Water Wheel

A new water wheel will remove tons of plastic bottles, cups and cigarettes butts from the Inner Harbor.

Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore Inc. is harnessing the power of light and water to help prevent trash from floating into the Inner Harbor.

The organization is installing a solar- and water-powered wheel to collect trash at the base of the Jones Falls, between Pier VI and Harbor East.  The wheel, capable of removing 50,000 pounds of trash per day, will bring the Waterfront Partnership closer to its goal of making the harbor clean enough for recreational use by 2020.

"It's a big step forward toward a swimmable, fishable harbor.  Trash in the harbor is considered a pollutant, and so it helps remove a major source of pollution." said Laurie Schwartz, president of the Waterfront Partnership.  "Most importantly it will serve as a really important educational element."

The $800,000 wheel is being funded by two main donors - $500,000 from the Maryland Port Administration and $300,000 from Constellation Energy.

The wheel is set to debut this week.

It's no small installation.  The 100,000-pound contraption is 50 feet long, 30 feet wide and the water wheel itself is 14 feet in diameter.

This is no the first time the harbor has utilized a water wheel to clean up trash from the water; the Waterfront Partnership tried one at the same spot in 2008 for about eight months.  During that time, the wheel removed about 300,000 pounds of trash, including 190,000 plastic bottles, 160,000 foam cups and other products, 60,000 plastic bags and more than 1 million cigarette butts, Schwartz said.

She expects the new wheel to collect about the same volume of trash this time around, noting that street sweeping throughout the city could help reduce the amount of trash that ends up in the water.  But the city isn't the major source of the harbor's trash problem.

"While some people think that it's the tourists that stand at the edge and throw cups into the water, it's really not." Schwartz said. Rather, the trash washes downstream from the Jones Falls watershed into the harbor.

The new installation will be more permanent than the previous wheel.  The water wheel should have a life of about 15 years, Schwartz said.

Democratization of Construction: Who is Our Next Builders

Chinese Company Assembles 10 3D-Printed Concrete Houses in a Day for Less Than $5,000 Each

A Shanghai building company recently constructed a small community of partially 3D-printed houses in less than a day. Unlike DUS Architects' ongoing aims to completely 3D-print a canal house in Amsterdam however, the Chinese company WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co. printed the basic components separately before assembling them on site. Although these concrete houses do not represent 3D printing in its purest form, their construction in such a short time span for just $4,800 each is no less impressive.

Read more: Chinese Company Assembles 10 3D-Printed Concrete Houses in a Day for Less Than $5,000 Each | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building 

A massive 3D printer measuring 490 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 20 feet deep was used to 3D print each of the structural components from the giant concrete slabs to the inner cross bracing. To cut down on costs, WinSun fabricated the frame from layers of concrete partly made from recycled construction waste, industrial waste, and glass fibers. Each house is approximately 2,100 square feet.  

  

 

  

Related: DUS Architects’ 3D Printed Canal House ‘Breaks Ground’ in Amsterdam

WinSun also plans to open 100 recycling factories in the country to continue to transform waste into cost-effective “ink” for their 3D printers. By doing so, Winsun estimates that this kind of 3D printing could cut costs for construction companies in half. If these 3D-printed houses catch on, the company also hopes that the technology could provide affordable housing for the impoverished.

Related: SketchUp’s Open-Source 3D-Printable WikiHouse Snaps Together Like Lego Bricks

Read more: Chinese Company Assembles 10 3D-Printed Concrete Houses in a Day for Less Than $5,000 Each | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building 

GLOW IN THE DARK

Dutch Test Glow-In-The-Dark Road Of The Future

Glowing Lines are tested earlier this month on a highway near Oss in the Netherlands. The road markings absorb light during the day and emit the green glow at night.

There's a half-kilometer stretch of road in the Netherlands that looks a bit like something out of the movie Tron, thanks to new luminescent markings that glow green in the dark.

The photoluminescent paint, a sort of amped-up version of what is found on many wristwatches, charges up during daylight hours and then emits the green hue at night along the short test patch of N329 highway in Oss, according to Dutch companies Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans, a road construction firm.

