The Low Impact Living Affordable Community (LILAC) recently opened its doors to a community of earth-friendly Leeds residents. Each of the 20 homes was built using straw bale construction and timber and marks the first genuinely green co-housing project in the country. Conceived more than six years ago by Paul Chatterton and others, LILAC is a physical manifestation of the group’s desire to reduce their environmental footprint with earth-friendly construction materials, subsistence gardening, and community living based on Denmark’s co-housing model.

Read the rest of LILAC: UK’s First Strawbale Co-Housing Project Opens in Leeds

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Post tags: cohousing in the UK, Danish cohousing model, eco design, eco-friendly housing Leeds, green design, homes with low environmental footprint, LILAC, Low Impact Living Affordable Community, prefabricated design, strawbale construction, sustainable design, UK, urban gardening

Read the rest of NBBJ Unveils Striking Biosphere Greenhouses for Amazon’s Seattle HQ

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Amazon, amazon biospheres, amazon headquarters, biosphere, conservatory, eco design, eco office, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green office, greenhouse, Landscape Architecture, NBBJ, open space, park, plant-filled office, public open space, public park, Seattle, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, urban green space, urban park

Read the rest of David Baker’s Station Center Affordable Housing Development Transforms a Brownfield Site in Union City, CA

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", affordable housing, bay area, David Baker + Partners, david baker and partners, eco design, eco house, eco housing, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green housing, low income housing, San Francisco, station center, station center affordable housing, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, union city

Read the rest of Colin Selig’s Dalí-Esque Sofas Are Made from Recycled Propane Tanks

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Post tags: "green furniture", colin selig, eco design, eco furniture, green design, ICFF, icff 2013, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, javits center furniture show, new york design week, propane tank furniture, recycled furniture, recycled seating, recycled sofas, sustainable design

While not everyone can become a full-time climate activist, it is still possible to contribute to the battle against global warming. Researchers from Arizona State University have created an online computer game called Ventus that serves as a repository that maps the world’s CO2 emissions from power plants. Led by Kevin Gurney, the program allows those living near generation sites to enter the name and location of the facilities along with how much and what type of fuel is used, the amount of electricity generated, and overall CO2 released into the atmosphere.

Read the rest of Ventus: The Computer Game that Uses Crowd-Sourced Info to Map Global CO2 Emissions

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Post tags: Arizona State University, china, CO2, computer game, crowdsourcing, data, emissions, fossil fuels, global warming, google earth, India, kevin gurney, michael m. crow, power plants, ventus

There are some phenomena in nature that inspire tears of joy, some that spark a sense of awe, and then there are those that send chills up your spine. The Taylor Glacier in Antarctica, which was discovered in the McMurdo Dry Valley in 1911, appears to be bleeding. The bright red waterfall, dubbed “Blood Falls,” is nearly five stories high, and it seeps through a crack in the ice. Geologists first believed that the color of the water came from algae, but the hue is in fact caused by a small body of water containing a hidden lake of microbes.

Read the rest of Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier Appears to Be Bleeding with a Five-Story Crimson Waterfall

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Post tags: antarctica, atlas obscura, blood, blood falls, extremophiles, Iron, lake, mcmurdo dry valley, microbes, red, slate, taylor glacier

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

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Post tags: "leed", BREEAM, composting, greywater reuse, Living Building Challenge, Living Future unConference, Method Homes, mobile classroom, portable classrooms, prefab buildings, prefab classrooms, rainwater collection system, SEED Collaborative, SEEDClassroom, SEEDClassroom Seatlle, self-sufficient classroom

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Post tags: First Floor K-12, green public schools, LEED certified US schools, LEED Platinum school US, renewable energy, Sandy Grove Middle School LEED, SfL+a Architects, solar energy schools, solar panels, Solar Power, Spotlight solar, Spotlight Solar Sandy Grove

There is a debate raging between the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) – and LEED certification is caught in the middle. Treehugger reports that the latest battleground is in North Carolina, which recently introduced legislation that would effectively ban LEED in the state. The legislation follows on the heels of similar bills that banned LEED in Maine and the Department of Defense in 2011. Is this an ominous sign of things to come as more state governments bow down to the almighty dollar – or will protecting the world’s forests prevail?

