Facebook’s green-roofed, Frank Gehry-designed campus was just given the green light by the city of Menlo Park. Submitted for approval last fall, the campus will connect with the company’s current headquarters via an underground tunnel, and it will feature Gehry’s signature furling architecture – although it was slightly toned down from the original plan. The sprawling 433,555-square-foot complex will rise like a hillside with an oak tree-filled park on its roof.

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Post tags: eco design, Facebook, Forested Roof, Frank Gehry, Gehry Facebook Headquarters, Green Building, green design, menlo Park, menlo park campus, native plants, palo alto, sustainable design, Sustinable Building

The urban gardening movement is quickly entering the Information Age. Designed by Mike Alt, HarvestGeek is a program that monitors the condition of your fruits and veggies in order to produce the greatest yield. The self-described “Modern Farmer’s Almanac” utilizes a sensor (affectionately dubbed the “HarvestBot”) placed in the soil to gather data and send it to the cloud. Once configured, the software can send notifications via Twitter, Facebook, SMS, or email. The HarvestGeek software can also be used to program equipment such as fans to set specific temperatures or switch on automated water pumps.

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Post tags: automated, email, Facebook, garden, harvestbot, harvestgeek, information age, kickstarter, LCD, mike alt, modern farmer's almanac, sensor, sms, software, twitter, Urban Farming, usb

Even the Internet is not immune to the effects of climate change. Many of the world’s most famous tech giants, such as Facebook, Oracle, Google, Intel, and LinkedIn are at risk of flooding due to rising seas. A recent piece by Scientific American’s ClimateWire detailed the risks that companies face from global warming. Many areas of Silicon Valley are below sea level and close to the water, and a number facilities are vulnerable to fluctuating coastlines. Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Jose and the iconic Highway 1 could all be subject to massive flooding in the near future. Despite the threat of soggy facilities, Silicon Valley’s biggest names have been mostly silent as to plans of how to deal with the rising Pacific.

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Post tags: Army Corps of Engineers, Climate Change, climatewire, Facebook, global warming, Google, highway 1, intel, internet, LinkedIn, mike mielke, oracle, Pacific, palo alto, san francisco bay, san jose, santa clara, scientific american, sea level rise, sen dianne feinstein, silicon valley, silicon valley leadership group, sunnyvale, valley of heart's delight

Read the rest of Facebook’s Energy-Efficient Prineville Data Center in Oregon Achieves LEED Gold Status

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Post tags: data center, eco design, energy efficient data center, evaporative cooling, Facebook, facebook data center, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green technology, LEED gold, LEED gold certification, Oregon, prineville, prineville data center, sheehan partners, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Facebook just announced a huge expansion to their Menlo Park campus, and the company has commissioned Prizker-Prize winning starchitect Frank Gehry – best known for his shiny, titanium-clad icons of blobitecture – to design the expansion. Even more surprising is that we’ve seen the designs, and so far they don’t appear to include Gehry’s trademark incomprehensible piles of titanium curves. The proposed design is quite eco-friendly, with a massive park-like, tree and grass-lined green roof featuring benches and a walking trail! In addition, Facebook submitted proposals to the city to allow its planned new workforce of 6,000 to travel between old and new campuses to via a tunnel designed for pedestrian and bike traffic. Perhaps an eco architect like Bill McDonough might have been a better pick to design the giant green roof, but it seems Facebook was going for icon status here, as few architects are better known than Frank Gehry.

Read the rest of Facebook Commissions Frank Gehry to Design New Green Menlo Park Campus

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Post tags: Architecture, blobitecture, deconstructivist architecture, Facebook, Facebook and Gehry, Facebook menlo park campus, Frank Gehry, Gehry to design Facebook campus, green roof, mark zuckerberg, menlo Park, new campus, post-modern architecture

Matthew Inman, better known as the creator of the online cartoon, “The Oatmeal“, may quite possibly have pulled off the greatest feat of crowdsourcing in recent memory.  After hearing that Nikola Tesla’s derelict old Wardenclyffe laboratory in New York was in danger of of being sold or knocked down, the cartoonist made a plea to the internet community to raise funds to purchase the $1.6 million parcel.  Within the first 6 hours, The Oatmeal had raised a quarter of a million dollars, and the figure is steadily rising.