"It's almost radioactive," says artist Daan Roosegaarde, who envisioned the project as being a sort of "Route 66 of the future,"according to Wired, which says part of the ultimate vision is for "weather markings — snowdrops, for instance, [to] appear when the temperature [reaches] a certain level."

Studio Roosegaarde communications partner Emina Sendijarevic tells Wired.co.uk: "Research on smart transportation systems and smart roads has existed for over 30 years — call any transportation and infrastructure specialist and you'll find out yourself. ... What's lacking is the implementation of those innovations and making those innovations intuitive and valuable to the end-consumers — drivers."

Among other things, the experiment, if successful, might eliminate the need for streetlights.

The project is finally underway after first being promised two years ago. Back in January 2013, 

For more Info see link below:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/14/302987616/dutch-test-glow-in-the-dark-road-of-the-future?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140414

Shenzhen's new airport terminal puts the wonder back into flight

Another Story
    

Located just to the north of Hong Kong, Shenzhen enjoys the rare status of being a Special Economic Zone in the People's Republic of China. Holding that designation for over three decades now, the area has become a breeding ground for small electronics businesses and a big attraction for foreign investment. With its rapid growth comes the need for improved infrastructure, which is why China is today inaugurating a third terminal to the local Bao'an International Airport.
Designed by the Italian Studio Fuksas, Terminal 3 has been shaped to look like a manta ray, "a fish that breathes and changes its own shape, undergoes variations, [and] turns into a bird to celebrate the emotion and fantasy of a flight." That theme of breathing and openness is carried on by a honeycomb of skylights perforating the new terminal's steel skin and a set of stylized "trees" that disguise the air conditioning apparatus. The hexagonal shapes and honeycomb theme are then subtly reiterated throughout the three-floor, 500,000-square-meter facility.
Construction is reported to have cost 8.5 billion yuan (roughly $1.4 billion) and the first takeoff took place this morning, courtesy of local carrier Shenzhen Airlines. It hasn't all been smooth sailing for this steel-and-concrete manta ray's debut, with passengers reporting issues around miscommunication and missed flights, though such initial stumbles are common for any new airport terminal. After today, two further phases of construction and expansion are planned — completing in 2025 and 2035, respectively — with the aim of keeping pace with Shenzhen's growing size and needs.

Hint: Use the 's' and 'd' keys to navigate

• A honeycomb of hexagons

  

• A manta ray built out of steel and glass

  

• The terminal's facade is 1.5km long

  

• 500,000 square meters of stunning architecture

  

• Airport capacity has been expanded by 58 percent

  

• Mixing the conventional with the unexpected

  

• Another hexagonal shape adorns this roof structure

  

• Curves and straight lines working in unison

  

• The stylized 'trees' house air conditioning units

  

• Welcome to 'Tron'

  

• Vertical space

  

• Escalators linking the ground and top floors

  

Images © Studio Fuksas    

Meshy!

Studio Fuksas has completed a beautiful airport terminal in Shenzhen, China. If you're a fan of mesh like facades then you're going to love this! Curved mesh like exteriors, sweeping roofs and permeable, fissured walls create the sense of a living, breathing airport. The honeycomb design maximizes the flow of natural light with tree shaped air conditioning structures adding a unique and modern take on transit architecture. Completed in only 3 years this terminal is part of a project stretching to 2035!


For more Information:

http://www.dezeen.com/2013/11/26/studio-fuksas-terminal-3-shenzhen-baoan-international-airport/

In the Pipe...

Are you one of those people that tries to find new uses for things you have laying around?  Waste not, want not is the golden rule?  Me too.  When Gretchen showed me this, it resonated with me because someone saw this concrete pipe and saw beyond what it was defined as.  Enjoy!

