Assistant architecture professor Ginger Krieg Dosier recently unveiled a new breed of biologically “grown” bricks that are durable, sustainably manufactured, and easily produced from readily available materials. Called “Better Bricks,” the building material can be “grown” from sand, common bacteria, calcium chloride, and urea (yes, the stuff in your pee) instead of being baked, which consumes a ton of energy. The concept, which recently won Metropolis Mag‘s 2010 Next Generation design competition, may seem simple, but it has the potential to have a global impact when you consider that producing the 1.23 trillion bricks manufactured per year right now creates more pollution than all the airplanes in the world!

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Post tags: 2010 next generation, american university of sharjah, better brick, better bricks, biobrick, brick, clay, eco brick, eco design, ginger kreig dosier, green design, metropolis mag, New Materials, sustainable building material, sustainable design, winner

The final results just rolled in from this year’s Solar Decathlon, and team Germany’s sleek surPLUShome finished first in an incredible upset victory! The German team took top honors in the Net Metering and Engineering categories this morning, steamrolling the competition to secure their second Decathlon win. This year’s home features a sleek, dark facade that is almost completely covered in photovoltaic panels and can provide more than twice the amount of energy it needs. Check out our cool video from America.gov about the house after the jump!

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Post tags: 2009 solar decathlon, Competition, germany, net metering, net zero home, Prefab, Prefab Housing, Solar Decathlon, team germany, Washington DC, winner, winners

You may remember that back in April we announced a design contest to do a virtual room makeover in Comcast Town. The prize was a collection of sweet new home entertainment electronics and a green room makeover by our editor-in-chief (and green designer extraordinaire) Jill Fehrenbacher.

Well, it is our sincerest pleasure to announce that the winner of the Comcast Town Interior Design Contest is… none other than Howard J Dudy! Howard delivered a stunning performance with the design of his own tropical paradise, complete with aquarium, beautiful hardwood floors, and a lovely palm tree. As winner of the Comcast Town Contest, Howard will receive a 40-inch Sony BRAVIA® HDTV, a Sony VAIO® AW laptop, and a Philips digital phone as well as a green room makeover worth up to $30,000, designed by our very own LEED-AP Jill Fehrenbacher! Stay tuned to see the process and result later this summer right here on Inhabitat.

Congratulations, Howard!

+ Comcast Town

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Post tags: comcast town, Competition, green design, interior design, sustainable design, winner

The winners for the Lifecycle Building Challenge were just announced last week with Seattle’s ‘Pavilion in the Park’ building taking top honors, and for good reason. The building, designed by Miller|Hull, is green in purpose and material, but sets itself apart in its cradle-to-cradle nature- it can be completely disassembled and transported to a whole new location! The system exemplifies the issues of construction and deconstruction with minimal waste that the Lifecycle Building Challenge hoped to address.


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Post tags: Architecture, building, dematerialization, demountable, Lifecycle, pavilion in the park, Prefab, transportable, winner

We all know how good spinach is for your body, but did you know that it is also good for your house? That’s the proposition behind the house designed by Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum. Together, they have designed a residence which obtains its electricity from spinach, making it worthy of being declared the winner of Cradle to Cradle contest.

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Post tags: cradle-to-cradle, Electricity, house, Matthew Coates, MIT, residence, solar panels, soy based, spinach, spinach-power, Tim Meldrum, winner