Read the rest of The Oatmeal Cartoonist Helps Raise $1 Million to Turn Old Nikola Tesla Lab Into a Museum

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Post tags: chicago world's fair, crowdsourcing, Facebook, jane alcorn, mary daum, matthew inman, New York., niagra falls, nikola tesla, the oatmeal, the tesla science center at wardenclyffe, wardenclyffe

Read the rest of Hong Yi Recreates Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Portrait Using ‘Game of Thrones’ Books

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Post tags: Art, books sculpture, Facebook, Hong Yi, mark zuckerberg, Recycled Materials, red

Say “hi” to the new and extremely adorable baby polar bear who was born at the Toronto Zoo just a couple of days ago. The zoo’s staff couldn’t come up with a name for the newborn, so instead of racking their brains, they are hosting a contest through Facebook instead! Engaging kids and adults in the naming process is a great way to get them excited about animals, but we’ve got to say, we think this baby bear could do better than the already suggested Snowball, Q-Tip, Playie or Aspen. So go on and think of a good name — but bear in mind, this fluffy little bundle seems to be a male!

Via Papermag

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Post tags: Animals, baby polar bear, Facebook, green pets, name a newborn animal, Toronto Zoo

Addicts of today aren’t turning to cigarettes or alcohol — instead, they turn to Twitter. A new study by Wilhelm Hoffman of Chicago University’s Booth Business School has found that checking email or tweeting is even harder to resist than smoking or drinking. The study showed that the willpower to resist tuning into online news and connectivity proved to be much more difficult than resisting urges like tobacco, coffee, or other activities.

Read the rest of Study Finds That Twitter May Be More Addictive Than Alcohol or Cigarettes

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Post tags: Blackberry Addiction, Chicago University Booth Business School, Facebook, social media addiction, social media addiction study, social media more addicting than alochol, twitter, Twitter addiction, Wilhelm Hoffman

Facebook announced today that it’s formed a collaboration with Greenpeace that will lead the company to a clean energy future. The social media giant was targeted two years ago by Greenpeace’s “Unfriend Coal Campaign” which gathered 700,000 online activists to persuade the social media giant to power its data centers with clean renewable energy instead of coal. Facebook has now officially joined on, the campaign has ended, and they are pledging to power future data centers on green power and push the rest of the industry to do the same.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "sustainable energy", coal fired power plant, data center dirty energy, data center energy, data centers, dirty coal, Facebook, facebook clean energy, facebook coal, facebook data center, facebook energy source, facebook energy suppy, facebook green energy, facebook information storage, Greenpeace, greenpeace energy, greenpeace energy storage, power the internet, renewable energy, unfriend coal, unfriend coal campaign

Facebook recently announced its plans to install a solar array on its 10,000 square foot fitness center. The system will be designed and implemented by Cogenra Solar and will use the sun’s energy to produce electricity and hot water at the same time. The cogeneration technology uses mirrors to focus the sun’s energy on solar PV panels situated on rods in which fluid runs to capture the heat PV panels waste after generating energy. The fluid heats up and creates thermal heat, which allows the array to create both electricity and hot water. The Facebook array will generate 60kW of combined electric and thermal output.

+ Cogenra

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Post tags: "solar energy", cogenra, cogenra solar, eco design, Facebook, facebook gym, facebook installs solar power, facebook solar power, green design, green energy, Solar Power, sustainable design

The Audubon Society has just created a super fun online experience that brings birdwatching right to your computer screen! They’ve released a virtual flock of feathered friendsfor their new social media campaign called “Birding the Net.” Rare and exquisite birds will be “flying” around on over 100 internet sites including AOL, The Discovery Channel, and Slate for people to click on and collect. The first person to collect them all wins a trip to the Galapagos Islands! The campaign not only brings the thrill of the chase to our fingertips, but also encourages involvement and interest in protecting birds and their habitats.

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Post tags: audubon birds, Audubon Society, bird awareness, bird watching, birding the net, birds, birdwatching, environmental games, Facebook, Nature, rare birds, social media, the big year, virtual birds

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Post tags: Arctic Circle, eco design, Facebook, facebook server, green design, hydroelectric power, Lulea, Lulea River, server farm, sustainable design, Sweden, waste heat

Facebook just announced that it will partner with Opower and the National Resources Defense Council to launch a new energy efficiency Facebook app in 2012. Users of the app will be able to log into a nationwide network to share their energy usage with other homes around the country. The app will enable users to compare their energy consumption, share tips to decrease power use, and participate in online contests that encourage energy efficiency.

