The 2012 Solar Decathlon Europe kicked off this past weekend as 19 teams of students from around the world unveiled stunning solar-powered homes in the heart of Madrid. This year's teams combined cutting-edge eco technology and green building strategies with tremendous creativity to achieve the decathlon's goal of creating the world's most efficient sun-powered house. From cylindrical solar homes that generate two times more energy than they consume to Passivhauses inspired by traditional architecture and modular prefab marvels, read on for 6 of our favorite projects in the European Solar Decathlon - and stay tuned for our exclusive coverage this week and next week!

 

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You can see, feel and touch architecture, but what if you could hear it too? Innovative architects and designers across the globe are finding inspiration in music to create sound-producing structures that aim to heighten our senses and open our minds to the finer details that make up the world around us. From a cargo container that mimics the experience of being inside a guitar, to a multi-faceted building facade that produces an aqueous resonance on rainy days, to a towering hands-on pavilion that visitors can touch and play like a keyboard, see 6 of our favorite sustainable structures that have been inspired by music!

This content series is brought to you in partnership with smartwater. smartwater, good taste travels well. To learn more click here.

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Since the first waves of rock n’ roll rebellion in the early 1950s, music and fashion have shared an inextricable bond. While fashion has often informed music, music has in turn inspired fashion as the two work in chorus to define cultural alliances, subvert societal norms, express rebellion and discontent, and of course, to simply have fun. Drawn from all facets of the music industry — from the rocks stars to the discarded cassette tapes that once played their albums — here are nine eco-chic music-inspired fashions.

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Residents of NYC’s Lower East Side could hardly believe their ears when they heard about a new proposal to create a permanent Greyhound bus stop at Seward Park, which is the nation’s oldest playground. If built, the station would bring hundreds of passengers through the quiet neighborhood and see 28 departures a day (more than 2 an hour), negatively impacting the area’s environment, air quality, traffic and safety. Lower East Siders aren’t taking the issue lying down though – they’ve started a petition to combat the proposal and are asking for your help. If you do not want to see a peaceful neighborhood park playground defaced by hundreds of waiting strangers, their luggage, bus fumes and food trash, please read on to see how you can oppose and prevent it.

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Originally published on Sept 11, 2011, republished on September 11, 2012

After nearly a decade of planning, arguments, and heated discussions, the National 9/11 Memorial has officially opened to the public in New York City. Designed by architect Michael Arad, the memorial is a sensitive, respectful complex in the heart of the new World Trade Center site. Two vast reflecting pools, located in the exact footprints of the Twin Towers, are the focus of the site. Standing at the edge of the large voids, with the waterfalls drowning out the sounds from the surrounding construction sites, one easily remembers the magnitude of the loss we experienced that day. Visitor passes to the memorial are booked through the end of October, but through our exclusive photo gallery, you can view the memorial and see its graceful elegance.

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Electric cars offer the promise of fossil fuel-free transportation, but today’s EVs are at a disadvantage due to the lack of infrastructure to charge them. While we wait for more charging stations, plug-in hybrids represent the best alternative, since they have a back-up engine that kicks in when the battery level runs low. Early next year, Honda is set to enter the plug-in hybrid segment with the 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid sedan – and we recently had the chance to take it out for a spin. Continue reading to see what it was like behind the wheel of Honda’s newest hybrid.

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Our Green Guide to Prefab series has explored a number of considerations that need to be made when planning for a prefab home, from siting to personal style to financing and loans. But how do you translate that all of that newfound information into a succinct design that maximizes sustainability? Green certification is one way to bring order to the often overwhelming process of constructing a home, and it provides a sustainability score sheet and solid guidelines that will help you systemize your decision-making process in a way that will make sense to you. By using a certification program to help plan your home, you can skip all the hair pulling and have peace of mind knowing that you’ve taken every step possible to create an energy-efficient, healthy, and sustainable space for living. Read ahead to learn more about the biggest certification programs out there, what you need to do to get started with one, and how getting your home certified will add to the long-term dollar value of your new prefab.

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Summer is underway and it's high time for picnics, grilling, and backyard parties! After sweltering in the sun all day, why not invite some friends over to share food and drinks while enjoying the cooler evening temperatures? If you are entertaining this summer, you can welcome your guests with homemade punched-tin patio lanterns created from recycled cans. The materials are practically free, and the tiny holes create gorgeous scattered light patterns on your table when you drop a votive candle inside. Make your own lanterns by following our 7 simple steps ahead!

