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We’ve seen vertical gardens on the side of buildings before — but never one this, um, HUGE.

Architects and federal officials are planning a series of 250-foot-tall trellises designed to shade the west side of the remodeled Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building. The added greenery is just part of a $135 million project that will also feature elevators that generate electricity on the way down, solar arrays on the roof, smart lighting systems that adjust to the daylight available, among other advances. From the article,

Eggleston’s firm, SERA Architects, is working on some questions that weekend gardeners never have to figure out: what plants will grow readily at more than 200 feet in the air and how to water, fertilize, weed and prune at that height. The pruning might be done in much the same way windows are washed, he said, with workers hoisted and lowered on platforms. Rainwater collected on the roof, supplemented by city water, will be piped for irrigating the green wall, he said.

Construction is expected to take 30 to 40 months.

This will truly be a stunning addition to the Portland cityscape if constructed as planned — and we’re thrilled to see other buildings adopt vertical gardens, as well as sustainable features. Check out the full article for more!

Photo credit: Scott Baumberge

A lot of people are comparing this beautiful treehouse in Portland, Oregon to a hobbit dwelling. Personally, add a little black paint and it looks like something Darth Vader would retreat to when things get a little to hectic on the Death Star. It also looks like it would double as a swanky TIE fighter. From the architect,

Located on a flag lot, a steep sloping grade provided the opportunity to bring the main level of the house into the tree canopy to evoke the feeling of being in a tree house. A lover of music, the client wanted a house that not only became part of the natural landscape but also addressed the flow of music. This house evades the mechanics of the camera; it is difficult to capture the way the interior space flows seamlessly through to the exterior. One must actually stroll through the house to grasp its complexities and its connection to the exterior. One example is a natural wood ceiling, floating on curved laminated wood beams, passing through a generous glass wall which wraps around the main living room.

Check out some more pics here.

Wilkinson House via Boing Boing

From CNNMoney.com:

Lutz was asked if that means he would favor higher gasoline taxes, as in Europe where taxes drive fuel to more than $5 a gallon. He said he couldn’t speak for GM, but he said he saw a lot of value in a steady tax rise to much higher levels.

“You either continue with inexpensive motor fuels and have to find other ways to incent the customer to buy hybrids and electric vehicles, such as the government credits,” he said. “Or the other alternative is a gradual increase in the federal fuel tax of 25 cents a year, which in my estimation would have the benefit of giving automobile companies a planning base, and giving families that own vehicles a planning base.”

Lutz continued, noting that if families knew that the price of gasoline were going to steadily increase over the next few years, they would change their buying habits and lean towards more fuel efficient vehicles.

However shocking this admission may be to those that have followed “Maximum” Bob Lutz and his typically anti-global warming, pro-muscle car point of view (and magazine articles reporting that he regularly takes a helicopter to work).  He is realistic about the prospects of such a gas tax:

“Fuel taxation is the third rail of politics,” he said.

I was given the opportunity to speak with Bob Lutz after the reveal of the Chevy Volt.  He genuinely seemed to care as much about the Volt as he did any of the GM models that were produced that year – which is to say, a lot.  Whether the man believes in global warming (he doesn’t), or thinks that future vehicles will be run on alternative fuels (again no) – one can tell that the winds of change are blowing if I start agreeing with his sound bites.

My graduate school advisor, Charles Hall, is a very intelligent man, though he frequently defers to his doctoral advisor’s talent and knowledge.  Howard Odum explained the first and second laws of thermodynamics concisely and in a manner easy to understand:

The quantity of energy within a system is maintained (first law).  However, the quality of that energy degrades over time (second law).

Entropy is defined as

a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition, that is a measure of the energy that is not available for work during a thermodynamic process. A closed system evolves toward a state of maximum entropy.

or, over time, a system evolves from a state of order (low entropy) towards disorder (high entropy).

Why the rudimentary physics review?  Well, I came across a series of photos of the Biosphere 2 project by Noah Sheldon (BLDGblog, via boing boing), which in my mind, embodies the concept of entropy.

