If you live in New York City, you may soon have the chance to check out the Waterpod, an incredible self-reliant eco-habitat, exhibition, and living space designed to showcase sustainable grassroots technology. The Waterpod just launched this Saturday, and it will now dock for public viewing at various locations in Manhattan’s five boroughs. We had the chance to conduct an exclusive interview with Lonny Grafman, the project’s sustainability advisor, about this floating model of self-sufficiency.

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: Sustainability Advisor Lonny Grafman on the Waterpod

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "wind power", Green Building, grey water treatment wind power, greywater, inhabitat interview, lonny grafman, Lonny Grafman Interview, mary mattingly, new york city, new york city environmental issues, nyc sustainability and water, nyc water, solar, Sustainability, sustainablikity advisors, water issues, waterpod

Read the rest of Elithis Tower: The World’s First Energy Positive Office Building

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Architecture, arte charpetier architects, charpentier, elithis tower, energy positive, france, green architecture, green design, green office, net zero, solar, sustainable design, world's first energy positive office

John Viera has made a name for himself as a pioneer for the green movement within the automotive industry. As Ford Motor Company‘s Director of Sustainable Business Strategies, he has been building a new base for the Big Three manufacturer to flourish in a sustainable way. We here at Inhabitat were lucky enough to have the opportunity to pick the brain of Viera, who spoke to us about a number of topics, including Ford’s future in plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric vehicles (EV). Read on for our exclusive interview!

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Post tags: electric cars, ev, ford, ford escape, ford fusion, ford hybrid, Ford Motor Company's Director of Sustainable Business Strategies, ford motors, ford transit connect, green automotive, green cars, green transportation, hybrid cars, inhabitat interview, john viera, phev

In our last Energy 101 column, we looked at some of the home energy monitoring devices currently available and explored the ways that they can help us live more efficient, eco-conscious lives. But with smart grid technologies rapidly approaching, a new group of energy-tracking devices is emerging. We had the chance to speak with Drew Clark, Director of Strategy for IBM’s Venture Capital Group, about what the future holds for smart meter technology.

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Post tags: ecobee, energy hub, energy smart grid, ibm, power

Ray Anderson is more than just the founder and chairman of the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpeting, he’s also the grandfather of corporate sustainability. In 1995, Anderson embarked on a mission to remove Interface Inc.‘s impact on the Earth completely. Below, we talk to the carpet mogul about his new book, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist, and explore the story behind his quest for sustainability.

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Post tags: carpeting, climate chate, corporate responsibility, green business, green carpet, green homes, inhabitat interview, interface, modular carpeting, ray anderson, Sustainability, wal-mart

Read the rest of Plantagon: A Massive Geodesic Dome Farm for the Future

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Post tags: "sustainable agriculture", geodesic farm, green design, plantagon, sustainable design, Urban Farming, vertical farm

Read the rest of Enormous Temple of Trash Made from 100 Tons of Recycled Plastic Bottles

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Post tags: eco design, garbage temple, Green Building, green design, Netherlands, Recycled Materials, recycled plastic temple, rotterdam, salzig, sustainable design, temple of trash, trash temple

The Honda X-Track concept is perfect for environmentally-conscious drivers who want a flashy sports car — sometimes. Designed by Nikita Kalinin, the hybrid vehicle features a transforming body that can switch between a fuel-efficient street mode and a high-performance track mode.

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Post tags: concept, ev, green transportation, Honda, honda x track, hybrid

LED lights are coming to Mexico in a big way — Quintana Roo’s Estate Governor Félix González Canto recently announced during the UN climate change conference in Cancun that the municipality of Othón Blanco will replace 25,507 streetlights with energy-efficient LED versions. The announcement, which was made in conjunction with GE (all light bulbs will be GE Evolve LED cobrahead street lights), marks the largest LED street lighting project in Latin America.

Read the rest of Mexico Announces Largest LED Streetlight Project in Latin America

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Post tags: energy efficient lighting, ge evolve, green design, LED, led light, othon blanco, streetlight, sustainable design, UN

California’s much-anticipated high-speed rail project is finally set to hit the tracks — starting with a 54 mile-long stretch of railway set to be laid down in the Central Valley. The track, which was just approved by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, will stretch from Borden to Fresno to Corcoran. But why the Central Valley — and not one of the state’s many population centers?

