For years, LEDs were nothing more than near-insignificant indicator lights on appliances. Now, not only are they being used to create incredibly powerful floodlights and wall washers, but they are beginning to infiltrate the consumer market. Our LED Desk Lamps are the latest and best example of this. Fashioned out of sleek, brushed aluminum, these products are modern without being obtuse and efficient while maintaining maximum quality and integrity.
With alternative lighting solutions becoming a typical consideration in sustainable interior design, Jonas Samson’s illuminated wallpaper is set to take the Salone Internazionale del Mobile and its design junkies by storm. A clever mix of the graphic, textile-inspired papers of the recent-past and organic technologies of the future, his light-emitting wallpaper happily straddles the fence between kiddie night-light and inventive design feature. It’s eco-credentials: turning a two-dimensional surface into a light source versus the traditional bulb/lamp construct.
It’s still surprising to see how few retail spaces there are dedicated to green products. However, hopefully this is set to change in Britain, with the arrival of Eco Age, a cutting-edge, high-end designer gadgets and interior designs store in the upmarket family district of Chiswick, London. The retail space enables customers to see, touch and smell products before purchase – essential for customers who want to make a considered purchase based on their appreciation of all of these sensory aspects, and crucial for products that want to break from the ‘instant landfill’ norm. It also makes it much easier for good intentions to be turned into green-minded action.
Luxim labs recently unveiled an incredibly energy efficient light bulb that packs more luminosity than a street lamp into a pill-sized form factor. Each bulb is filled with argon gas, which turns to plasma when electricity is focused through it. The energy is driven to the bulb without electrodes. The resulting light is intensely bright and mirrors the quality of light radiated by the sun, yet is produced by one of the smallest, most energy efficient light sources we’ve seen.
Founded in 2001, Berg Design offers gorgeous sustainable solutions to residential projects. Their Old Stone Highway house was designed by John Berg as a “Single Family Residence with Environmentally Low Impact Building Technology”. We totally dig their uncompromising approach to housing that is luxurious, super green, and chock full of mid-century charm.
Sure, you’ve heard of the insular and aesthetic merits of green roofs. How about green walls? Enter Oulu, an eco-chic bar and lounge situated in southern Williamsburg. Designed by architect, sustainability expert, and Inhabitat contributor Evangeline Dennie, Oulu takes a literal approach to fresh design. Wrapped in a herbaceous façade, the LEED gold certified building bears its green cred for all to see.
This might not be the most practical outdoor light in the world, but what the Firewinder lacks in pedestrian utility it makes up for in sheer engaging awesomeness. Transforming wind into light, the Firewinder is a hanging, wind-powered LED light that can be powered by the smallest breeze. Unlike most wind turbines that spin vertically, the Firewinder spins in a horizontal direction, illuminating its LEDs in a spiraling helix of light. The coolest thing about the Firewinder is that it doesn’t just run on or off, but instead is visibly reactive to subtle changes in the environment. How bright the LEDs glow corresponds directly to how fast the turbine spins, enabling observers to visualize the power of wind.
The sleek industrial contemporary kitchen is challenged in Mike Meiré’s The Farm Project - a brand imaging campaign for the German fixture manufacturer Dornbracht. This barn-like, “real-life” stage is charged with aromas, animals, plants and objects housed with an archetypal rural building with an outer cover made of patchwork materials. A beautiful exploration of design and living, The Farm Project shuns the “hidden” kitchen, enclosed in steel and stone, to connect people to that which sustains them.
Peach pip floors (aka peach ‘pit’ floors to us yanks) have a long history in South Africa and the warm, natural materials made an early impression on South African gallery owner Allah le Roux. He caught his first glimpse of this unique organic finishing technique as a child on a visit to Klein Zoar in Cape Town. Decades later, in 2004, he bought an 19th century house in Paarl, in the Western Cape, and made his first objective to restore the home with this traditional peach-pip flooring.. In total, he covered an area of approximately 90 square meters with peach pips which, now three years later, appear as if laid yesterday.
Think printing solar panels is cool? Well, here’s something even cooler. General Electric has just successfully demonstrated a roll-to-roll printing (think newspaper style printing) process for OLEDs. It’s a state-of-the-art process for the production of Organic Light Emitting Diodes that’s high performance, energy efficient, and surprisingly inexpensive. The applications are endless for printing energy efficient light systems of all sizes. Just imagine the design possibilities!
One part origami, one part architecture, pure genius, the brand new Bloxes system makes 2-dimensional pieces of interlocking cardboard come to life as expandable and continually adaptable structures. Because they’re so masterfully designed, Bloxes create structures strong enough to stand on, all assembled without tools. So they’re not just for room separating anymore- build a bench, a table, a wall, or even a full room!
This eco-chic hanging lamp is more than an expression of good taste. Aptly named the Nautilus, the design recently emerged from the hands of Rebecca Asquith of the sustainability-driven New Zealand outlet Unless. This whimsical fixture illuminates interiors with style and an awareness of how good design can coexist with principles of good environmental stewardship.
