sustainablearchitecture

Shades brand Shwood teamed up with HUF owner and professional skateboarder Keith Hufnagel to have some fun skating across the LA’s streets and making some cool sunglasses. Made from recycled broken skateboards, these stripy shades are unique and handmade at Shwood’s Portland workshop. By gluing the wooden pieces together and using a vacuum sealer instead of clamps, Shwood and HUF’s unique shades are too cool for school!

+  Shwood

+ HUF

Via The Fox is Black

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This month, A1 Co., Ltd. and BIES Ltd. opened the first set of solar-powered electric car charging stations across Sofia, Bulgaria. Built as simple structures, each station simply uses solar panels to collect solar energy and a special module for electric cars to connect to the batteries. While the number of electric cars in Bulgaria are still very few, according to experts, a boom in the purchase of electric vehicles is expected this year — particularly due special incentives that will be given by the Bulgarian government.

Via Via Expo

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Technology’s fast pace has left in its path mountains of electronic waste, but it has also given way to a new medium for eco-designers to work with. Made from unloved CDs, qwerty keyboards, multi-colored cables and motherboards suspended in an admittedly not-so-eco epoxy resin environment, these trashy looking seats by Chilean Rodrigo Alonso. turn all that e-waste into technology’s time capsule. Dubbed N+ew — which stands for No More Electronic Waste — these limited edition seats stand out in a big way.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: "green furniture", Art, chilean design, computers waste, electro-trash, electronic waste, epoxy resin, functional art piece, green products, Recycled aluminum, Recycled Materials, recycled seats, rodrigo alonso

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: eco restaurant, eco vacation, eco-resorts, Environment, environmental, environmental resort, green resorts, green restaurant, green vacation, labasin falls, Nature, nature restaurant, Philippines, philippines resort, sustainable resorts, sustainable restaurant, sustainable vacation, villa escudero, villa escudero resort, waterfall resort, waterfall restaurant, waterfalls

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: "living wall", adaptive reuse, Cluny, Darling Foundry, eco design, edible garden, green design, Old Montreal, Reclaimed Materials, salvaged materials, sustainable design

The thoughtfully designed Cradle is a sustainable rocking chair created by a collaborative effort to aid people with autism and Rhythmic Movement Disorder (RMD). Developed by Richard Clarkson, Grace Emmanual, Kalivia Russel, Eamon Moore, Brodie Cambell, Jeremy Brooker and Joya Boerrigter within the Victoria University of Wellington, this cocoon-like seat is made from cold-bent plywood. Because rocking is one of the calming activities that is recommended for autistic folks, this special seat is a soothing and aesthetically pleasing addition to their homes.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: "green furniture", autism, autistic people, Brodie Cambell, cocoon chair, cold-bending wood, cradle, cradle chair, Eamon Moore, Grace Emmanual, green materials, Jeremy Brooker, Joya Boerrigter, Kalivia Russel, plywood, richard clarkson, rocking chair, social design, Sustainable Materials, victoria university of wellington, wooden seat

Read the rest of PHOTOS: San Francisco’s Southern Pacific Brewing is a Tree-Filled Beer Sanctuary in a Renovated Warehouse

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: adaptive reuse, boor bridges architecture, green architecture, green bar, green brewing company, Green Building, green design, green renovation, industrial renovation, Mission District, San Francisco, Southern Pacific Brewing, southern pacific brewing company, sustainable design

Anyone familiar with JRR Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of The Rings’ knows that the homes of hobbits are something special. But these tiny abodes aren’t just for little people anymore — a Maine family has brought the concept of the hobbit hole to life with their line of Wooden Wonders. Built for work and play, these functional little holes can be used as everything from chicken coops, saunas, playhouses, garden sheds, cottages, and even a bus stop!

+ Wooden Wonders

The article above was submitted to us by an Inhabitat reader. Want to see your story on Inhabitat? Send us a tip by following this link. Remember to follow our instructions carefully to boost your chances of being chosen for publishing!

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Dutch designer Floris Hovers created his surprisingly simple ‘Wrapped’ stools out of a few pieces of wood with biodegradable rope wrapped around them. The word ‘Wrapped’ is a translation of the Dutch word ‘Ingewikkeld‘, which means both ‘wrapped’ and ‘complicated’ in one single word – a nod to Hovers’ fixing technique.

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Tokyo-based Nendo has a lovely new collection of sculptural objects made from farming-net, an agricultural mesh ordinarily placed around fruit and vegetables to prevent them from harm by wind and animals. Unveiled a few days ago,¨Farming-net Collection¨ consists of a series of modern bowls, plates and lights that seems to float in the air.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: agricultural mesh, eco design, farming net objects, farming-net, green design, green products, heat-formed objects, Japanese design, mesh, Nendo, nendo products, raditional japanese crafts, Recycled Materials, sculptural objects, sustainable design

Some of the largest renewable energy countries on Earth made it clear this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that, in many cases, renewable energy is just a few years away from reaching grid parity with fossil fuels without subsidies. Worldwide investment in renewable energy totaled $187 billion in 2010, while investment in coal and natural gas was $157 billion. With government subsidies worldwide in jeopardy because of financial woes, the International Energy Agency says countries should hold on for just a few more years until renewables catch up to emissions-laden power companies — which could happen as early as 2015 — after which, it is anyone’s game.

