Toyota's latest dealership opening in San Francisco is the company's third LEED Platinum-certified dealership in the US and the first ever for California, and since we ended up not being able to cover the event live, we celebrated by taking a spin in the new California-exclusive 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV at the Ann Arbor-based Toyota Technical Center (which is also LEED certified). The RAV4 EV follows this practical green streak, with (let's admit it) an aerodynamics-over-beauty exterior but lots of electric performance to love. Read on and check out our photo gallery for all the details.

 

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Are you an eco-conscious architect, designer or lighting professional looking to stay up to date on the latest innovations coming off the energy-efficient lighting front? We’ve teamed up with Elemental LED to provide designers with the ultimate resource for all things LED by creating the Elemental LED Design Center, a one-stop destination for green lighting carefully curated by leading industry professionals. Here you can learn about everything from how to choose an LED vendor to retrofitting or creating new constructions with low voltage LED lights and systems. You’ll even find plenty of inventive ideas that showcase new and unexpected ways to use LEDs to interior spaces. Check out the Elemental LED Design Center today and start creating your own new and beautiful LED lighting designs!
 

CHECK OUT THE DESIGN CENTER HERE >

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Ford has been making some pretty great cars lately, and the company's new line of hybrids is no exception. Following our recent C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid test, we borrowed a Ford Fusion Hybrid (non-plugin) for a week-long real-world test of Ford's mileage claims, particularly in the wake of a little controversy over at Consumer Reports, which found that the C-MAX Energi and Fusion hybrids were not living up to promised fuel economy of 47 mpg. Read on and check out our gallery of detail shots to get the full scoop on how this new entry to the green market stacks up.

 

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We think we can pretty much crown whomever purchases this amazing NYC townhouse with its very own treehouse as the most spoiled person ever. Jealousy aside, it’s a lot of fun to take a little photo tour through the home (which is listed at just under $6 million) and just daydream. Maybe we could afford just the treehouse by itself?

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The Brewers Association just released its annual list of Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewing Companies of 2012 based on sales volume. A craft brewery is defined as a small, independent brewery that produces less than 6 million US beer barrels. From this list, we culled through the breweries to find which ones had the strongest sustainability programs in place. We understand that this could be a contentious list, and that there are many breweries that didn't make the cut that do incorporate eco-friendly practices into their business operations. Your favorite brewery is much like your favorite sports team and loyalties run high, so if you disagree with our selections, by all means, please let us know in the comments!

 

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We have holidays dedicated to everything from flags to consumption (ahem Black Friday), so it only seems right that Planet Earth should get one too. On Earth Day, cities, businesses, and individuals all roll out the green carpet. No doubt you've seen lots of famous brands touting Earth Day initiatives or heard about eco-friendly events being planned in your own community. Unfortunately, most of these events have changed from "do something nice for the Earth" events to "buy this thing that is maybe a little greener than the alternative but mostly just something you need to BUY" events. But that doesn't mean you should hide indoors feeling guilty on April 22nd. On the contrary, there are lots of easy and fun ways to celebrate Earth Day that can actually make a difference all year long. We've listed a few below, and we'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

 

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‘It’s easy being green’.

‘Green is the new black’.

Are you tired of simplistic eco slogans and soundbites yet? This may come as a bit of a surprise — but I’m really starting to hate Earth Day. One might think that the editor of environmental-leaning publication like Inhabitat would live for Earth Day, but the opposite is true for me. I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Earth Day is just a shallow marketing opportunity for companies to jump on the green bandwagon and try to make some extra cash using eco-caché. Having one single day designated as Earth Day gives people and corporations an excuse to pay less attention to the environment the other 364 days of the year. The greenest and most innovative companies are not the ones running Earth Day marketing campaigns and giving out eco totes on April 22nd. In fact, you wouldn’t believe some of the ridiculous green-themed press releases I received over the past few weeks leading up to Earth Day. Read on for five of the most egregious examples of greenwashed Earth Day marketing gimmicks I’ve seen, and chime in with the most ridiculous gimmicks that you’ve run across in the comments – we’ll be collecting your submissions and adding them to our post!