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Post tags: eco design, energy consumption app, Facebook, Facebook Green, green design, National Resources Defense Council, nrdc, opower, sustainable design

Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg may rake in the dough, but even all with all that cold, hard Facebook cash, Zuckerberg seems to have missed the mark when it comes to personal style. Breaking the top ranks of GQ’s list of worst-dressed men in Silicon Valley, the wunderkind is never seen out in more than drab hoodies, saggy jeans, oversized neckties, and Adidas flip-flops. So what’s a billionaire to do? While he could hire a stylist, he could also just look to us for a fashionable wardrobe facelift. Hit jump to check out we’d turn Zuckerberg’s wardrobe from slacker to stylin’!

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Post tags: eco-fashion, eco-fashion makeover, Ethical Fashion, Facebook, GQ, green fashion, mark zuckerberg, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style

Digital cameras may not save the world, but since most people keep their photo archives stored electronically, we’re at least consuming a lot less paper and film (much of which ends up decaying in attic storage boxes or outdated plastic-sleeved albums anyway). Still, your adventures in Belize are totally worth sharing and you can only do so much with a classic photo album, even if it’s eco-friendly. Give your friends and family a 360-degree view of your trip with music, video footage and every one of your amazing photos – compliments of the Visa Memory Mapper app. Your family and friends want to know exactly where you found that spectacular hand-woven basket you brought home? No problem. The Visa Memory Mapper takes travelogue-ing to the next level thanks to integrated Google Maps satellite technology. Want to share your memories with the new friends you met in Belize? Do it using Facebook, Twitter or email and then start planning your next exotic excursion: cardholders who use their Visa between now and October 31st are automatically entered to win $100,000 toward the trip of a lifetime. Be a part of the green revolution with the Memory Mapper.

Visit http://www.facebook.com/visa. NO PURCHASE OR OBLIGATION NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THE VISA 2011 TRIP OF A LIFETIME SWEEPSTAKES. Open to legal U.S. residents, 18 years or older as of 4/27/11. PIN-based and ATM transactions are not eligible. Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited. Sweepstakes ends 10/31/11. For complete details on non-purchase entries, go to http://on.fb.me/jBn2PD.

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Post tags: digital photography, digital photos, Facebook, green photography, green photos, green technology, memory mapper, photo sharing, social media, trip of a lifetime sweepstakes, twitter photos, visa, visa memory mapper

Facebook spent tens of millions of dollars developing a super energy efficient data center, the specifications of which will now be available to whoever wants it. Following the success of open source software, the Facebook team shared the mechanical and technical specifications of their Prineville data center in Oregon. In addition to improving energy efficiency by 36%, the new data center is 24% cheaper than the company’s other facilities. Called the Open Compute Project, Facebook hopes the information will “demystify” the biggest capital expense of an online business and help global data centers worldwide improve their energy efficiency.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", data center, Facebook, open compute project, open source software, Oregon, prineville, PUE, reduced costs, Zuckerberg

In this day an age, smart businesses realize that good customer service is not just something you want to provide when problems arise for customers, but should be something that is a mainstay of a business – BEFORE problems arise. Developing a positive image for your brand takes a forward thinking marketing strategy set on proactively engaging customers before they even sign onto your website or set foot in your store. Social media in particular has played a key role in transforming the way the world does business, so amidst a sea of tweets and Facebook status updates, here are some great strategies on how you can capitalize on social media and extend your business reach through proactive customer service.

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Post tags: customer service, eco business, eco friendly brand, Facebook, green brand, green business, green technology, social media, sustainable business, twitter

Smart business owners realize that good customer service is more than simply a drain on resources — but is a great marketing strategy to differentiate from competition and build brand loyalty. Companies like Zappos have proven that excellent, pro-active customer service is a cost-effective way to acquire and retain customers to quickly grow a business. But in the age of Twitter and Facebook, it is not enough to simply respond to customers when they have a problem — businesses these days need to be proactively engaging with their customers BEFORE they reach the point of calling a 1-800 number. Some forward thinking businesses (including our much-loved webhosting provider Liquidweb) have taken this idea to heart and developed robust social media outreach strategies. Here are a couple great examples of how to build your business using proactive social media outreach.

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Post tags: customer service, eco business, eco friendly brand, Facebook, green brand, green business, green technology, social media, sustainable business, twitter

It’s true that travel is considered pretty ungreen due to the carbon footprint that most forms of transportation generate, but if you’re smart about it, there are many ways to plan your vacations so that they’re greener. Check out our picks for the best online tools, apps, and services that can help you tread more lightly as you travel.

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Post tags: Carbonfund, CheapTickets, ecotourism, Expedia, Facebook, flickr, green iphone apps, green travel, greenmeter app, Kayak, Lonely Planet, Lonely Planet iphone app, Orbitz, Photobucket, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Sustainable Travel International, TerraPass, Travelocity Travel for Good