-EY

melbourne-based techne architects were commissioned to renovate the ‘prahran hotel’ in westgate, a corner pub fitted with a classic art deco facade and a one-story extension at the back of the site. as the client called for the demolition of the single-level addition to be replaced by a more dramatic two story atrium space, the architects sought out a new approach to fulfill the client’s needs. the idea to use precast concrete pipesmade sense on many levels: they possess a certain sculptural quality that brings a sense of image to the pub, they can be instrumental in naturally subdividing spaces into more intimate areas, and from the exterior could be recalled as a stack of kegs or barrels. opposite the tubes, a full-height steel and glass atrium cuts through the space to visually combine the various programs.  the timber plank-clad tubes now serve as more private tables while the atrium floor offers a more open flexible floor plan for larger groups and events. structural material was left exposed juxtaposing the warmth of the wooden highlights and the vibrancy of the green plants hung throughout the spaces.

seating areas
image © peter clarke photography

each tube is wrapped with timber planks and leather seats
image © peter clarke photography

light floods the space from the double-height atrium
image © peter clarke photography

plants enliven the interior contrasting the greys of the structure
image © peter clarke photography

upper level
image © peter clarke photography

half pipes used as seating elements
image © peter clarke photography

interior of a pipe
image © peter clarke photography

atrium floor
image © peter clarke photography

bathroom
image © peter clarke photography

atrium
image © peter clarke photography

project info:

practice name: techne architects
photographer: peter clarke photography
project name: prahran hotel
project completion date: may 2013
project type: hospitality (pub)
project address: 82 high street, windsor vic 3181
owner’s/client name: sand hill road                                                                                
project team: justin northrop (project/design director), steve mckeag (project architect), alex lake (architect), melita kei (draftsperson), francois claassens (draftsperson), bianca baldi (interior designer)
design documentation (months): 12
construction (months): 8
project size: 550m²
builder: visual builders
structural engineer: parkhill freeman
project manager: n/a
lighting: light projects
esd: energylab
landscaping: ayus botanical
building surveyor: retro building surveyors
services engineer: brt consulting engineers
land surveyor: jca land consultants
geotechnical engineer: nsp geotechnics pty ltd
acoustic engineer: burton acoustic group

Tree-Like Towers Gathering Water in a New Way

Around the world, 768 million people don’t have access to safe water, and every day 1,400 children under the age of five die from water-based diseases.

Designer Arturo Vittori believes that the solution to this catastrophe lies not in high technology, but in sculptures that reflect nature.

His stunning water towers stand nearly 30 feet tall and can collect over 25 gallons of potable water per day by harvesting atmospheric water vapor. Called WarkaWater towers, each pillar is comprised of two sections: a semi-rigid exoskeleton built by tying stalks of juncus or bamboo together and an internal plastic mesh, reminiscent of the bags oranges come in.

The nylon and polypropylene fibers act as a scaffold for condensation, and as the droplets of dew form they follow the mesh into a basin at the base of the structure.

Vittori decided to devote his attention to this problem after visiting northeastern Ethiopia and seeing the plight of remote villages first hand. “There, people live in a beautiful, natural environment but often without running water, electricity, a toilet or a shower,” he says.

To survive, women and their children walk for miles to worm-filled ponds contaminated with human waste, collect water in trashed plastic containers or dried gourds, and carry the heavy containers on treacherous roads back to their homes. This process takes hours and endangers the children by exposing them to dangerous illnesses and taking them away from school, ensuring that a cycle of poverty repeats.

“WarkaWater is designed to provide clean water as well as ensure long-term environmental, financial and social sustainability,” he says. “Once locals have the necessary know how, they will be able to teach other villages and communities to build the WarkaWater towers.”

Each tower costs approximately $550 and can be built in under a week with a four-person team and locally available materials.

A more obvious solution to a water shortage would be digging a well, but drilling 1,500 feet into Ethiopia’s rocky plateaus is expensive. Even when a well is dug, maintaining pumps and ensuring a reliable electrical connection makes the proposition unlikely.

Instead of looking to Western technology for a solution, Vittori was inspired by the Warka tree, a giant, gravity-defying domed tree native to Ethiopia that sprouts figs and is used as a community gathering space.

The design has been two years in the making and though the final product is handcrafted, Vittori has used the same parametric modeling skills honed working on aircraft interiors and solar-powered cars to create a solution that is safe and stunning.

The 88-pound sculpture is 26-feet wide at its broadest point but swoops dramatically to just a few feet across as its smallest point. Vittori and his team have tested the design in multiple locations and worked on improvements that increase the frame’s stability while simultaneously making it easy for villagers to clean the internal mesh.

Vittori hopes to have two WarkaTowers erected in Ethiopia by 2015 and is looking for financial rainmakers who’d like to seed these tree-inspired structures across the country.