 

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Eindhoven's Evoluon is an out-of-this-world building that serves as a multi-purpose conference and events center. Shaped like a flying saucer, it was commissioned by Dr. Frits Philips -- who made the first sketches of it on a napkin -- and built by architect Louis Kalff in 1966. An innovative building and a proud icon of science and technology, it has always attracted a large number of visitors thanks to its unique interactive exhibitions.

 

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LAST CALL FOR LAPTOP BAG DESIGNS!

Don’t miss out on your chance to WIN $10,000 in the The HP Ultrabook Bag Design Contest!

Have you entered your idea for a new laptop bag in the HP Ultrabook Bag Design Competition? If you haven’t, don’t delay, because there are just TWO DAYS LEFT to get your design in. We’ve teamed up with HP and Project Runway to challenge the design community to reinvent the way we carry our laptops, and we’re dying to see the what stylish, sustainable and innovative design you’ve got for their ultra-sleek HP Spectre XT Ultrabook. We’ll be accepting entries until September 8th. Five entries will be chosen by our readers for a round of final judging by editors from Core 77 and Inhabitat, and Mondo Guerra, fashion designer and Project Runway‘s Season 8 and All Stars winner! Don’t miss out on your chance at a fortune of $10,000 CASH – submit your ideas today!

Enter The HP Ultrabook Bag Design Contest >

This post is sponsored by the sleek, stylish, lightweight HP Spectre XT Ultrabook™, inspired by Intel. Design a bag that is just as stylish! 

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Nobody wants to think about the start of the school year -- least of all kids. But with Labor Day fast approaching, the countdown has officially begun, and that means it's time to get started on your back-to-school shopping. When it comes to shopping for the new school year, you want send your kid off to the classroom prepared to succeed, but you also want to make choices that are easy on the environment. From calculators made from recycled camera parts to a solar-powered backpack, we've rounded up 10 of our top eco-friendly back-to-school essentials for the 2012-2013 school year.

 

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Are you a student getting ready to embark on a new academic year this fall? If you're one of the many who will be leaving the comfort of mom and dad's spacious digs for a teeny tiny dorm room, fret not; with the right furniture and decor, you can still live it up like you live in a penthouse. We've rounded up 6 super designs that will transform your cramped quarters into a cozy yet modern space all your friends will covet. From a futon bunk bed for your friends to crash on to a freezer composter to toss all those uneaten pizza crusts into, see our top 6 picks ahead!

 

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Inhabitat’s Green Guide to Prefab series has explored all the elements involved in planning and realizing a modern prefab home – we’ve taken a look at the history of the various “branches” of the American prefab industry and how they have evolved, and we’ve discussed how to maximize building site, local climate, lifestyle goals and budget into a design can make a break or a dream home. In our final article in the Green Guide to Prefab editorial series, we will discuss something that innovative systems builders have recognized and have begun to address in far greater measure than providers of more traditional home building services: time. With our busy lives how can we make the most of what limited time we have to effectively to plan for and build a home that meets our needs? As you read ahead, consider the question: Is time a renewable resource?

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Heads up students! September is just one week away and school bells are already ringing in the distance – which means it’s high time to start gearing up for the coming academic year. If you’ve yet to stock up on supplies, fear not – we’re offering you a chance to win an amazing back to school bundle packed with over $500 worth of green goodies! You could win a powerful laptop-charging Voltaic Array solar backpack, a stack of 6 eco-friendly Naked Binders, a water filtering Bobble bottle, and courtesy of The Ultimate Green Store, a Laptop Lunchbox and various school supplies! It’s easy to enter – all you have to do is sign up for our newsletter, like Inhabitat and Voltaic on Facebook, and leave a comment below telling us how you plan to green your back-to-school routine. Our contest ends this week, so don’t delay – enter today!

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY:

1. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER HERE >
(If you are not already a subscriber.) We’ll be announcing the winner in our weekly newsletter, so if you want to find out who won, you’ll need to receive it in order to claim your prize!

2. BECOME A FAN OF INHABITAT AND VOLTAIC ON FACEBOOK >
Just visit Inhabitat’s Facebook page and Voltaic’s Facebook page and click on the “Like” button at the top.

3. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW >
Tell us how you plan to green your back-to-school routine this year.The deadline for this giveaway is August 29th. We’ll pick the comment we like best and announce the winner in our newsletter, so make sure you’re signed up!

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Fashion and architecture have a lot in common, as form, function and material are at the core of both disciplines. But while some have taken a hilarious, literal approach to melding the fields in the past, there are more than a handful of modern designers looking towards our built environment while creating designs good enough for everyday wear. See 9 of our favorite architecture-inspired eco-fasions after the jump!

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