Good New Urbanism
30 July 2009 - Posted by Bert Aldridge - 0 Comments
We like Good Magazine. Here's a cool reader competition they ran recently encouraging users to send in images that show how local streets could be improved to become more livable, that is, more human. Great before and after shots, but what gets me is how easy most of the concepts are. It doesn't take much, just a nod to the basic principles of the New Urbanism or Smart Growth movements. Anything that gets people engaged in this kind of thinking is a good thing. Of course.
Case Study
Greensulate
Ecovative Design
Agricultural waste is combined with mushroom roots to literally grow a new form of wall insulation that competes with foams and plastics.
NextPlays blog
#SB10 - Biolite wins Sustainable Innovation award
We're stoked that Biolite won SB10's Sustainable Innovation award, announced on the last day of the conference. Jonathan Cedar, co-inventor and the nascent company's CEO delivered a great presentation that made clear the significant impact that could be achieved if Biolite (and stoves like it) replace traditional wood-fired stoves in the developing world. The Biolite stove reinvents stoves used for home cooking in Asia, Africa and Latin America by making the burning process more efficient. The greater efficiency the less fuel is used and less smoke is generated. Less smoke, the less harm to the health of the cooks. Biolite has an additional feature; they've developed a process that converts a small part of the thermal energy into electricity. This means that users can recharge electrical devices while cooking, and that's got to be good for developing world users facing regular megacity brown outs, or for those who are off the grid completely.
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