Simple, organic, and elegant, the Gina Lamp from Seascape is made from supple green materials like woven grass and bamboo. It’s a simple design that would dress up many a bedside table. We love both the natural materials and the way the light shines through it with soft organic elegance.
We love 2-for-1 devices here at Inhabitat - after all, what’s more efficient and environmentally friendly than having one single tool that can serve variety of purposes? That’s why we were super excited today at the Consumer Electronics Show to discover the Freeplay Companion: a solar and hand-cranked mobile power charger that also happens to be a radio and a flashlight all in one cute little package. Measuring just 4.9″ long, this veritable Swiss Army Knife of renewable power generation can charge cell phones with either solar power or physical exertion (hand-cranking), as well as helping you out with your radio and lighting needs.
If you like the portability of the Phillips LED Candle light, but want something a bit “sweeter,” check out Nick Foley’s Pear Light. Custom made from hand-forged steel, this tree of light comes bearing fruit with rechargeable LEDs that allows you to take the lights with you down dark hallways. Once “picked” from the tree, each pear stays illuminated for about an hour. To bring it back to life, just place it back on the tree, where it will recharge for your night-viewing pleasure.
In a bold and laudable move, Ireland has just announced plans to ban the sale of incandescent light-bulbs by the year 2009. This makes it the first European nation to outlaw the old energy hogging bulbs.
Bleu Nature designs revolve around the tides, so to speak. Every year, an annual beachcombing for driftwood supplies the material central to their collection of home furniture and accessories. This year’s bounty of driftwood designs, which was shown at Maison & Objet, is revealed in pronounced curves, polar whites, and wave-washed stones and timber.
We are always on the lookout for products and materials that improve indoor environmental quality, because the reality is that many interior spaces are just plain unhealthy. This charming concept from Mathieu Lehanneur is an interesting take on how to improve indoor air quality with living plants. Since plants naturally filter the air, why not utilize what plants do best with a little help from technology? The Bel-Air living air filter is a mini greenhouse which takes in polluted air and holds it in a humid, plant-filled capsule that filters out contaminants. When released, the air is purified!
We all know how energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs are, and we’ve all been hearing for the past couple years how we should replace every light bulb in our house with a CFL. But have you ever stopped and wondered why compact fluorescents are just so plain ugly and unimaginative in their design? It seems strange that the design of the lightbulb, an object so synonymous with ideas, is almost entirely absent of imagination. Instead of blindly following eco-edicts and stocking up on dull CFL bulbs, London boutique electronics company Hulger is trying to re-invent the fluorescent lightbulb and create art out of utilitarianism with their evocative “plumen” designs.
There’s nothing like twinkly Christmas lights to make you feel warm and cozy over the holiday season. Sure they may be cheesy, gaudy, and often way over the top on certain houses every year, but that is part of the fun, right? Well, you’ll feel even better about your Christmas lights this year if they were LED lights - which use 90% less electricity than traditional tungsten bulbs. Not only does that bring your electricity bill way down, but it lessens your carbon footprint as well, and lowering your energy consumption helps fight global warming. Finally, LED Christmas lights last much longer than traditional tungsten Christmas lights, are more durable, and never have that annoying problem where one burnt out bulb kills your whole strand.
For anyone with a taste for motorcycles and retro product design styling, here’s the perfect lighting solution. Recycled from old motorcycle parts (and the occasional household appliance), Lamponi Lamps are designed and constructed by Milan born artist Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi, bringing sleek speedy and recycled design to your tabletop.
From our favorite Dutch design duo Tejo Remy and Rene VeenHuizen comes an awesome reclaimed material rug to cozy up to. Made from recycled blankets, the rug takes cuddly comfort and turns it into a great example of recycled design that your toes will love. Tejo Remy spoke at our Reclaiming Design event on the issues of reclaimed materials in design, and this is a shining example of turning potential trash into great design treasure.
Solar Cynergy’s new line of solar LED lights is an eco-friendly, reliable and smart alternative to traditional street lights and home garden lights. Run entirely on solar energy, there’s no battery or complicated wiring involved, simply place the unit in a sunlit area and you can use the sun’s rays to light up anything from your front yard and drive way to dangerous intersections and crosswalks.
While putting your toddler in the middle of the forest is probably not the smartest thing in the world, bringing the forest to their room might just do the trick. The Amenity Nursery Collection has just been released, featuring some lovely nature inspired and environmentally friendly products to green your toddler’s crib.
The holidays are just around the bend! For all you holiday planners with decorating on the brain, make sure to light up your holiday nights this year with the greenest Christmas lights available - LEDS.
LEDs use 10% the electricity of incandescents, and are 90% more efficient than their old-school tungsten counterparts. They’re perfect for strings of holiday lights, because they don’t get hot, they last forever and when one burns out, it doesn’t take the whole chain with it! You’ll get a full 100,000 hours out of most LEDs, they’re made with less nasty chemicals, and come in all kinds of festive shapes! What more could you ask for? Read on for some suggestions on where to buy…
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