Banning LEED

Ohio Moves Closer to Banning LEED

The State Senate passes its anti-LEED legislation and sends it to the House further voting.

While last week brought good news to energy efficiency advocates with the reintroduction of the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (otherwise known as Shaheen-Portman) in the U.S. Senate, not-so-good news for LEED advocates came out of Ohio. Last Wednesday, the Ohio State Senate passed Ohio Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 (SCR 25) which, as previously reported, asserts that LEED v4 should no longer be used by Ohio state agencies and government entities. It was introduced in the Ohio State House of Representatives the next day.

Days before the vote, Tyler J. Steele, vice chairman of the USGBC's Central Ohio chapter wrote in an editorial in The Columbus Dispatch that "Ohio’s leading association of sustainability-minded construction professionals implores legislators to reject any resolution that could jeopardize our efforts to continue transforming central Ohio's built environment to be more healthy, prosperous and sustainable."

Treehugger's Lloyd Alter has a passionate review of the latest developments, charging that the legislation is the work of special interests for the plastics and chemical companies, and that it is openly biased toward the Green Building Initiative's Green Globes rating system.

When I asked GBI president Jerry Yudelson about the Ohio legislation, however, he said that the organization does not take positions on legislation. "Our philosophy is that there should be choice in the marketplace," he said. "We think the consensus process we use has a lot of advantages in that it gets everyone lined up and going in the same direction, but it's not about excluding one system or another. Let the marketplace choose."

Having previously mobilized a grassroots campaign in Ohio in response to SCR 25's initial introduction, USGBC is now encouraging LEED advocates in Ohio to contact their state Representative and tell them via one-on-one meetings, written testimony, social media posts, phone calls, or emails to vote no on any further progression.

Be sure to read David Scott's series at Ohio Green Building Law.

Ohio is one step closer to banning the nation’s premier green building evaluation process from rating its properties.

The Ohio Senate on Wednesday passed  Ohio Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 (SCR 25), which would prohibit the use of the LEED v4 green building rating system on public buildings in the state if it gets approval from the state’s House of Representatives and is signed by Gov. John Kasich. While denouncing LEED as a viable rating system, the resolution’s creators—Sen. Joe Uecker (R-14) and Tim Schaffer (R-31)—says that the state needs to adopt standards that are based on procedures approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
Chemical, plastic and timber companies and consortiums with deep pockets and influence in Washington reside under the ANSI umbrella. They have tried to get LEED banned at the federal level and have been successful in states like Maine and Georgia. Those same groups support the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes—the set of standards they hope will replace LEED everywhere since their companies rarely, if ever, receive recognition from LEED.

Ohio leads the nation with more than 100 LEED-certified schools, but a resolution approved by the state Senate could ban the green building rating system from public properties.

“Seeking to drag Ohio backward is a small but well-funded set of industry special interests,” Tyler Steele, chairman of USGBC’s Central Ohio Chapter, wrote in a letter to the Columbus Dispatch days before the Ohio Senate made its decision. ”They claim that the newest version of LEED might dent their profits by encouraging use of building materials that disclose what they’re made of.
“Why are they so scared of people knowing what’s in their products?”
Ohio did not make the top 10 list of states with the most LEED-certified buildings, but the state boasts the country’s most LEED-certified schools. According to the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council, which created LEED, Ohio’s LEED-certified schools are 34 percent more energy efficient than other states, use 37 percent less water and have diverted almost 200,000 tons of construction waste from landfills.
Still, SCR 25 favors private rating systems, which matches Green Globes’ description.
“The [USGBC's] LEED v4 green building system fails to conform to recognized voluntary standard development procedures, including but not limited to [ANSI] procedures and fails to base environmental and health criteria on risk assessment methodology,” the legislation reads.
The USGBC is encouraging Ohioans to tell their representatives to vote against SCR 25.
“Ohioans deserve better than a ban on a successful building-rating system at the whim of a small but powerful group that offers no data to back up its scare tactics,” Steele wrote.

For more information see link below:

http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/27/ohio-banning-leeds-green-building/

http://www.ecobuildingpulse.com/leed/ohio-moves-closer-to-banning-leed_o.aspx?dfpzone=home&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=jump&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBP_030414&day=2014-03-04