We like the wit and imagination being poured into sustainable architecture. We particularly like where green roofs are going. But we weren’t expecting this – a water filtration plant with a green roof so large it’s going to become a golf course. Hole in one, guys.

In a post that couldn’t be more timely, BldgBlog ponders the role that healthily-designed urban architecture has on the transmission of infectious diseases, and wonders: “What would a biosecure world look like?”

And while on the subject of unhealthy urban living – is it really true that 6 out of 10 Americans live in places with air dirty enough to put them in hospital? That’s what the American Lung Association is claiming, as you can read at the Huffington Post.

When we look back from a better, greener future and get all Mount Rushmore about the eco-pioneers who cut through the greenwashing and really made a difference, who would we choose? Okay, so we just know that Al Gore will be there somewhere – but who else? MNN’s Peter Dykstra hazards a few wild guesses.

There’s an awful amount of evidence for climate change nowadays. If you want to quibble or flat-out deny, it’s uphill all the way. Grist’s Auden Shendler has lost patience with these industriously skeptical fence-sitters, and frankly, we see his point.

Ever get the feeling the world is going mad? On the one hand, we have marine conservationists clamoring for a fishing ban on a third of the world’s oceans – and on the other, we have invasive Yellowstone lake trout being killed off with Jell-O. Yep, you heard me. Thanks go to Blue Living Ideas for making my head spin.

Ever wonder how the word plastic came to be so quickly associated with everything tacky and buck-chasing? Green Design has the answer (one of my favorite films, in fact), and goes on to nicely summarize just where we are with this symbol for a throwaway world.

Is there anything more sad and pathetic-looking than a punctured, grubby beach-ball? The end of fun – unless you are designer Toby Sanders, who upcycles them into snazzy beach-ball lamps bouncing with life. Good catch.

Since you appear to have as much of a thing for upcycling and DIY as we do, you’re enjoy Makezine – a crazy, creative collection of tips for turning nothing much into something else.

So, baking at home may be enormous fun and make the house smell positively edible – but is it cost-effective? That’s the question Jennifer Reese sets herself at Slate, checking out the cost of restocking her whole pantry with her own two hands compared with shop-bought products. And the winner? Did you really just ask that?

Lemon juice is amazing. It cleans metal, it bleaches grime out of clothes, it makes floors squeaky-shiny, and it stops puppies barking (put a drip in their mouth – a much friendlier alternative to the threatened rolled-up newspaper, I’m sure you’ll agree). Take a look at these 27 household uses for citrus fruit if you want some more ideas.

Now for an article that could only be described as sobering. In fact, about as sobering as it gets. Could food shortages tip us over the edge? Read if you dare.

If the last article not only got you wanting to roll your sleeves up and do your bit but also pass these principles along to your young ‘uns, it could be you’re that powerful new breed of super-mother, the EcoMom. Have a read of Nancy McDermott’s article at Spiked and see if you fit the bill.

Now, climate change skeptics notwithstanding, we’re all worried about global warming – aren’t we? “Yes and no” seems to be the answer, according to a survey undertaken by George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. It suggests that twice as many Americans are concerned about the threat to wildlife than the threat to themselves directly. Confidence that our technical ingenuity will cushion us…or head-in-the-sand arrogance that it’s someone else’s problem?

And finally – did you know birds did this?

Image: sanguinie

With the current barrage of amazing new green building projects, it’s nice to see the old-timers are getting in on the action as well.

More specifically, the most famous profile on the New York skyline – the Empire State Building. This Wonder Of The Modern World looks set to impress the next generation of eco-friendly architects by being the focus of a major efficiency overhaul. Excitingly, not only are the redevelopers shrinking the building’s energy footprint by over a third (and in doing so saving $4 million a year – now there’s a utility bill), they’re also using the experience to trial new techniques, including:

- Viewing the tenants as an important element of a green building, by offering incentives and an automated tenant energy management system to let occupants see how much energy they’re going through.

- Constructing “green suites” to showcase green innovation within office and residential space.

- A performance-based retrofitting contract – so the redevelopers are legally obliged to follow through all their planned energy savings. This also serves as a template for further redevelopment contracts.

