In the weeks following the horrific Rana Plaza building collapse that killed 1,127 workers — one of the worst tragedies in the history of the garment industry — more than 30 of the world’s leading apparel companies signed an agreement vowing to protect the safety of garment workers. But two prominent American companies have refused to sign the accord. Wal-Mart announced plans to launch its own safety initiative, and Gap has refused to sign any agreement, citing liability concerns. In a recent LA Times op-ed, law professors James Brudney and Catherine Fisk call the companies’ fears over their financial and moral commitments “irrational.”

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Post tags: Bangladesh, bangladesh building collapse, building collapse, GAP, garment workers, Rana Plaza, walmart, worker safety, worker safety accord

Read the rest of Koji Tsutsui’s Multicellular House Cascades Down a Steep Slope in Mill Valley, CA

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Post tags: AIA san francisco, bay area, California, home tours, interior design, Koji Tsutsui, Koji Tsutsui & Associates, marin county, Marin Living Home Tours 2013, mill valley, modern architecture, Multicellular House, Northern California

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Post tags: bay area, California, Feldman Architecture, green interiors, green renovation, green roofs, home renovations, home tours, interior design, Landscape Architecture, Loretta Gargan, marin county, Northern California, Ross, San Francisco, SF Bay Area, The Shack, timber

Read the rest of Andrea Ponsi’s Sprawling House on the Bay is Powered Entirely by Renewable Energy

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Post tags: AIA SF, Andrea Ponsi, bay area, House on the Bay, Jensen Architects, marin county, Marin Living: Home Tours, net-zero house, photovoltaic panels, San Francisco, solar panels, Solar Power, Tiburon

A new generation of gardeners are interested in growing their own food, and The Patch, a new self-watering planter, helps guide newbies through the process. The planter, which is designed for urban gardeners, solves the most common challenge for novice gardeners: over-watering. The Patch Planter is an easy, self-watering and flat-packable planter that addresses this issue by providing the plant with the perfect amount of water at all times — yielding more nutritious and delicious food. The planter is currently in the beta stage, but Let’s Patch is raising funds through Kickstarter to take its manufacturing process to the next level.

+ Let’s Patch

+ Let’s Patch on Kickstarter

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Post tags: herbs, kickstarter, Let's Patch, Patch planters, self-watering planter, The Patch, vancouver, vegetables

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Post tags: architect, Centennial Vision, chicago, Chicago Loop, Design, grand staircase, green design, high line, james corner, james corner field operations, Landscape Architecture, nArchitects, Navy Pier, Pierscape, urban parks

If you live in New York City, you’ve probably encountered aptsandlofts.com, a go-to resource when searching for prime New York City real estate. We recently had a chance to pick the brain of aptandlofts.com founder and Brooklyn native David Maundrell about his elegant new Cobble Hill storefront, the demand for green homes in New York City and the Brooklyn Brownstone boom. Read on for his thoughts and to see photos of the space’s double-height, brick-walled interior.

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Post tags: Apartments and Lofts, aptsandlofts, Brooklyn, cobble hill, David Maundrell, Green Real Estate, inhabitat interview, new york city, NYC real estate

Read the rest of The Baker Stove is a Safer, Energy-Efficient Cookstove for the Developing World

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Post tags: Baker Cookstove, Baker Stove, carbon monoxide, Claesson Koivisto Rune, cookstove, developing world, energy-efficient cookstove, energy-efficient stove, humanitarian design, indoor air pollution, kenya, Recycled aluminum, safer stove, stove, wood-burning stove

The ceiling of a shoe factory in Cambodia that makes Asics athletic shoes collapsed on Thursday, killing two workers and injuring at least a dozen. The tragedy, which took place less than a month after a clothing factory in Bangladesh collapsed and killed more than one thousand workers, is the latest incident to highlight the poor safety at factories in developing countries. The latest building collapse is a reminder that worker safety isn’t an issue that’s confined to Bangladesh; many other countries are also grappling with poor work conditions for low-paying jobs in the fashion industry.

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Post tags: Asics, Bangladesh, building collapse, Cambodia, Cambodian shoe factory, Fashion, fast fashion, labor issues, shoe factory collapse, unsafe work conditions, worker safety

Heads up San Francisco Bay Area architecture fans – AIA SF’s 2013 Marin Living:Home Tours is back again! For the past three years, the owners of some of Marin County’s most impressive homes have opened their doors, allowing the public to look at their private spaces. And once again, AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design are gearing up to host the Marin Living: Home Tours event, which will take place on TOMORROW (May 18th) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s program includes a houseboat in Sausalito, a LEED Gold-certified communal living facility in San Rafael, and Koji Tsutsui & Associates’ gorgeous Multicellular House in Mill Valley (pictured at top). Head over to the Home Tours website to preview all the homes and purchase tickets.

BUY MARIN LIVING:HOME TOUR TICKETS >

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Post tags: AIA san francisco, AIA SF, AIA SF Home Tours, Andrea Ponsi, bay area, David Spurgeon Architect, Feldman Architecture, Koji Tsutsui & Associates, marin county, mill valley, North Bay, Ross, San Francisco, San Rafael, sausalito, Tiburon, Van Meter Williams Pollack

Flat-pack goods typically make more efficient use of materials and have lower shipping costs, and in recent years companies have designed everything from flat-pack beds and dressers to flat-pack lamps and even houses. Now, British philanthropist Sir Torquil Norman’s Global Vehicle Trust has developed the OX, the world’s first flat-pack truck. The inexpensive vehicle, which is intended for use in developing countries, can reportedly be assembled in just 12 hours by three people using basic tools, and it can be taken apart again in less than six hours.

