Read the rest of London’s Tower Bridge Gets LED Upgrade for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", 2012 London Olympics, GE, Green Olympics, LED lights, queen diamond jubilee, tower bridge, tower bridge diamond, tower bridge olympic games

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Post tags: "clean energy", "energy efficiency", "natural materials", cameroon, eco design, geothermal, green design, Matteo Cainer Architects, Minergie, Musgum housing, passive design, rainwater harvesting, sustainable design, Swiss Clockwork Embassy, swiss watches

Recycling cans couldn’t get much quirkier or more lovable than these PACMAN containers that gobble-up garbage like their computerized namesake. Designed by Portuguese studio AND-RÉ, the cans are simple round items of urban furniture that help residents of Vilamoura separate out their trash. Each one is identified with a mouth in a starkly different color – blue, yellow, black or green – which makes recycling even easier than before.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", adaptive reuse, Architecture, concrete, contrasting facade, eco design, Exit Architects, green design, green renovation, Holy Week Museum Hellin, Museo de Semana Santa de Hellín, old and new, Spain, sustainable design, U-profile glass

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Alberta, Bioi Architects, canada, Daylighting, eco design, EnerGuide, green design, insulation, passive cooling, southern exposure, sustainable design, Warburg House

We recently showed you Ryosuke Fukusada‘s innovative and playful designs, which include wooden light bulbs and tiny cakes shaped like furniture; his recent project, Net Lamps, places efficient LED lamps as glowing orbs suspended within crocheted nets. Hanging Net Lamps combine elastic Poly-net knitted into a tight column, which, suspended from metal loops on the floor and ceiling, hold the lamp in mid-air as it softly illuminates the unusual surrounding fabric.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", crochet design, Diffuse lighting, efficient lighting, green lighting, LED, Net Lamps, Poly-net, ryosuke fukusada

When driving along a sprawling motorway towards the UK city of Bristol at night, a massive glowing helicoidal tower welcomes visitors and locals. Installed in 2008, the tower, called Twist, was designed by acclaimed British artists Ackroyd & Harvey. With its light powered by the sun and the wind, the 65-foot high tower has become a permanent landmark in the Southwestern English city.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "wind power", Ackroyd & Harvey, bristol, green technology, grey slates, Recycled Materials, renewable energy, Solar Power, Twist

Portland, Oregon is often recognized as one of the greenest cities in America. The city has plans for peak oil and climate action and policies to address recycling and sustainable urban development, so it makes sense that Portland will host the sixth annual Living Future unConference, a forum for leading minds in the green building movement seeking solutions to the most daunting global issues of our time. The unConference kicks off TODAY, and the agenda is packed with interactive presentations, tours, and experiential activities designed to encourage a “hopeful embrace of the planet’s economic, ecologic and social challenges, and offer solutions addressing these challenges at the building and city scale.” Inhabitat will be on the scene to bring you highlights from this year’s exciting program.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", bicycle, Biodiversity, Bioremediation, brewery tour, Carol Sanford, cascade gbc, cascade green building council, csr, Dr. Vandana Shiva, food carts, green architecture, Green Building, green conference, green design, greywater systems, Jason McLennan, Living Building Challenge, living future, living future 2012, local, net zero, Oregon, Portland, silent spring, small house, sustainability conference, sustainable design, Urbanism, wetlands

Designed to increase safety while cycling at night, designer Mitchell Silva created a clever light system that integrates LEDs into a bike’s handlebar. Dubbed Glo-Bar, this simple idea consists of low-energy lights placed along the handlebars to illuminate the road and improve a cyclist’s visibility to oncoming traffic. The biker can also use the lights as turn signals by simply pressing a button on either side. Thoughtful and low-energy, this glowing set of handlebars will make riding at night a much more enjoyable and safe experience.

+ Mitchell Silva

Via Yanko Design

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", bicycle, bicycles, Glo-Bar, green transportation, handlebar lights, LED, low-energy, Mitchell Silva

Photo © Christian Gahl

With the aim of blending the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, Ahlbrech Felix Scheidt Kasprush Architects designed this glowing glass home within a pine forest in Germany. Called Minimum House, the residence is situated in Mellensee, south Berlin, and it is currently up for sale – including all furniture and fittings. Modular, energy-efficient and topped by a green roof, this modernist shelter combines two key design elements: ecology and economy.