For the specifics, take a look at the report at Greener Buildings. To our minds, there are still a few elements missing. Where are the vertical gardens? Any room on that famous roof for a lawn or two? And doesn’t one of the tallest buildings in New York deserve the mother of all wind turbines? (I hope these are in the plans and I’ve just missed them).

The biggest implication? The world’s landmarks are suddenly ripe for a high-profile lick of green. Take the top of the Eiffel Tower, where it gets so windy it makes the structure sway – that’s a lot of electricity to harvest.

Image: Eric Mayville

Forget treehouses as you once knew them – plywood forts for kids bolted into trunks and branches. The new treehouse concept is all about taking the comforts of home (cooking, Facebooking, reclining) to new, sustainable heights. And look, Ma, no splinters!

Treehouses still bring out the kid in many grown ups, like Andreas Wenning, the design genius behind Baumraum Design in Bremen, Germany. His firm, which combines his own architect vision with landscaper understanding, has carved out modern tree homes in Germany, Austria and Brazil, including the extraordinary nests above.

“A treehouse is sort of a modern lifestyle product which respects and fits into nature,” Wenning tells me. “We work with tree experts who help us find the best solution to connect the treehouse with the tree without cutting or damaging the tree anywhere.”

In addition to its own projects, Baumraum (which means tree space) ships prefab elements to customers who want to design their own treehouses. They can assemble the structure between two or several suitable trees in their yards. Steel cables raise the structure in the air and anchor it to the land, but the foundation is largely dictated by the type of tree being used.

A Pear tree, for example, cannot bear the complete weight of a treehouse so part of the construction is propped up on two slanting supports, such as with this Pear treehouse installed in Heilbronn (below). It features a convenient staircase that leads up through a fork in the branches to a slanting terrace. From the perch, the owner has an undisturbed view of a side valley with vineyards. Small steps lead up to a cabin on the next level. Like all of Baumraum’s projects, this treehouse is fitted with glazing on all sides and features a large dormer window and sunscreens for the south facing side.

What’s the biggest challenge to living in a space like this? “It provides a rather small, concentrated space in nature which brings people intensely to the natural environment,” he explains. “It is a space for romantic, quietness and concentration and common space with friends and family. You are very close to nature and it feels different.”

While Baumraum has whittled a niche in the modern treehouse market, other architects are going even more out on a limb to lift up our eco lifestyle. Free Spirit Spheres of Canada makes wooden orbs to basically string in tall trees, such as the forest areas of Vancouver Island.

According to the inventor and maker, Tom Chudleigh, the spherical tree house concept borrows heavily from sailboat construction and rigging practices. “Wooden spheres are built much like a cedar strip canoe or kayak,” he explains, “and suspension points are similar to the chain plate attachments on a sailboat.” The stairways hang from a tree just like a sailboat shroud hangs from a mast. The nut like sphere attaches to a web of rope that connects to the strong points of trees, using the forest as its foundation.

The ladder staircase and earthy interior may be geared more for the Swiss Family Robinson than the average naturalist. “My personal goal is to produce 10 to 15 spheres and hang them all in a large area of old growth forest…a spiritual retreat for me and whoever else is interested,” says the inventor.

Perhaps a little more upscale but just as intrinsically organic, are the treehouse dwellings of Romero Studios, such as the Five Oaks House commissioned by Donna Karan in Chestnut Village outside New York City (below).

Adjacent to a Waldorf school and organic farm, the designer says the owners love the solitude and connection with nature offered by the heightened surroundings, including a stunning eyrie for writing and practicing yoga poses.

Whether you’re housing a top designer or a Partridge family in a pear tree, these homes nestled in the trees are here to stay..and not sway. The diversity in the growing treehouse industry has delivered spaces that are wheelchair-friendly, weather-worthy and resource sensitive.

“We have to develop a new consciousness in respecting and protecting our natural environment,” figures Wenning. “Architects have many possibilities to help us realize that aim.”

The sustainable treehouse is among those many possibilities, and gives a fresh perspective to the proverbial tree of life.

