Historic houses can become energy-efficient without losing charm – just look at the Galveston Historical Foundation‘s Green Revival House at 3101 Avenue Q in Galveston, Texas. The project started when GHF moved the house 17 blocks to a new lot after Hurricane Ike destroyed its foundation. The Green Revival House features new insulation, four solar panels, two rainwater cisterns, and it’s one of the nation’s first historic buildings to achieve Platinum certification through the LEED for Homes program. GHF completed the project in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the 1772 Foundation.

+ Galveston Historical Foundation

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This week 12 contemporary designers will unveil 12 fresh new designs made entirely of lumber reclaimed from blighted New York City buildings! Dubbed 12 x 12, the exhibition will feature a chair made from a Park Avenue water tank, a desk made of wood salvaged from the Brooklyn Bridge, a coffee table made from Cony Island boardwalk planks, and a bar cart made of old wood casks from a distillery in Flushing. All 12 designs will be unveiled this weekend at Wanted Design during New York Design Week - hit the jump for a video preview of the show featuring Inhabitat founder Jill Fehrenbacher, who served as one of the competition judges!

 

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According to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Americans are willing to pay for slightly higher electricity bills for clean energy. The survey, led by researchers from Yale and Harvard, asked this question: would consumers be interested in a law requiring utilities to source 80 percent of their power from sources including nuclear, solar and wind by 2035? The results indicated that on average, Americans are willing to pay an extra $162 more a year for an energy policy that mandated 80 percent of electricity is generated from renewables by 2035.

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On Wednesday the World Trade Organization ruled against the sale of cans of tuna labeled “dolphin safe,” arguing that the practice discriminates against Mexican fishermen and that the United States’ definition of “dolphin safe” tuna unfairly restricts trade. The WTO decision threatens a business practice that has been in place for over 20 years. Environmentalists and businesses both criticized the ruling for potentially threatening dolphin species in the Pacific Ocean as well as interfering with U.S. consumers’ choices.

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Rossignol's Global Headquarters consolidates the company's European workforce under one giant, undulating, nature-inspired roof. Located in an alpine valley in Saint-Jean-de-Moirans (in between Lyon and Grenoble), the new hq features facilities for production, management, shipping, sales and more. Rossignol's headquarters were designed by Hérault Arnod Architectes to take advantage of sustainable building strategies that reduce the complex's impact upon the picturesque surrounding environment.

 

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Food doesn't just delight in delicious snacks and meals -- there are a whole crop of designers, artists and photographers using the tasty medium to create some of the strangest and most awe-inspiring designs we've ever seen. Using everything from fish scales to orange peels to chocolate, check out these 6 wacky yet sustainable examples of how people are playing with food -- and creating something awesome while at it!

 

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A controversial geoengineering experiment that would have simulated the cooling effect of a volcanic eruption was canceled this week over a patent dispute. A team of scientists in the United Kingdom had announced last year their plans to send a gigantic balloon 12 miles above earth to recreate a volcanic cloud and study whether it could have cooled the earth. But arguments over a patent application, submitted before this proposed project had even begun, raised concerns over a potential conflict of interest.

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Wind energy is one of the cleanest, most reliable sources of renewable energy out there, but there’s one strike against it: Most wind turbines aren’t exactly the most attractive sight. But for anyone who says that wind energy can’t match form to function, feast your eyes on the Enessere Hercules wind generator, which was designed by Terry Glenn Phipps. With curved wooden blades, the 23-foot-tall wind turbine looks more like a sculpture than other more utilitarian wind turbines, and because of its clever design, it can harness the power of wind coming from any direction.

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The Harvest Pavilion is the first of four structures to be built on an eco-farm near Yang Cheng Lake, Kunshan, China. Designed by Beijing-based Vector Architects, the long, low building is meant to collect the harvest from the farm. In direct contrast to the ever-present high-rise buildings throughout the country, the Harvest Pavilion is vast and flat and a representation of the surrounding farm. Large roof overhangs provide plenty of shade, and natural daylighting reduces artificial light. Vertical louvers and prefabricated materials also aid in the sustainability of the facility.

 

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While solar energy has long been touted as the key to solving the planet’s energy demands, the problem of efficiency has always hampered it. However, a team of engineers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow believe that the key to solar energy isn’t here on Earth, but out in space.

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Thomas Wold sees old beat up cabinets in a much different light than most of us — where we see broken and useless, Wold sees the building blocks for new installations. Wold runs a design and fabrication studio in Berkeley where he makes unique custom furnishings and cabinetry often using completely upcycled materials. Cabinets, doors, drawers and salvaged wood find a new life in Wold's quirky and brightly colored furnishings, like this gorgeous pastel built-in called Fractured Fairy Tales. Click ahead to see more of Wold's upcycled creations.

 

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Here at Inhabitat, we are huge fans of any technology that can improve the lives of disabled people, such as exoskeletons and robotic suits. However, Brown University, working with the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, have developed a robotic arm that allows disabled people to use their thoughts to grab objects thanks to a computer-brain interface.

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Did you design a brilliant, life-changing device? Did your firm create an inspiring tool for tomorrow? Enter Fast Company’s inaugural Innovation By Design Awards, honoring the year’s best designs. This award program offers entrants an unmatched opportunity to reach entrepreneurs and executives looking to find fresh talent. Categories for the Innovation By Design Awards include: spaces, consumer products, services & systems,interactive experiences, 2-D designs, industrial equipment,transportation, concepts, and student design. Entries will be judged on their business impact, beauty, originality, functionality, social impact, and depth of user insight—six necessary ingredients for any great innovation. Online submission ends June 1st and finalists will be determined by a stellar line-up of design experts. Finalists will be published in a feature package in Fast Company’s October design issue, and winners will be announced at a gala in New York City in October.

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We recently showed you Ryosuke Fukusada‘s innovative and playful designs, which include wooden light bulbs and tiny cakes shaped like furniture; his recent project, Net Lamps, places efficient LED lamps as glowing orbs suspended within crocheted nets. Hanging Net Lamps combine elastic Poly-net knitted into a tight column, which, suspended from metal loops on the floor and ceiling, hold the lamp in mid-air as it softly illuminates the unusual surrounding fabric.

No matter how much we build, plants always seems to find a way to sprout up through the cracks of human civilization. Inspired by the constrast between the natural world and human culture, Riccardo Belli, a student at the Academy of Fine Arts & Design at Maastricht, created Grow, a unique ceramic tile that includes a suitable habitat for living plants, and that encourages living things to thrive within the built environment.

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