Texas Aquifers Threatened

Via CLEAN LIVING

Texas Aquifers Threatened by Population Growth, Development and Pollution

by Vicki Wolf, February 2012

READ MORE ...

Contained by Design

via http://www.peelgallery.org/

View some of the work HERE

Home Repairs for Spring

VIA DAILYWORTH

1) You know to clean out the gutters, but make sure the downspouts are clear and drain several feet from your house to prevent foundation damage. Estimated cost: up to $200. “If you can do it, fine, but don’t be a Tim Allen and hurt yourself,” says Kurt Solomon, president of the American Association of Home Inspectors.

2) Hire a pro to tune up your air conditioning system and furnace. “If you don’t,” says Bill Shaw, a contractor in Houston, TX, “you’re wasting electricity and putting more wear and tear on those units.” Estimated cost: $100-$150.

3)Hire a pro to seal your roof. “They’ll catch the insidious things, like the flashing on your vent stacks and the other protrusions on the roof,” says Shaw. Estimated cost: $150-$200 for minor repairs.

Last, consider doing a short, yearly review with a contractor or home inspector who can spot looming problems. In some cases the service is free, or the fee you pay will count toward any work they do.

300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds

This weeks video presents a visual of our dependence on fossil fuels and poses the question, "where are we heading?"

P.S. Today was world water day

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

Chris Perry who worked for Pixar just aired this short video just for today titled "The Incident at Tower 37"
ENJOY!

Sustainable Landscapes

Via American Society of Landscape Architects

'According to a report from the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, one inch of rainwater hitting one acre of asphalt over an hour yields 27,000 gallons of water.

Green roofs, bioswales, bioretention ponds, and permeable pavements are a few key examples of local green infrastructure, and all work by turning hard asphalt surfaces into green, absorbent ones. For example, Green roofs can retain 40-60 percent of stormwater hitting rooftops."

Watch the video to learn more.

Solar Decathalon Coming soon!

Every two years since U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition takes place in Washington DC, showcasing an array energy innovation.

By the way, this year the solar decathalon will not be held on the national mall but in West Potomac Park.
I'm starting to see a lot of projects previews and thought I would share a few that looked interesting to me. Click on the pictures and titles to learn more about each project.

First Light House - New Zealand



Water Shed - University of Maryland

Team Hawaii

List of Teams:

• Appalachian State University
• Florida International University
• Middlebury College
• New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington
• The Ohio State University
• Parsons The New School for Design and Stevens Institute of Technology
• Purdue University
• The Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology
• Team Belgium: Ghent University
• Team Canada: University of Calgary
• Team China: Tongji University
• Team Florida: The University of South Florida, Florida State University, The University of Central Florida, and The University of Florida
• Team Massachusetts: Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell
• Team New Jersey: Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey and New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Team New York: The City College of New York
• Tidewater Virginia: Old Dominion University and Hampton University
• University of Hawaii
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Maryland
• The University of Tennessee.

Pretty Cool- Oil-Cleaning Robot Army

If only BP had been prepared... or everyone for that matter. Well it seems that the BP oil disaster has caused others to become better prepared for such tragedies and possible future problems with our oil dependence.

Check out this robot created by by MIT's Sensable City Lab.
Check out the video of the "seaswarm" bot.

Tip of the Week: Plant some fresh air

Thought I would start posting weekly... as we've slacked a little on our blog.
Hope to keep this habit which would be good... and hoping that posting about other good habits would help all around. ENJOY!

PLANT SOME FRESH AIR:

Instead of buying an air purifier, try a bamboo palm, peace lily or English ivy in stead. These plants act as natural air filters in a room, removing up to 87% of VOC's (volitile organic compounds).

Going Vertical

via Treehugger

Jargon Watch: Vertical Gardens vs Vertical Farms vs Living Walls vs Green Façades
"..vertical farms, designed for food production, were a very different thing from living walls, which I thought Alex incorrectly called a vertical garden. But he is not alone; we did it in Madrid Gets a Vertical Garden Too and Ugly Cooling Tower Gets Vertical Garden Makeover in Spain. (Interestingly, all Spanish projects) ".