Green design is an enormously popular trend in modern architecture. Take a look at these 17 examples – some in place today, and others still on the drawing board. We may have got it wrong in the past, but we’re certainly making up for lost time…

ACROS Fukuoka, in Fukuoka City, Japan. 35,000 plants, 76 species – and the city’s best view from an office window.

Art and Exhibition Hall roof garden – Bonn, Germany.

Chicago City Hall – the coolest place to be, thanks to this $2.5 million rooftop garden (not open to the public – the 11-storey drop might have something to do with this).

California’s Academy of Sciences (SF) is covered in rolling hills – the perfect place for students to grab their lunch in the sun.

Looking like the ultimate vegan pizza, the Pennsylvania State University’s Center for Green Roof Research is a department that practices what it preaches.

Marriott Hotel, Victoria, BA. Keeping an underground car park cool in the summer, toasty-warm in the winter.

The forwarding link isn’t working, but this rooftop garden (wherever it is) found on This Girl’s Gone Green is an extraordinary achievement – it grows crops!

This design by architect Hoerr Shaudt graces the roof of 900 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. A haven of natural tranquility, 10 floors up.

After a long, hard day in the School of Art Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), what more cathartic way to unwind than to walk all over it?

This idyllic spot may look terrestrial, but it’s a thing of the air, roofing Toronto’s Mountain Equipment Coop.

The Waldspirale in Darmstadt, Germany, is all about being unique. It doesn’t look like any building you’ve ever seen. Every one of its 1,000+ windows is different – ditto for all the doorhandles. And running along spiraling rooftop is a tree-lined garden (the wald or “wood” in its name).

Turfed roof near Gol, Norway. In days past, this sight would be grounds to condemn your neighbors as the laziest people on the planet. Now they’re obviously the cleverest (although we’re a little worried about that bowing roof).

Vancouver Public Library, Canada. Beautiful, useful, and definitely out of bounds – note the lack of protective barrier around the edge.

And now to more speculative matters. This proposed village for Heden, a sleepy cityblock in Sweden’s  Gothenburg, has more than a touch of Hobbiton about it…

…as does this proposal by designer Friedenreich Hundertwasser.

Should green roofs be built to be scaled on foot? The designers of this proposal for the 2007 Fit City 2 conference in New York certainly think so – and there’s a good reason for thinking they’re right.

And finally – this example looks as speculative as they come. But it’s reality: the blueprint for the Vancouver Convention Center, currently expanding rapidly in time to host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The 6-acre living roof will house a whopping 400,000 varieties of native plant life – Inhabitat has a closer look here.

More information: Green Roofs (what else?)

Images: hans s / metaefficient / Deutsche Telekom / NREL / California Academy of Sciences / Inhabitat / Treehugger / pnwra / food2gro / trendir / Nanyang Technological University / sookie / Hundertwasser / IGPOTY / Terri Meyer Boake / Kjellengren Kaminsky Architecture / Ecogeek / Archidose / Inhabitat.

A new makeshift shelter has emerged in the form of resin-soaked cellulose recovered from recycled cardboard and newspapers.

Costing $5,000, the Universal World House was invented by design engineer, Gerd Niemoeller, as a quick dwelling for long-term refugees in Third World shantytowns. The paper house, developed at German’s Bauhaus University, was featured in the Times Online. It contains built-in single and double beds plus a veranda equipped with a private shower and bathroom. It’s apparently easy to assemble, earthquake-proof and stable enough to withstand strong winds. The interior features prefab panels that look like honeycomb patterns and an air vacuum fills each unit, similar to the construction technique employed in aircraft and high-speed yaghts. This allows for the combination of flexibility and strength.

According to the Telegraph, the paper houses have been tested in the worst slums of South African and one of the first settlements of the houses will be built in Zimbabwe in conjunction with the German aid organization, World Vision. Nigeria also has ordered 2,400 of the houses. Neimoeller is the founder of the Swiss company, The Wall AG, which has a patent on the mini houses.