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In light Earth Day and Earth Week, I wanted to share what “Earth” means in the Feng Shui world. When people ask me to describe Feng Shui, I tell them that it’s about much more than moving furniture around. Feng Shui is the original “green design,” and it is about creating harmony with Mother Earth by unifying our inner and outer environments. The inner and outer are not separate, because everything that we do to our earth – positive and negative – affects our daily experience. In Feng Shui we believe that everything is alive, including the earth. Read on to learn more!

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Earth Day is tomorrow – and our inboxes are already filled to the brim with marketing gimmicks and greenwashed products. In a sad turn of affairs, the environmental message behind Earth Day has been drowned out by marketing bravado and buried beneath mountains of “eco” tote bags and redundant reusable bottles. We’ve shared what we think are the 5 dumbest Earth Day gimmicks – and now we want to see the worst examples of Earth Day greenwashing that YOU have ever run across. Leave a comment below with the most audacious Earth Day greenwashing gimmicks you’ve seen and we’ll publish the most deplorable!

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Hey Inhabitat readers! In case you missed it, we just wrapped up our broadcast of the Design with a Conscience conference in San Francisco, CA! We teamed up with Ford Motor Company and the American Institute for Architects (AIA) San Francisco to deliver you a peek at a thought-provoking event, which brought together visionary California architects and automotive designers eager to talk about the intersection of car and building design and how conscious design can spur innovation in both industries. This year’s star panel included: Allison Williams, principal architect at AW ink; Anne Fougeron, Founder of Fougeron Architecture; Ann Hand, CEO of Project Frog; and Freeman Thomas, Director of Strategic Design at Ford Motor Company. Though the event is over, you can read a few highlights from the panel after the break. We’ll also be posting a video recording of the conference very soon, so check back for it if you missed the live event.

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At first glance, HGTV's Smart Home 2013 is not what one might expect from a newly constructed, LEED Gold-seeking home that boasts some fairly cool energy-saving technologies. Designed in the coastal vernacular by Mike Stauffer, the home sits a few blocks away from the ocean, and it looks at ease alongside nearby historic properties in the laid-back beach town of Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Building upon a base of good design that allows for natural daylighting and ventilation, the home is fitted with a number of systems that help to reduce energy usage and overall environmental impact—systems which can be installed in many existing properties. We recently got to take a tour through this energy-efficient and, frankly, gorgeous new residence. Click through our gallery to see everything the home has to offer, and don't forget to enter HGTV's sweepstakes for one person to win not only the house, but other prizes - including $100,000 in cash!

 

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Interested in the intersection of car and building design? Wondering what happens when architects and automotive designers get together to talk about design innovation? Here’s your chance to learn more about what cars and buildings can teach each other and how they can help us push the boundaries of design. We’re extending an exclusive e-vite to Inhabitat readers to join us online at ‘Design with a Conscience’ — a panel discussion between visionary California architects and automotive designers at 12:30 pm pst April 11th, 2013. We’ll be live streaming this discussion on Inhabitat.com (here), and we’ll focus on how thoughtful, emotionally resonant and sustainable design is improving lives. Featuring notable and visionary minds from both American Institute for Architects (AIA) and Ford Motor Company, this year’s panel discussion will include: Allison Williams of AW ink; Anne Fougeron, Founder of Fougeron Architecture; Ann Hand, CEO of Project Frog; and Freeman Thomas, Director of Strategic Design at Ford Motor Company. Join us live on April 11th to tune into this design discussion — and take part in the conversation by submitting your questions for the speakers below in the comments! We’ll be sending Inhabi-Tees to selected question submitters, so join in!

WHEN: Thursday, April 11, 2013, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. pst (3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. est)

WHERE: Link to live webcast here >

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If winter’s left your hair looking like a pile of straw, revitalize it with this easy-to-make DIY hair mask. Whipped up by LUSH Cosmetics product inventor Helen Ambrosen, this rich mask uses just a few natural ingredients like avocado, olive oil, and honey, and can be whipped up in just a few minutes right in your own kitchen. Check out the instructions here.

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So far we've seen the Solar Impulse airplane soar over Paris, Switzerland, and Morocco - and now the aircraft is set to fly across the United States on its first sun-powered cross-America flight. The Solar Impulse just landed at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, and we had a chance to check it out in person before it embarks on a journey that will take it from San Francisco to New York without using a single drop of fuel. Read on for a closer look at this amazing vehicle - and find out if it's coming soon to city near you!

 

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