Biosphere 2 was designed to test man’s ability to construct, maintain and live in a completely isolated biosphere to research and develop space colonization technology.  From b2science.org:

Two missions, between 1991 and 1994, sealed Biospherians inside the glass enclosure to measure survivability. Behind this highly public exercise was useful research that helped further ecological understanding.

A more detailed history of the site and its missions can be found here.

March 27, 1992—Six months into its two-year closure, the Biosphere 2 crew surpassed its first major milestone and set several world records—living inside closed ecological life support system longer than any predecessor…

April 24-27, 1992—Space Biospheres Ventures hosted the Third International Workshop on Closed Ecological Systems. Presentations and workshops were given by more than 30 different participants representing universities, research institutions, and government agencies from Russia, Europe, Japan and the United States. The symposium explored the dynamics and modeling of carbon dynamics in natural and engineered ecosystems underlining the potential importance of carbon research in Biosphere 2 in our understanding of issues involved in global warming.

I was a teenager in high school when Biosphere 2 was constructed and the experiments were carried out.  I remember hearing about it in science class and on the news.  At my age in the 1990s, the dream of colonizing the moon or Mars seemed entirely possible.  Unfortunately, the project suffered numerous setbacks, including declining oxygen levels, the “extinction” of many species – while others grew rampant, high nutrient levels in the water, and an unsafe build up dinitrogen oxide in the atmosphere.  Approximately 18 months into the experiment, oxygen had to be pumped into the closed system in order for the experimenters to remain for the full 2 year stay.  Politics and personal differences led to the project’s closure.

Today what remains is a picture of entropy (and a dose of humility).  From order to disorder.  A noble experiment to determine the limits of human sustainability, now a stark reminder of the human dependence on the other species on Earth, and the vast amount of energy required to maintain a “world” habitable for humans.

Image source: Univ. of Arizona

We love raucous festivals like Burning Man and music jamborees like Bonaroo, but we’ve never heard of one that combines the spirit of these events with the mission to actually accomplish something. Like building a build a micro wind turbine farm.

Such is the idea behind “Villages in the Sky: DIY World Change” — a a family-friendly renewable energy and sustainability celebration located in the Ozarks and scheduled for June 2010. Unlike gatherings that strive to leave things the way they were before anyone arrived, Villages in the Sky is looking to take advantage of crowd sourcing to create a better place than existed before. Participants will help build a micro wind turbine farm and bio-mass systems as well as giant play structures (zip lines, tree houses, ropes courses, etc). The entire event is internally cash free event which promotes a volunteer ethic and strangers working cooperatively for a shared goal. In fact, the main goal is to leave behind the beginnings of a locally self sufficient eco-village. Perhaps even one inspired by the Ewoks. From the website,

“Villages in the Sky is about more than wind mills and climate change. It is a full celebration of the element of air. Everything from paper airplane contests, to bubble blowing, to frisbees, to zip lines, to tree house villages complete with connecting bridges are being considered and encouraged.”

The VIS site is a 40 acre portion of the over 1000 acres owned by host East Wind Community in the Ozark mountains of south western Missouri. In other words, bring your GPS.

Right now, the event organizers are looking for help with funding and currently are in the hunt a $5K grant over at Brighter Planet. You can check out more details on the proposed plans — and help vote them through here!

2010 will most likely go down as the year electric cars were (once again) made available to the public through Big Auto. Both Nissan and Chevy have plans to release the Leaf and Volt respectively — and both focus on getting energy from being plugged in. (Although the Volt can charge its battery utilizing its small “range-extender engine”, but then what’s the point of having an electric car?)

If you’ve got the deep pockets for one, the most conventional way of charging the vehicle will be to simply plug it into an ordinary wall socket. Charging a Nissan Leaf would take up to 16 hours, and charging a Volt would take eight. If you’re in a hurry, however, the best thing to have on-hand in the garage is a “quick charger” — which pushes a much more considerable amount of juice to your car. Instead of 8 hours, you can now have a fully charged Volt in under 2.5 hours.