Read the rest of Clean Energy Executives Say Grid Parity Without Subsidies Could Be Just 3 Years Away

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Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Bed-In, BMW Bicycle, Climate Savers Program, eco design, eco luxury, eco-tourism, edible garden, ev charging station, Fairmont Resorts, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Four Green Key awayrd, Give Peace a Chance, green design, green roof, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Montreal, sustainable design, sustainable tourism

Unleashing a world-wide project to clean up the planet, Let’s Do It World is bringing groups on every continent together for World Clean Up 2012. Driven to do something about the 100 million tons of illegal garbage strewn across the globe, World Clean Up 2012 hopes to connect millions of people to clean up cities, beaches and forests everywhere. It may sound like an ambitious goal, but by motivating even a few groups internationally, the team at Let’s Do It World will be attempting to reach communities everywhere, raising awareness about waste and garbage disposal.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: clean pollution, clean trash, community cleaning up, community cleanup, garbage clearing, let's do it world, litter disposal, planet cleanup, Pollution, social cleanup, world clean up, World Clean Up 2012

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: alpine, double glazing, eco design, eco POD hotel, flims, fsc certified wood, green design, insulated, insulation, LED lighting, Prefab Housing, robust outdoor brands, solar ventilation, sustainable design, Switzerland

Star Trek can now boldly go where no interior decorator has gone before with this geek chic coffee table, which looks just like the USS Enterprise! Designed and constructed by Barry Shields, the Trekkie table was handmade from ash, poplar and cherry wood and took over a month to build with Barry cutting the glass surface to make the ship “look as though it’s in motion.”

Read the rest of Handmade Star Trek Coffee Table Looks Just Like the USS Enterprise

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What makes a home worth a million dollars? How about a billion dollars? Irish artist Frank Buckley has taken this question to its logical extreme by building his very own home made from 1.4 billion Euro notes! Graced with very strict permission from the Central Bank of Ireland, Buckley has constructed and now lives in a home made entirely of shredded decommissioned Euros. He formed the bills into 6 inch by 2 inch bricks, each of which contains around 40 to 50 thousand Euros. The three room house is an amazing exercise in recycled materials as well as a social statement on Ireland’s housing and financial crisis.

Read the rest of Irish Artist Builds the World’s First 1.4 Billion Euro Home From Shredded Bills

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We have all heard the phrases “phantom power” and “vampire energy” about a million times, and yet the problem still exists – many people forget to unplug battery chargers and other electronics when they are done with them. The State of California has decided that instead of trying to change the stubborn behavior of humans, they’re going to change the behavior of the chargers. In 2013 the state will introduce new battery charger standards that will reduce overall consumption by up to 40%, save enough energy to power 350,000 homes, save Californians $300 million in energy bills, and reduce carbon emissions by one million metric tons.

Read the rest of New Energy-Efficient Battery Charging Standards in California Will Save 1 Million Tons of Carbon Emissions

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Read the rest of 6 Green Roof Resorts from Around the World!

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Today a leaked internal email from Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed outrage over the New York Times‘ scathing exposé revealing the harsh working conditions of Apple’s many Chinese suppliers. Cook insisted that Apple has done and will continue to do everything they can to improve worker conditions, and he even questioned the validity of the New York Times article, saying “Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.”

Read the rest of Tim Cook Outraged Over New York Times Accusations That Apple Abuses Worker’s Rights in Chinese Factories

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Despite the rush to get reactors back online and convince the public that Japan’s nuclear power generation facilities are safe, an advisor says the current checks of nuclear reactors in the country are “insufficient” and possibly unsafe. Hiromitsu Ino, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo told the press yesterday that the Japanese government is using the same system to check the status of nuclear reactors now that it did before the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last spring. The testing system was blamed in part for the crisis – critics say it didn’t go into enough detail on what would happen in case of a multiple-front natural disaster. This isn’t the first time the Japanese authorities have been called into question while handling the post-disaster situation; in December they announced a very controversial “cold shutdown” of the Fukushima nuclear reactor even though experts worldwide spoke out against the decision.

Read the rest of Advisors in Japan Say Post-Disaster Nuclear Checks are “Insufficient”

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: "clean energy", fukushima daiichi, fukushima daiichi safety tests, fukushima safety test, green power, Japan, japan nuclear safety, japan nuclear tests, japan safety tests, nuclear and industry safety agency, nuclear energy, nuclear power, renewable energy