If you’ve ever experienced not being able to fit onto a crowded train, you’ve probably fantasized about how nice it would be if there were twice as many trains passing through your station. Well designer Phil Pauley turned that fantasy into a concept called The Eco Drive Monorail (EDM). The EDM was designed to straddle over existing urban infrastructure like tunnels, houses, roads and other train tracks, creating an extra rail line for a train to run. Two EDM trains operating on the same monorail can act as one unit or as two separate trains and can move in the same direction or in two separate directions at the same time. Think about how such a solution could alleviate cities that have trouble keeping up with high demand at peak commuter times – ahem, NYC.

+ Phil Pauley

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Post tags: alternative transportation, eco design, Eco Drive Monorail, eco monorail, green design, green rail, green transportation, mono rail, monorail, phil pauley, sustainable design

Central Saudi Arabia is a difficult, if not impossible, location in which to create a new sustainable development. Summer temperatures can reach 120 degrees Farenheit, annual rainfall rarely exceeds 4 inches and anyone designing there must account for unpredictable duststorms. Yet this is precisely where the King Abdullah Financial District, Henning Larsen Architect’s master-planned area for the city of Riyadh, is rising. This Danish firm set strict guidelines for all buildings in the district to ensure low levels of heat gain and energy use, as well as adherence to traditional design principles. Their Crystal Towers, with construction scheduled to reach a milestone in several weeks, exemplify the firm’s progressive sustainability code.


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Post tags: "leed", "sustainable architecture", alternative transportation, Architecture, capital of saudi arabia, crystal towers, danish architecture firm, danish architecture firms, Danish design, desert architecture, desert urban design, footbridge, footbridges, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green masterplan, green transportation, henning larsen, henning larsen architects, islamic architecture, king abdullah financial district, leed certification, masterplan, monorail, Riyadh, saudi arabia, shade, skybridges, skywalk, skywalks, Solar Power, sustainability code, sustainability guideline, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, sustainable masterplan, Urban design

Read the rest of Nanjing, China Master Plan Could Be Largest Green Development In the World

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", china, ck designworks, eco design, eco-city, green architecture, Green Building, green city, green design, green masterplanning, green transportation, leed certification, masterplan, monorail, Nanjing, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, Urban design

Michigan-based designer Dave Owsen, has conceived of a futuristic transportation solution that provides for private urban transportation via a system of rails and transport cells. In his design, private “cells” or transport cars move on tracks throughout the city, and individuals or small parties can choose their exact destination. Inspired by living plant cells, which are both autonomous and powered by the sun, each cell in the transit system contains photovoltaics to generate renewable energy.

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Post tags: "solar energy", alternative transportation, cargo cell, Community Transit, concentrating solar, eco design, efficient transportation, green design, green transit, green transportation, monorail, photovoltaics, Solar Power, urban shipping, urban transit, urban transportation

Iosa Ghini Associati has designed the Energy Belt, a sleek solar-powered monorail system for Bologna, Italy that will connect the airport to the city center. The system’s smoothly sculpted lines run above the countryside, providing great views for travelers. The monorail will also provide infrastructure for other uses, namely a pedestrian walkway alongside the tracks and a solar system that runs along the rail’s southern face.

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Post tags: airport transportation, bologna, energy belt, italy, monorail, people mover, photovoltaic system, solar panels, solar powered monorail