LIVING WALLS:
Randy Sharp explains in Azure:
"Green walls come in two main varieties, ac­cord­ing to Vancouver landscape architect Randy Sharp. His firm, Sharp & Diamond, designed the Vancouver Aquarium's 50-square-metre green wall of polypropylene modules filled with wildflowers, ferns and ground covers. A leading expert on "vegetated building envelope systems," Sharp divides these installations into green facades, where a structure fastened to the wall provides a trellis for vines and climbers planted in the ground or in containers; and the newer living walls, where a modular grid of wall pan­els - complete with live plants, a conventional soil or layered-felt growing medium, an irrigation and nutrient-delivery system, and a support structure - is attached to the building."...

read the whole post on Treehugger.com

Workshop Opportunity at Rice Gallery

No Experience Required!
$75 gets you materials, parking and refreshments.
Contact Anna Foret : azf1@rice.edu or 713.348.5770

Easy Green Wall Project

Thought this was pretty neat and simple. We've had several posts on the aesthetics and benefits of green walls before... Seemed like this product fit right in to this topic.

Check out this short video on the use of woolypocket to quickly add a green wall to your living space.

Woolly Pocket from Woolly Pocket on Vimeo.

LIFE

Be sure to watch Discovery Channel's upcoming LIFE series, premier on Sunday, March 21st, 8PM e/p.

If you haven't watched their previous series -PLANET EARTH- you should. It's truely AMAZING!

(from the press release) "The earth is home to more than 30 million different animals and plants – every single one in its own fight for survival.From the makers of PLANET EARTH and narrated by global media leader and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, the epic television series LIFE is the definitive exploration of our planet’s living things and their spectacular, bizarre and fascinating behaviors. A BBC and Discovery Channel co-production, the 11-part natural history series airs on Discovery Channel on Sundays from March 21 through April 18, 2010, with two episodes at 8-10PM ET/PT each night, and The Making of LIFE at 10PM on April 18."

Watch the Trailer

Nuclear?

President Obama's recent endorsement of nuclear produced a lot of concern for me....What are your thoughts?
I agree with the following: (be sure to check out the full post)

via Grist
" The lesser of two evils?
When it comes to the question, “Which is better—nuclear or coal?”, the answer really just is “neither.” It’s a false dichotomy that lends legitimacy to a false scenario in which we as a region, country, or world are forced to chose coal or nukes and have no access to developing other energy sources. It is a worst-case, stuck-in-the-corner, fake match-up. On a daily individual level, most people have little choice as to which power source we support with our monthly electric bill. If we do have choices, we should first buy renewable energy or even hydroelectric power. (Find out if you have alternative choices by searching EERE’s Green Power map.) Nuclear and coal are not our only two options; let’s not
pretend that they are."

Freeway transformed into a river

Via treehugger.com

"In Seoul, South Korea city planners paved right over a natural stream to put in a road. It stayed that way for decades, becoming a freeway and adding to the traffic congestion in the burgeoning metropolis. But Fast Company reports that recently, city officials decided to return the road to its natural roots. Here's FC's video of how, and why, they transformed the freeway back into a stream."

Green Tip: e-cycling

Best Buy e-cycles!
They'll accept almost any electronic gadget, working or broken, no matter who made it, at any of their stores.

From their site- "You can bring in up to two items a day, per household, and most things are absolutely free. However, there is a $10 charge for TVs 32" and under, CRTs, monitors and laptops — but we'll give you a $10 Best Buy gift card to offset that cost. It's just a little e-incarnation appreciation."

Read More about their e-cycle program.

Food for Throught

via Good.is/Good blog

"Back in 2007, everyone was talking about the "pain at the pump." But did that change what people drive? This infographic by Chris Svetlik looks at whether high gas prices get people to buy more fuel efficient cars."

Rice Gallery Opening

CAP and TRADE...a Racket?

A short video's take on cap and trade.
(via treehugger.com)

The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project

IF you can't see video in your email click on links.

Visual Acoustics

Photographer Julius Shulman passed away this past summer at the age of 98. Shulman's work played a major role in making modernist architecture familiar and aesthetically accessible to mainstream America by capturing the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s( including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry).

Bricker's film, Visual Acoustics narrated by Dustin Hoffman, is both a biography and a survey of Shulman's career.

Official Website