Read the rest of New North Carolina Law Could Ban LEED Certification Due to Forestry Dispute

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Post tags: banning LEED, Forest Stewardship Council, leed certification, LEED laws, North Carolina banning LEED, North Carolina green building, North Carolina LEED, North Carolina sustainable building, SFC and LEED, SFI vs SFC, Sustainable Forestry Initiative

Read the rest of Gensler’s LGBT Affordable Senior Housing to Break Ground in Chicago This Summer

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", adaptive reuse, affordable housing, center on halsted, community center, eco design, Gensler, green architecture, Green Building, green renovation, green roof, leed silver, LGBT, LGBT senior housing, senior housing, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Read the rest of Perkins + Will Unveils Green-Roofed LEED Silver Instructional Centre for the University of Toronto

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Post tags: eco design, green design, green roof campus, Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Center, LEED silver campus, perkins + will, sustainable design, University of Toronto Instructional Centre, University of Toronto Mississauga

The term ‘building science’ is used quite often now in sustainable building circles, but much of what we understand of it can be traced back to the work of Dr. Joe Lstiburek, founder of Building Science Corporation. He is anything but your typical engineer or scientist who spends time crunching numbers or hiding away in a lab. Lstiburek has spent most of his career out in the field, testing and examining what works and what doesn’t. Many of the building standards today — from building codes to ASHRE to testing methodology — have his finger prints all over them, and his tough love criticism of building design is undercut with his wry humor and, of course, an encyclopedic knowledge of building construction. Read on to learn where buildings go wrong and what we can do about it.

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: Building Science Pioneer Dr. Joe Lstiburek on the Good, Bad and Ugly Side of Buildings

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Post tags: "leed", ASHRE, Building failures, Building Science, Green Building, green building expert, Joe Lstiburek, problems with LEED, Sustainable Building

Read the rest of American Institute of Architects Announces the Greenest Buildings of 2013

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Post tags: 355 11th street, a new norris house, Aidlin Darling Design, american institute of architects committee on the environment, Brooks + Scarpa, charles david keeling apartments, clock shadow building, community impact of green buildings, continuum architects + planners, EHDD, federal center south building 1202, full goods warehouse, KieranTimberlake, KMD Architects, lake flato architects, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, marin country day school learning resource center and courtyard, merritt crossing senior apartments, pearl brewery, robert c. french, ross barney architects, san francisco public utilities commission headquarters, swenson civil engineering building, the matarozzi/pelsinger multiuse building, top ten plus list of greenest buildings of 2013, tricia south, yin yan house, zgf architects

Read the rest of Green-Roofed LEED Platinum Butterfly Beach Home Opens Up to the Outdoors in Montecito, California

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Post tags: Butterfly Beach, eco design, eco-friendly house, green design, green roof, leed platinum home, Maienza Wilson Interior Design and Architecture, Montecito California, sustainable design

Read the rest of Abandoned Pearl Brewery Adapted into a Vibrant Mixed-Use Project in San Antonio

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", adaptive reuse, brewery, brewery renovation, eco design, full goods warehouse, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green renovation, lake flato architects, lakeflato architects, lake|flato, mixed-use development, pearl brewery, pearl brewery redevelopment project, San Antonio, san antonio river, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

The term “upcycle” – used to describe the process of turning something old and used into a new and useful item – has rapidly grown in popularity over recent years. The term was popularized by Cradle to Cradle pioneers Michael Braungart and William McDonough, and in their new book The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability — Designing for Abundance they take the concept beyond the simple reuse of materials and propose a world in which everything we do improves the environment. The much-anticipated follow-up to their breakthrough book Cradle to Cradle, The Upcycle will hit the shelves on April 16th, and we got a chance to check the book out ahead of its release – read on for a first look!

Read the rest of BOOK REVIEW: William McDonough and Michael Braungart expand on Cradle to Cradle With The Upcycle

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Post tags: book review, cradle-to-cradle, green design, mcdonough, upcycle, upcycling

Read the rest of Friends For Life Houston is the Only LEED-Certified No Kill Animal Shelter in Texas

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", animal friendly design, animal shelter, don sanders adoption center, eco design, eco friendly animal shelter, friends for life, Gensler, green architecture, Green Building, green renovation, Houston, leed certified, leed certified animal shelter, no kill animal shelter, no kill shelter, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Dallas, eco design, eco library, eco museum, George W. Bush, george w. bush library, george w. bush presidential library, green architecture, Green Building, green design, LEED platinum, michael van valkenburgh associates, presidential library, Robert A.M. Stern, robert a.m. stern architects, robert am stern, SMU, southern methodist university, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

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Post tags: "leed", electric car, Green Building, green car, green car dealership, green transportation, Laura K. Cowan, rav4, Sustainable Building, test drive, Toyota, Toyota RAV4 EV