Read the rest of The World’s First Flat-Pack Truck Can Be Assembled in Just 12 Hours

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Post tags: "flat pack", Africar, flat pack vehicle, Flat-pack truck, Flatpack, flatpack truck, flatpack vehicle, Global Vehicle Trust, green transportation, green vehicles, Ox, Sir Torquil Norman, trucks

Offshore wind farms and tidal energy facilities harness the power of the wind and the ocean – but why should we have separate turbines for each task? Offshore technology company Mitsui is developing a hybrid wind-current power generating system that combines a floating vertical-axis wind turbine with an underwater turbine that generates power from ocean currents. The clever apparatus would cut down on material waste, and it could produce twice as much energy as a conventional wind turbine.

Read the rest of World’s First Floating Wind-Current Turbine to be Installed Off Japanese Coast

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Post tags: floating wind turbine, Hybrid wind and ocean current turbines, Japan, Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company, MODEC, ocean currents, ocean power, offshore wind, renewable energy, tidal turbines, vertical axis wind turbine

The first sure sign of a robot uprising will be when robots gain self-awareness and begin acting autonomously – and if this self-assembling robot is any indication, we’re well on our way to the robopocalypse. Researchers at Harvard and MIT teamed up to produce a 3D-printed inchworm robot that is able to aseemble itself. Using shape memory polymers that automatically fold into desired shapes, the remarkable bot transforms itself from a completely flat, two-dimensional object into a walking inchworm-shaped robot with almost no help from human hands.

Read the rest of MIT and Harvard’s 3D-Printed Inchworm Robot Can Assemble Itself

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Post tags: 3D printing, 3d-printed inchworm robot, 3D-printed robot, harvard, ICRA 2013, inchworm robot, MIT, robots, self-assembling robot, Self-folding robot

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Post tags: adaptive reuse, Ambiances Design Production, Art, buffalo, Buffalo Harbor, grain elevators, historic preservation, lighting display, New York., preservation, public art, Silos, upstate New York, Western New York

We broke a record this week — but not the good kind. On Thursday, scientists at a research facility on top of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii reported that average daily levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surpassed 400 parts per million for the first time. As the New York Times notes, CO2 levels haven’t been this high for at least 3 million years, meaning that we are likely to see changes to the climate never experienced by humans before. The 400 PPM milestone is symbolic, but it’s a reminder of how global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions are failing.

Read the rest of CO2 Levels Pass 400 Parts Per Million for First Time in Human History

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Post tags: 400 parts per million, 400 PPM, atmospheric CO2, Bill McKibben, carbon dioxide, Climate Change, CO2 concentrations, CO2 emissions, global warming, greenhouse gasses, james hansen, NOAA, Pollution

It all started three years ago with a funky felt lounger featuring a cushion made from rolled felt that Brooklyn-based design studio Lamacek unveiled at BLKYN Designs 2010. Then, last year, Lamacek founder Connie Lam expanded her line of felt furnishings to include small table pads that can be used as trivets and larger wall clusters. Lamacek is back at BKLYN Designs again this year with a wide range of products made from bundled pieces of rolled-up felt, and word on the street is that she also takes custom orders.

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Post tags: BKLYN Designs, BKLYN Designs 2013, Connie Lam, felt trivets, felt wall clusters, green furnishings, green products, interior design, Lamacek, PHELT, PHELT table pads, rolled felt

A 408-foot silver spire was installed on top of One World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan on Friday, bringing its official height to 1,776 feet and making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Since the tower was first announced, a debate has raged over whether or not it truly is the tallest. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat — the authority on such matters — because the WTC’s spire is ornamental and not functional, it was counted in the building’s official height, edging out Chicago’s Willis Tower.

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Post tags: 1 World Trade Center, freedom tower, manhattan, new york city, New York., NYC, One World Trade Center spire, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, skyscrapers, SOM, tallest buildings, world trade center, WTC, WTC spire

One of the most interesting designs on display at BKLYN Designs this week is Bower‘s Polaris lamp, and yesterday Inhabitat’s New York correspondents were able to view it in person. According to Bower, the lamp is made from solid pieces of scrap wood. Magnets have been embedded in several faces on the geodesic lamp,  allowing users to attach it to any magnetic surface. Because of the magnets, the lamp can also be slid and adjusted. Head over to Inhabitat NYC to learn more about the Polaris Lamp.

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Post tags: BKLYN Designs, Bower, Bower lamp, Brooklyn, Danny Giannella, interior design, magnetic lamp, NYC, Polaris Lamp, scrap wood, Tammer Hijazi

This week, Inhabitat’s New York editors have been reporting from BKLYN Designs, a showcase of home furnishings designed and made in Brooklyn. The show is a feast for the eyes, with lots of sustainable furniture, lighting and other decorative wares to choose from. Now is your chance to vote for your favorite Brooklyn designs. We’ll be tallying up all the votes tomorrow and awarding the winners our coveted Inhabitat Green Design Awards on Sunday, so take a minute to check out all the designs and vote!

VOTE HERE! >

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Post tags: "green furniture", BKLYN Designs, BKLYN Designs Awards, Brooklyn Designs, brooklyn furniture, decor, green furnishings, inhabitat nyc, interior design

As the death toll Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh surpasses 1,100, people around the world are calling on the fashion industry to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring  More than 1 million people have signed petitions calling for brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh to commit to the legally binding, first-of-its-kind Bangladesh Building and Fire Safety Agreement, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, an alliance of organizations in 15 European countries dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries.

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Post tags: Bangladesh, bangladesh building collapse, Bangladesh fashion, Bangladesh workers, building collapse, factory, fast fashion, Rana Plaza, unsafe work conditions, worker safety