Read the rest of Central Valley Scores First Piece of California’s High Speed Rail

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Post tags: California, california high speed train, california prop 1a, california train, central valley, energy efficient transportation, green design, high speed rail, mass transit, rail, railroad, sustainable transportation

Think public transportation isn’t sexy? What about if BMW designs your city’s subway system? The luxury auto maker did just that in Poland, where it plans to launch the Inspiro subway car. Created by BMW’s DesignworksUSA team, the Inspiro features an energy-efficient lightweight aluminum chassis that is 97.5% recyclable, a vast interior, tree branch-shaped handholds and plenty of room for maps and other relevant information.

Read the rest of BMW Unveils Recyclable Eco Subway Cars for Poland

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Post tags: BMW, inspiro, Poland, public transportation, subway, train, warsaw

Good news for aviation and biofuel buffs: TAM Airlines (Brazil’s largest carrier) and Airbus recently completed the first jatropha biofuel-based test flight. The flight, conducted on an A320, was juiced up on a blend of 50% locally sourced Jatropha-based bio-kerosene and 50% conventional aviation kerosene.

Read the rest of First Flight Powered by Jatropha-Based Biofuel Completed

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Post tags: airbus, bio fuels, biofuel, Brazil, brazilian airlines, green design, green energy, green flying, green fuel, green planes, jathropha bio fuels, jatropha, jatropha bio diesel, local sourced fuel, tam, Tam airlines

Sorting through mountains of bottles and cans to recycle them may be a thing of the past thanks to a new recycling center set to be unveiled in Texas this month. Set up by Coca-Cola, the Reimagine recycling center swallows up bottles and cans in bulk — and rewards you through the My Coke Rewards Program.

Read the rest of New Recycling Center Crushes Cans and Bottles at the Same Time

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Post tags: Bottles, cans, Coca Cola, Coke, green design, pet plastic, recycling, reimagine

Chalk this up to things we never thought we’d see: Houston, that bastion of the oil industry, is getting the first privately-funded electric vehicle charging network in the U.S. The $10 million network, which is being developed by NRG Energy, will offer both public charging stations and home charge spots to residents of Harris County, Texas.

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Post tags: austin, ev, evgo, Houston, nrg energy, oil, phev, San Antonio, texas

Singapore is now the proud owner of the world’s largest biodiesel plant, which can produce a whopping 800,000 metric tons of fuel per year. The plant, which is operated by Neste Oil, generates fuel from vegetable oils and waste animal fat from the food industry. Neste claims that fuel produced at the plant offers a 40% to 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuel-based diesel.

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Post tags: animal fat, biodiesel, biofuel, green design, neste, rotterdam, Singapore

Researchers at the U.K’s University of Newcastle have created a new type of bacteria that generates glue to hold together cracks in concrete structures — that means everything from concrete sidewalks to buildings that have been damaged by earthquakes. With approximately 5% of all man-made CO2 emissions coming from concrete production, any way to cut down the necessity to manufacture new concrete is a big deal.

Read the rest of Genetically Modified Bacteria Can Fix Cracked Concrete

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Post tags: bacillafilla, bacillus subtilis, bacteria, CO2, concrete

Spain and Germany may be the renewable energy darlings of Europe, but Italy is set to become the first country with a solar-powered highway. The A18 Catania-Siracusa highway, a 30 km addition to Sicily’s 600 km highway network, will feature a whopping 80,000 photovoltaic panels installed along the road

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Post tags: green design, italy, photovoltaic, pv, sicily, solar highway

The plastic waste found in our oceans and landfills doesn’t have to be a blight on the landscape – it can be beautiful too. The Convergence Exhibition, which opened last month at the Lumenhouse in Brooklyn, New York, unveils the peculiar beauty that is hidden in our plastic trash.

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Post tags: art threat, Brooklyn, catchment, convergence, India, indra's cloud, lumenhouse, marrus orthocanna, pink project table, plastic

Not a fan of CFL bulbs but don’t want to shell out the cash for LEDs? Enter the Electron Stimulated Luminescence bulb (ESL), designed by Vu1 Corporation. The bulb just passed UL certification — meaning it will soon be headed to store shelves.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", bulbs, cfl, esl, green design, LED, light bulb, vu1

Carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technique to bury CO2 emissions from industrial sources underground, is still an emerging technology. It’s mostly used in coal plants, but the UK announced this week that projects interested in using CCS for natural gas plants will now be able to apply for government funding.

Read the rest of UK Could Fund First Natural Gas Carbon Capture Plant

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Post tags: carbon capture and storage, ccs, natural gas, UK, united kingdom, usa