Look into the future of custom housing: steel frames and insulated panels delivered to your lot for quick, on-site assembly. That’s what’s being done at Eco Steel, a firm of architectural visionaries that connects with other forward-thinking industry partners to deliver these dwellings to homeowners and businesses. Instead of fully finished prefab, the building systems gives you an excellent shell to be finished by your own green contractor.

EcoSalon has been singing the praises of modular prefab dwellings, not just because they often contain recycled content but because they are energy efficient, space saving and low maintenance. These ones designed by Eco Steel tout thermal efficiency and LEED rating benefits.

A fine example of their custom projects is the Goshawk Ranch in Park City, Utah, where Eco Steel is based. This fabulous structure features solar powered radiant heat, low voltage lighting, electric generating windmills, robust grey water irrigation and an outdoor amphitheater.

The company also used eco-friendly steel to construct these Scandinavian-style three-story residential lofts in the coastal Delaware town of Rohoboth Beach. They are engineered for extreme wind loads, and come in 4-bedroom options for multi-family use. Weathering all kinds of climate (and climate change) is a goal of the architects. They also cut down on the time and cost of building a conventional custom house.

“Our building system is a hybrid that offers faster construction and higher quality than traditional means yet is less expensive and more flexible than full prefab techniques,” says Eco Steel.

Your job is to find the land and the right contractor to complete the task.

Over the last 12 months, we’ve seen some of the best, worst and most unusual that green architecture has to offer, from shipping container hotels to conference yurts. We’ve seen a host of exciting new ideas brought to the table – and here are a few that particularly won us over.

Bricks and mortar…on water?

It’s been hard to escape the Lilypad this year – thanks to a stunning design, jaw-dropping promotional images and an idea that seems way ahead of its time. A method of living on the two-thirds of our planet’s surface hitherto denied us – and doing so sustainably? Much more appetizing than growing gills, I’m sure we’re agreed.

Except – a nagging doubt. Look at the above picture. The word that springs to my mind isn’t “society” or “community” – it’s “elite”. Are sea-housing projects going to become something that local governments could afford to invest heavily in…or just a series of privately-financed, ultra-exclusive floating Dubais? If sea levels rise catastrophically, would the less wealthy be left stranded?

The Rise of the Truly Fab Prefab

Terraced houses. Entire streets that look exactly the same. Apartment blocks that look like a bureaucrat’s dream Lego set. And all because houses are built before they’re sold.

Let’s imagine something. Let’s say you buy the land first, then go shopping for a house to put on it. It’s a practice only just creeping into the mainstream housing market – and we couldn’t love it more (see here and here). Prefabs all look different, they’re custom built, and they’re testbeds for the cutting edge in new eco-friendly materials. I dream that one day, our children will buy their houses out of a catalogue.

Branching Out and Hanging Around

Tree hugger -”An environmentalist or one who believes trees and all living things should not be cut down or harmed.” In decades past, popularly equated with “nut”. But now, designers are waking up to the potential of living wood – whether it’s affixing human homes within the branches of trees, having trees growing (or “pleaching“) through houses or, most recently, the perfect tree hugger abode. We’re not going to see city-sized Lothloriens or streets looking like Patrick Dougherty sculptures anytime soon…but we’re thinking about it.

Scraping the Sky v2.0

It’s only recently in human history that we’ve starting building upwards on a skyscraping scale. Now these vast structures are becoming self-contained worlds, gathering energy, self-regulating and even growing their own food. So why do they have to be so boxy? They don’t. Take the Superstar (above): a model for a new kind of Chinatown.

Or the amazing pulled-spiderweb shape of the Crystal City, Moscow.

Or this Moon Shaped Skyscraper proposed for Baku, Azerbaijan.

On one level, genius at play – on another, mad as a hatstand. But the wider implication is that skyscraper designers are leaving behind the Giant’s Causeway urban template and borrowing a wider range of shapes from the natural world. More, please.

Buildings That Earn Their Keep

Everything we do around the home expends energy (unless you’re as lazy as I am). We ingest food, it turns into chemical energy, we expend it in mechanical effort. And then, that energy is wasted, usually as heat (friction). Could we divert some of it into powering our homes?

