the seat and back. Despite the discarded materials, Burton is clever in his material applications, making the most of the PVC’s flexible nature to provide a surprisingly comfortable seat.
For those of us who aren’t blessed with Southern California weather, there’s nothing more comforting in the dead of winter than a fire to warm our frigid hands. German furniture company Schulte poses a clever and well-designed solution to the winter’s chill with its Fire Furniture line, in which a small fireplace is integrated into a wood and stainless steel coffee table and pedestal. Plus, the fire is produced using a liquid that is both smoke and emission-free. The Fire Furniture collection debuted at the IMM Cologne furniture fair, which ended this past weekend.
Long gone is the myth that eco-friendly and sustainable design comes at the sacrifice of style. EcoDesign (fully revised and updated) is the ultimate one-stop resource for all those looking to completely immerse themselves in an eco-conscious lifestyle, or those who just want to pick-up a few new green-friendly pieces. With more than 700 product listings from clothing, kitchenware, electronics, and furniture in an easy-to-navigate, color-coordinated collection, ecoDesign is an incredible catalog and resource for both seasoned professionals and the everyday consumer.
One piece of extra-shiny eye candy at the recent Detroit Auto Show was Airstream and Ford’s “crossover” concept vehicle. While more car than livable trailer, the stunning, modern, and inhabitable vehicle is nevertheless a great example of mobile living and sleek design. The partnership between the two automotive companies resulted in a vehicle centered around the idea of the American Journey, roadtrips, wanderlust, and adventures. Its greenest and most cutting-edge feature is the newly developed HySeries Drive, an efficient powertrain technology that operates under electric power at all times while yielding a combined city/highway fuel economy of 40 miles per gallon. Its interior truly has the typical road-tripper in mind, with a rear “lounge” area and screen for entertainment and games. The screen also works as a light source, providing ambient mood settings or even a virtual fireplace.
Having come to the end of its useful life, it’s not uncommon for an old building to be unceremoniously bulldozed in advance of new development. Officials at the University of California at Riverside had another — more sustainable — idea for the doomed Wurms Building, however.
UCR enlisted artist Jason Middlebrook to create Live Building, a performance art project in which he harvested and recycled all usable materials in the structure prior to its demolition on December 16th last month. READ MORE >
In a city that’s seen a remarkable urban resurgence in the past decade, Pittsburgh’s David Lawrence Convention Center stands along the Allegheny River as a beacon of both beautiful architecture and innovative green design. Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, the waterfront building is certified with a Gold LEED rating, and is both the largest “green” building and first “green” convention center. Aside from its eye-catching aesthetic, Viñoly’s design boasts an impressive list of green architectural elements and high-tech systems, from large glass curtain walls that admit consistent daylight (over 75% of the center’s exhibition spaces are naturally lit) to a state-of-the-art water reclamation system that reduces potable water usage by almost sixty percent. And the list goes on…
Classical, highbrow lighting is given a modern twist with Neues Licht’s exciting new optical chandelier, the Scintilla 60. Utilizing energy-saving fibre optic technology, designer Simon Brunner draws upon the cool simplicity of state-of-the-art materials in order to conjure up the heightened intimacy of an atmosphere historically associated with the presence of a traditional chandelier. Elegant and fragile, this design is also available in a larger version, Scintilla 100.
Neues Licht means “new light” in German, and we can’t think of a more appropriate name for this innovative lighting design company which creates futuristic lamps with fiber optics. Neues Licht wowed visitors at last week’s Cologne Furniture Fair with this fabulous UFO Chandelier made with fiberoptic cables arranged in a floating, glowing ring. Designer Simon Bruenner describes his celestial chandelier as “simplicity from another planet.”
This weeks marks the launch of a new column here at Inhabitat in which we answer your questions about all things eco-design, in a public forum on our site. While we normally do our best to respond to reader feedback via email, we’d like to extend to readers the specialized expertise of our team of writers, all of whom work within the green design world as architects, interior designers, fashion designers, furniture / product designers and green consultants. Starting this week, ‘Ask Inhabitat’ will become your green ‘Dear Abby’ (or ‘Dear Habby’ as the case may be). So no matter what your question, from green roofs to sustainable fashion to “that green insulation product whose name you just can’t remember,” we’ve got you covered. READ MORE >
Gypsy and Loïc, a fashion design duo based near San Francisco, produces an appealing line of casual menswear made from equally-appealing materials. Their clothing is full of original details that set them apart without overwhelming their designs. The company also gets high marks for their sustainability efforts. About 50% of the line is organic cotton, hemp and bamboo. Their dyes are non synthetic and environmentally safe, and all of the clothes are manufactured in the US and/or fair trade factories.
We love to see designers using reclaimed wood in their products - it’s more beautiful, interesting, and of course more environmentally-friendly than virgin wood. A great example is GreenTea Designs, an online furniture store that sells Asian-inspired contemporary furniture made from recycled and reclaimed wood.
For all you modern-design-loving, wanderlusting nomads, Airstream’s Bambi trailer may be just the ticket. The 75-year old company has long been known for their sleekly-designed, fully-loaded travel trailers, and the Bambi is no exception. One of the smallest models in their product line, Bambi doesn’t skimp on quality, offering a happy marriage of economy and efficiency, wrapped up in a well-designed package. Its interior boasts quite the list of amenities for such a compact space, from a full kitchen to pull-out sofa and bunkable beds. The International CCD Model owes its genius design to Christopher Deam, who has designed many a mobile design concept over the years.
This past Tuesday, Steve Glenn opened up his LivingHomes model home to celebrate the acceptance of the first-ever LEED Platinum plaque for Ray Kappe’s prefab Living Homes design. The invite-only event brought out the usual designer crowd, the suits, the jeans, and the eclectically-stylish, with appearances from Ray Kappe himself, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcettie, USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi, Enterprise Community Partners’ Senior Vice President Stockton Williams, and quite a few TV personalities. The diversity of the crowd is an encouraging indication for the future of green building, and with NBC News on hand to cover the scene, it is apparent that a wider public audience is starting to take notice. Good thing too, because LivingHomes made news with several exciting partnership announcements…
London-based designer Stuart Haygarth knows now to turn mass amounts of trash into awe-inspiring treasure. With training in design and photography, Haygarth conceived of the Tide Chandelier while collecting debris that had washed up on the shores of the Kent coastline. The enormous light fixture, measuring nearly five feet in diameter, is composed of a cornucopia of clear plastic refuse, from water bottles to sunglasses.
[Image: Ed Mazria, photographed by Doug Hoeschler for 
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