Sustainable Design Update

All Your Roof Are Belong To Us

Southern California Edison announced plans to install 250 megawatts of solar panels on rooftops of commercial buildings, generating enough electricity to power 162,000 homes.

The $875 million project could help drive down the cost of solar power, but recent developments in the solar market point in the opposite direction. Strong demand for solar power in Germany and Japan has actually increased demand for solar panels, reduced supplies and driven up the cost. All while the actual cost of manufacturing solar panels has gone down.   This upward trend in costs should turn around this year with the introduction of several new solar photovoltaic manufacturers entering the market.

More at: MetaEfficient

Related Post:  Nanosolar 

1366 Technologies Light Capturing Ribbon Conductor

1366 Technologies, has created a new light capturing ribbon conductor that increases the efficiency of a solar module by reflecting light back onto the surface of the cell. This grooved ribbon replaces the traditional wires used to interconnect solar cells.

The photo above is of a solar cell and wire ribbon illuminated with a red laser. The spots to each side of the center are reflections of the light bouncing back into the solar cell.
Making larger solar cells can bring down the price, but at a cost of greater internal resistance. The internal resistance increases with the cube of the cell length. So if you double the length of a cell the resistance goes up by a factor of 8. With the 1366 Technology ribbon you can increase the size of the wires without decreasing the light reaching the cell.

1366 Technologies claims an efficiency increase of 27% when their technology is applied to multicrystalline cells, bringing multicrystilline cells to about 19.5% efficiency, which is comparable to the more expensive single crystalline cells currently on the market.

BTW- the name 1366 represents the 1366 watts of solar radiation hitting each square meter of the Earth on average.

More at: Technology Review

Via: Treehugger

Dinkins Gardens - Harlem

A new urban vision will became reality soon in Harlem with the opening of David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens. The building designed for foster care graduates and low-income families, was co-developed by Jonathan Rose Companies and Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI) to promote a better quality of life for its residents with community gardens, job training for youth and multiple green building features. Dinkins Gardens, Harlem’s first green building that is 100 percent for low-income residents, demonstrates that environmentally responsible design can work within an affordable housing budget, and that residents can reinforce green aspects of the site.

“Dinkins Gardens is the new model for affordable housing,” said Jonathan Rose, co-developer on the project. “Green projects like these are tremendous investments in the future of the community. By integrating social services, job training, affordable housing and green design, we’re modeling what the future of Harlem and New York City - in fact, cities nationwide - can be.”

The green features of David and Joyce Dinkins Gardens promote energy efficiency, conservation and the quality of life, enhance the urban environment, and reduce utility costs for residents. By employing an integrated design approach from the outset Dattner Architects was able to specify energy-efficient mechanical systems, a high-performance wall and roof system, green building materials such as recycled components, and low-VOC materials at no significant additional cost to the project.

Some Green features of Dinkins Gardens:

• A Green Grid Roof system in which a portion of the roof is planted, thanks to a grant from the Home Depot Foundation.
• A Rainwater Harvesting System will funnel water from the roof into storage tanks to be used for irrigation, reducing utility costs and stormwater run-off.
• Solar Shades on the south facade. Exterior sun shading on the south-facing exposure keeps apartments cooler in the summer, while allowing winter sunlight in.
• Energy Star-Rated Appliances and Light Fixtures provide additional savings to both the residents and owner of the building.

More Info: Jonathon Rose

NextAid Youth With A Vision

This project, sponsored by Architecture for Humanity for NextAid, a South African non-profit organization that runs several programs to engage community members of all ages in changing the problems that affect their community.

From AFH:

YWAV teenagers use creative-enterprise to teach AIDS awareness and life development. NextAid is working with ecological architect Joseph Kennedy of Village Renaissance and a team of international volunteer designers and natural builders to design and build an earth-friendly center for these teenagers and a home for an additional 50 children orphaned by AIDS. It will be a community resource center and a beacon of hope. The projects and programs in the Dennilton center will serve as models for sustainable centers and small scale projects NextAid plans to develop throughout the continent.

Architecture for Humanity is an incredible success story. Starting with a few hundred dollars and an idea, Cameron Sinclair decided to hold a design competition in response to the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. Since then AFH has grown into a model nonprofit inspiring and helping in communities around the world.

Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crisis and brings design services to communities in need.

AFH:

We believe that where resources and expertise are scarce, innovative, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference.

Through the power of professional design, we build safer, more sustainable and highly innovative structures–structures that become assets to their communities and ongoing symbols of the ability of people to come together to envision a better future.

Via Architecture for Humanity

Check Out: NextAid

Lindbergh Foundation

The Lindbergh Foundation has three major programs. First is the Lindbergh Grant program where individual scientists recieve funding for projects that focus on the balance between technology and nature. The second program is the Lindbergh Award given to individuals “who have made significant contributions over many years toward improving our quality of life by balancing technology and our environment”. And third are the foundation’s educational programs.

Check out their video here: Lindbergh Foundation

From the Lindbergh Foundation Website:

If you have an idea for a research or educational project that will contribute to a balance between technology and environmental preservation, you may want to apply for a Lindbergh Grant or refer us to a friend who does.

Citizens of all countries are eligible to apply. Applications must be submitted in the English language. The Foundation welcomes candidates who may or many not be affiliated with an academic, non-profit or for-profit organization. Candidates for grants are not required to hold any graduate or post-graduate academic degrees. The Foundation does not support overhead costs of organizations, tuition, or scholarships.

The application deadline is June 12, 2008, for funding in 2009. You can download a PDF of the application or click the link below to view the application on-line.

Browse the Grant Application form in the Grants section.

More Questions? Check out our FAQ.

Firewinder - Wind Powered Kinetic LED Light

The Firewinder is a beautiful expression of the energy in wind. Even low winds of 3 - 5 miles per hour produce stunning effects. What is particularly cool about the Firewinder is that it shows how to harness low winds to power LED lights. This could produce enough energy to provide useful light for off grid applications. A simple Savonius type wind turbine, similar to the Firewinder, could be an inexpensive way to replace the billion or so kerosene lamps people use to light their homes around the world.

From the Firewinder website:

Firewinder® is The Original Windlight™ – A decorative, 100% wind-powered outdoor light which harnesses the power of the wind from whichever direction it blows, to create a simple yet magical visual effect with a universal appeal.

Easy to install, you simply hang it up from a tree in your garden, on your roof terrace or mount it to a post or wall and watch it light up and glow every time the wind blows!

Firewinder’s patent pending technology elegantly transforms wind into light to enable the visualisation of the abundantly free energy in the wind as a mesmerising, endlessly upward spiralling helix of light.

Firewinder® magically breathes with the wind - in low winds the lights shine with a dim intensity and as wind speeds increase, the faster it spins and the brighter it shines, creating a pulsing, twisting glow in varying and inconsistent wind speeds.

Firewinder® is a British invention, with worldwide patent pending and designs registered.

Link: Firewinder

Via: NotCot