The signs are good. Take the door of the Natuurcafé La Port in Driebergen in the Netherlands – similar to a project undertaken by Fluxxlab. Take the power-generating floors of the Tokyo railway station. It’s not otherworldly technology, although it’ll be years before we see domestic housing using such features as standard. We can’t wait.

Something Sustainable Afoot

Forget polyvinyl flooring – the kind you see poking out of landfills with depressing regularity. Forget synthetic carpets that only really tell you what they’re made of when you singe them, filling the air with a smell you’ll take to your grave. No – we’d rather see acres of cork and bamboo flooring lining the next generation of homes. Green, gorgeous, great potential.

Turfing your Turf

Covering the outside and inside of your house with grass might sound like the work of a deranged golfing fanatic – but it makes sense. Now we’re seeing the concept at work in the street, such as the above fashion store in Seoul, Korea.

Electricity as a Last Resort

As wonderful as the rise of alternate energy is, there’s something we like even more – a home that doesn’t need it. Take the role of sunpipes in casting natural light deep into our homes without the slightest sizzle of power – and how about us rethinking our need to set our homes ablaze in the evenings? Take passive housing. Will the dream house of tomorrow have a dream electricity bill?

Buildings That Make You Sweat

Here in the U.K., obesity has just been labeled “one of the greatest public health threats“. Part of the root cause is lack of exercise – and part of that is surely the rise in modern labor-saving devices. So we applaud designers like Bruce Fowle who want to turn buildings and cities into gentle gyms.

These are our favorites. What are yours? If you’ve found something relevant (or blogged about it), share the link in the comments.

Image credits: Vincent Callebaut Architectures, miniHome, Apartment Therapy, Inhabitat, MAD Ltd, Foster and Partners, Civil Engineering Portal, Globus, Ann Demeulemeester, seeks2dream and Dustin Diaz.

Over at the Dancing Rabbit eco-village, the Milkweed Mercantile is showing how to turn a healthy profit without taking liberties with your environmental principles (as we recently reported). We’ve been lucky enough to chat to founder Alline Anderson – and here’s what she had to say about her business model, her seasonal routines and the concepts of “ecoluxe” and sustainability.

Ecosalon: What do you think are the dangers for anyone setting up an eco-friendly business using the traditional American business model?

Alline: To me, the traditional American business model, where bigger is better, really has no place in the eco-friendly business world. If a business is dependent upon constant growth, where do sustainability, re-use, and thoughtful consumption fit in? Can bigger really be sustainable? And how much is enough? Business leaders must be willing to stand up and say “we’re big enough, we don’t need total world domination, let’s focus on what we do, and do it well.”

Many eco-friendly businesses are crafting an exciting new business paradigm. We’re really excited here at the Mercantile to be creating a life where our work and play are closely intertwined. The café (when it opens) will be a place where the community gathers. We’ll purchase foodstuffs from our neighbors and from around the Midwest, encouraging more organic farming and food production. Additionally, our guests are kindred spirits who are interested in learning about our way of life, and how to encourage eco changes in their home communities. Like a pebble dropped in a pond, we hope the ripple effect reaches those who are ready and searching for what we have to offer.

It has been fascinating to watch “green” businesses become huge and successful only to sell out to big corporations. I find it very disappointing, but cannot begin to understand how overwhelming a large, successful business would be to run. I turn instead to the businesses involved in Co-op America and Social Venture Network. They are incredibly inspirational to me ““ most are dedicated to the Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, Profit. If my staff and I can earn a living doing what we love, be respectful and take good care of each other, and contribute in a meaningful way to our community, well, that really feels like success to me.

Ecosalon: You’re clearly a passionate advocate for using local, seasonal produce. In what ways can you see the seasons affecting the way the business runs?