Unfortunately, having a quick charger installed in your garage is not something just anyone can do. From CNN Money,

“The equipment has to be fully approved, installed by a competent professional, and in most cases, a city or state inspector will have to approve it all.”

In some instances, users had to jump through hoops that amounted to a month or more of waiting for the right installer/inspector to visit their home. “But the broader market of car buyers are likely to be turned off by any additional hassles”, said Charlie Vogelheim, executive editor of Intellichoice.com to CNN. “They all become detriments to making the sale,” he said. “That’s the type of thing that slows it down going into the mainstream.”

Companies like Nissan and Chevy are attempting to alleviate such potential issues by working with city and state governments now — so that later in 2010, when new customers attempt to order quick chargers and get them inspected, they’re not met with blank stares. As Sebastian Blanco, editor of Autobloggreen added, “Little setbacks will not be enough to hold back the tide of people who really want these cars.”

The number of Americans dropping meat is growing, albeit at a small rate. According to an online poll conducted by The Vegetarian Resource Group, three percent of U.S. adults indicated they never eat meat, poultry and fish/seafood. About one-third to one-fourth of those vegetarians (one percent of the U.S. adult population) also never eat dairy, eggs and honey, and are classified as vegan. Additionally, eight percent of the respondents say they never eat red meat.

These numbers are up from a 2006 poll in which 2.3 percent of Americans classified themselves as vegetarians, with 6.7% not eating red meat.

In addition to the TVR poll, a survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association found that meatless/vegetarian dishes will continue to grow in 2010. Of the 1,854 American Culinary Federation chefs surveyed on trends in the industry, meatless/vegetarian entrees came in number 11 in the “Main Dishes/Center of the Plate” category, and vegan entrees ranked 13, with 52% and 48% respectively.

The big winner? Locally Grown Produced ranked number 1 in Top 20 Trends.

via The Vegetarian Resource Group

Environmentally-conscious PC owners beware! There’s a fairly recent spyware virus out there that takes advantage of the green movement to promote an entirely different agenda.

Called “Eco Antivirus”, the app poses as green security software — offering to help conserve the energy your computer consumes while searching for malicious bugs. Unfortunately, the app is a malicious program itself that “bombards the screen with a series of fake security warnings, deceiving scans and aggressive marketing designed to persuade the user to visit the Eco AntiVirus website to purchase the malicious software.”

While those infected have reported it being something of a nightmare to remove the spyware, there are now legit apps to handle this wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Lesson here? Don’t download suspicious software without first doing a bit of googling to pull back the curtain on any BS green claims. Even software can greenwash.

Bottled water is surely one of the biggest jokes ever played on humanity. With plentiful supplies of clean water, first world countries still spends a horrifying amount of money on boutique water — some sourced from half-way around the globe.

The image above is but a piece of a stunning infographic from Online Education detailing the damaging effects of bottled water on our planet — and wallets. Check out the full image after the jump below:

Read more »

Google is ramping up their efforts to help conservation organizations monitor deforestation around the world.

The search engine giant announced during the Copenhagen Climate Conference a new “cloud-based” online technology that will allow global-scale observation and measurement of changes in the earth’s forests. The service will be provided to the world as a not-for-profit service, the company stated. From Eweek,

The technology uses the help satellite imagery to track deforestation over a period of time and measure the level of loss. While it is possible to view levels of deforestation at different times, Google.org’s engineering managers, Rebecca Moore and Dr. Amy Luers, said there hasn’t been a way to calculate how quickly the world’s forests are disappearing. “With this technology, it’s now possible for scientists to analyze raw satellite imagery data and extract meaningful information about the world’s forests, such as locations and measurements of deforestation or even regeneration of a forest,” they wrote on the company’s blog.

The system will take advantage of Google Earth imagery and overlay the data analysis tech on top. “On a top-of-the-line desktop computer, it can take days or weeks to analyze deforestation over the Amazon,” the Google blog states. “Using our cloud-based computing power, we can reduce that time to seconds. Being able to detect illegal logging activities faster can help support local law enforcement and prevent further deforestation from happening.”

Google expects to roll out the new monitoring tech sometime next year. For more, hit their official announcement here.