Read the rest of Berlin’s Passive Minimum House is a Modernist Glass Residence in the Woods

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", active energy, Ahlbrech Felix Scheidt Kasprush, Architecture, berlin, energy efficient, green lighting, Minimum House, modernist, modular, open-plan, passive energy, pine forest, Sustainable Building

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Berlaskoni, Daylighting, Design, eco design, green design, locally sourced materials, Mirror Mongayt, mirrors, Moscow, pixelated, prefab construction, Recycled Materials, russia, sustainable design

Read the rest of Henning Larsen Unveils Plans for LEED Platinum Nordea Bank With Scandinavia’s Largest Trading Floor

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "sustainable architecture", Green Walls, henning larsen architects, Holistic Design, LEED platinum, natural light, Nordea Bank, Office Architecture, Solar Power, Trading Floor

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: Inhabitat Talks to Dwell Editor-in-Chief Amanda Dameron About the Light & Energy Issue

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", amanda dameron, dwell, dwell magazine, eco design, green design, green energy, green home, green home design, green lighting, home design, inhabitat interview, sustainable design

Read the rest of Moreava Cabins are Airy Eco-Accommodations for Easter Island Explorers

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", AATA Arquitectos Asociados, cross-ventilation, Easter Island, easter island accomodations, eco design, eco-tourism, green design, Moreava Cabins, Prefab Housing, solar collectors, solar panels, sustainable accomodation, sustainable design, timber

Philips has announced that it will be launching the most energy-efficient, high performance light bulb ever made – the award-winning L Prize LED Bulb in stores on April 22, 2012, just in time for Earth Day. The bulb, winner of the U.S. government’s $10 million L-Prize, uses a mere 10W of energy to glow significantly brighter than a 60W incandescent bulb (at 940 lumens) – meaning it uses less than 1/6th of the electricity to output more light. The L Prize bulb retails for $60 but Philips will be discounting it to $50 for consumers and government rebates could reduce the price even more to $30. $50 might seem like a lot of money, but when you consider the energy bill savings each month, the durability and lack of mercury, and the fact that you won’t have to replace this bulb for 20 years, it becomes apparent how smart of an investment this is over the long term.

Read the rest of Philips’ Innovative New L Prize Winning 10W LED Bulb Will Launch for $50 on Earth Day

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Award Winning LED Bulb, best bulb, CFL bulbs, earth day, eco design, eco lighting, energy saving lights, green design, green light bulb, green lighting, l prize, LED, LED bulb, LED light bulb, LED lights, LEDs, light emitting diode, phasing out incandescent bulbs, Philips, sustainable design, sustainable lighting, utility rebates

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "sustainable development", cabin, Daylighting, eco design, garden room, green design, Liddicoat & Goldhill, London, natural light, passive solar design, storage shed, Sunday Stuga, sustainable design

Read the rest of Spain’s First Certified Passive House Cuts Energy Use by 90%

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Air quality, Daylighting, energy saving, Josep Bunyesc, llerida, OSB boards, passive house, Prefab Housing, quickly built, renewable energy, Spain First Passive House, wool insulation

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Alsace, Daylighting, Drulingen creche, ecodesign, Fluor architects, france, green design, green roof, insulation, sustainable design, underfloor heating

LED light bulbs have been lighting up everything from homes to art installations, and it seems even the most iconic light fixtures have been getting eco-friendly updates. Case in point:  Droog‘s famous 85 Lamps chandelier is now available in LED form. Designed by Rodi Graumans, the chandelier first hit the market in 1993 and became an instant classic with its simple, unadorned design. With its functional elements completely on display, this stylish design makes for an eye-catching and playful centerpiece that you can now enjoy without the high energy bill (the new chandelier boasts about an 83% savings).

Read the rest of ’85 Lamps’ Chandelier by Droog Gets Eco-Friendly LED Update

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Droog Design, efficient bulbs, efficient lighting, green products, incandescent bulbs, LED bulbs, Rodi Graumans

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "sustainable architecture", green roofs, Greenhouse roof, Joakim Kaminsky, Kjellgren Kaminsky, Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture, Malmo Sweden, Maria Poll, passive house, Recycled Materials, Salongen 35, Southern Sweden, water cosumption

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers combined gold and copper to create hybrid nano-particles that could vastly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Copper is already one of the few metals that can convert CO2 into fuel while requiring little energy, but it has limitations that the scientists circumvented by boosting its conductivity with gold. This new development in nanotechnology could make power plants more efficient and reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions.

Read the rest of MIT Researchers Create Copper and Gold Hybrid Nano-Particles That Could Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", carbon dioxide, CO2, copper, copper nano-particles, GOLD, gold nano-particles, Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, massachusetts institute of technology, MIT, nano particles, nanotechnology