Alline: My favorite topic! Here in Missouri there is a definite change of seasons. I’ve been studying wildcrafting  (the practice of harvesting uncultivated plants from their natural, or “wild” habitat), nosing through old Euell Givens and Edna Lewis books. The woods here on the Dancing Rabbit Land Trust are filled with edibles if one knows what to look for. This spring I experimented with violet jelly (tastes just like spring) and salads using the flowers and beautiful heart-shaped violet leaves. Hunting for morel mushrooms is like an accidental treasure hunt. This year, as a novice, I only found a single mushroom, yet the time spent traipsing about in the sun-dappled woods was lovely. We also have maple trees that we tap for syrup, which is a delight to pull out on a dark wintry morning. Summer has its own treats, as does fall. Just yesterday our neighbors brought some small native persimmons to dinner. I had never tasted anything like them ““ they were absolutely extraordinary. I look forward to working all of these into the Mercantile menu.

The birds here are also seasonal. In the spring the male goldfinches turn a blinding yellow, and the mornings are filled with the songs of randy cardinals, robins, and house wrens. There are bird nests all over the village, and we all keep track of when each batch of chicks fledge. We’re near enough to the Mississippi River that we see a lot of migrating geese, ducks, and swans overhead. It’s fun to be able to drop everything and run outside when we hear that honking sound in the distance, and marvel at the hundreds of birds flying by. One of our B&B rooms is called The Rachel Carson “Sense of Wonder” Room; I hope that we can share our sense of wonder with our guests.

Another goal is to introduce people to the joys of startlingly fresh local produce. Most of us, even if we were blindfolded and placed in a sensory deprivation tank, would be able to tell the difference between a tomato fresh from the garden and one from the grocery store, which was picked while not-quite-ripe and trucked without mercy across the country. Beyond tomatoes, there is a whole world of flavor out there that is waiting. For example, one of my favorite things to do is show friends what Brussels sprouts on the stalk look like ““ talk about beautiful! Then I have them taste some Brussels sprouts which have been roasted with a dollop of good olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. We’re looking to change lives, attitudes and maybe even habits. Eating locally is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and for the planet.

Ecosalon: In your own words, “sustainability is not about deprivation”. Do you think there is still a lot of prejudiced resistance to the “eco-luxe” concept of living (where top-quality living and eco-friendliness go hand in hand)?

Alline: I’m not sure I embrace the concept of eco-luxe. One can have an incredibly comfortable life and still be sustainable. Size and scale are really important considerations. How sustainable are $500 organic wool sweaters, 10,000 square foot houses (even if they’re powered with renewable energy) and single occupancy Priuses? How much more would each of us enjoy our lives if we could work one less day a week? We might not have as much money, but what really makes us happy? I am not advocating buying the cheapest stuff we can find ““ I believe it is our responsibility to be thoughtful, informed consumers. I fully support buying Fair Trade, Union, organic, socially-responsible products. But even green products come with a cost other than the price tag. I’d like to encourage people to think about what they are trading to have the newest, coolest, hottest items, green or not.

Designers in home and fashion are now promoting lots of eco fabrics and materials. I love that this is happening ““ I am excited by the shift from a petroleum-based system to one that utilizes more renewable materials. But I sometimes worry that the point is being missed. For example, if one has a perfectly serviceable kitchen, are you helping the earth or merely your ego by ripping out the floor and replacing it with eco-cool cork or bamboo? I fear that green may be perceived as a trend, only to be discarded when the next thing comes along. I’m hoping that we can help consumers understand the ideas and ethics behind sustainability, to learn to differentiate green from green-washing, and to evaluate the difference from true need and superficial want.

In some circles the idea of sustainability still carries a perception of a “granola eating, Grateful Dead listening, Birkenstock wearing, kumbaya singing” lifestyle. Fortunately that stereotype is quickly becoming outdated and we are all finding more common ground than we’re being led to believe exists. Parents who are concerned about the health of their families become ardent environmentalists, people of faith find correlations between their religions and earth stewardship, folks on a budget see the benefits of a simpler life. We each come to our own truths on our own paths. Which is as it should be ““ no one here at the Mercantile claims to hold the keys to an ecological life; we’re just enjoying the heck out of finding the answers.

Many thanks for your time, Alline – and we wish the Milkweed Mercantile all the success it deserves! You can learn more about supporting the Milkweed Mercantile here.

Image: Purple milkweed – by tlindenbaum