Raze the roof for green.

I’ll let you in on one of my secret eco-dreams: to tear down dilapidated buildings and allow nature to recover the land. As it turns out, this just might be a new municipal strategy in combating urban blight.

The first site of this radical experiment? Flint, Michigan: a sprawling and impoverished, underpopulated city. At 34 square miles, Flint requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep (think: garbage trucks, road repair, electricity lines).

So, how to maintain a city’s integrity without the taxpayer base to support it? Just tear down the buildings and parts of town that are already on the decline. It’s “pruning the deadwood,” to put it in gardening terms. The idea is to raze decrepit buildings and replant them with trees or allow natural meadows to grow on the land.

According to Dan Kildee, the brains behind this project, nobody is being forced to move and people are being offered better homes in more maintained parts of town. The ones who choose to stay will simply have more natural areas surrounding their homes.

The U.S. government and various charities have approached Mr. Kildee and asked him for advice on how to proceed with this idea in other declining cities around the United States. Seems like “less is more” and “back to nature” may come together on a grand and tangible scale.

Image: Saquan Stimpson

You all deserve a night on the town – your favorite restaurant, your favorite wine, your best friends. Alas. It’s time for one of you to take the short straw – the one soberly marked “designated driver”.

Or, you can hire a limo – and you don’t have to sabotage your eco principles to do it! The green chauffeur industry is on a…roll. (Oh dear, that’s two.)

For example, if you’re in the San Francisco area, you could contact Bauer’s Worldwide Intelligent Transportation. Over 85% of their miles are eco-friendly (they use sustainable fuel sources in hybrid vehicles). Google use Bauer’s to shuttle 2,500 of their employees back and forth from Silicon Valley.

Everyone gets the long straw and a green conscience. It’s the perfect way to let your hair down for an indulgent night on the town. Driver!

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.

It was always a good idea; now it’s finally been done. Just in time for January fitness resolutions, sing up for the gym that’s partially powered by your workout. (It’s okay to admit that this conjures up images of hamsters on the treadmill, generating energy for the world to go round.) But rodent making the rounds it’s not. The Green Microgym in Portland, Oregon, has set the new standard for eco-fitness, indoors.

The gym is outfitted with Team Dynamo and Spin bikes set up to generate electricity, as well as extensive solar panels that help to offset the gym’s carbon track print. Treadmills use 30% less power than standard models, all lights are compact fluorescents, and the floors are made of recycled rubber and eco-friendly cork.

If you’re nowhere near Portland, all is not lost. What I like best on Green Microgym’s eco list is that personal trainers sometimes take their clients outside to exercise. Don’t forget the original solar-powered gym: the great outdoors.

Image: iconocast

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.

An overgrown city is a healthy city. Plants regulate temperatures, scrub the air, provide a haven for urban wildlife and lift our mood sky-high. But all too often, parks and tree-lined boulevards have been regarded as cosmetic frills worked around the basic necessities of concrete, glass and metal – something to add if there’s any money left in your budget. It’s shutters in the front and bare metal in the back.

Back to the drawing board. A study of urban mortality undertaken by two Scottish universities has discovered a link between good health and green spaces – more specifically, reduced health inequalities. All city populations experience different levels of wellness according to social factors such as income, lifestyle, diet and access to medical facilities. The researchers found that in the 366,000 cases studied, close proximity to green spaces reduced this inequality and reduced the likelihood of people suffered from a number of medical disorders, particularly heart disease and strokes.

Why is this the case? Firstly, greenery cleans the air for us and evens out the temperature, making cities not only more pleasant but more healthful. But this may be the lesser part of the answer. Since mind and body are intertwined, it’s clear that a reduction in stress levels can have a profound physiological effect. Recent studies suggest that if your stress levels are high, your body is more likely to age quicker and heal slower. As well as encouraging people to go for a walk in them, green spaces may significantly improve health simply by allowing people to breathe out. 

In the literal sense, our cities need to be greened up. Our health depends upon it. In an increasingly urban world, this has become a critical issue – and if city planners and municipalities don’t rise to the challenge, they may have a rebellion on their hands.

Image: sky shutter

Once upon a time, “doing your bit for the environment” was an impassioned hobby at best. Now, it’s a job – within the biggest boom industry of the next decade. The American Solar Energy Society estimates that 1 in 4 Americans will be working in green-collar jobs by 2030. (Future President, take note).

So, what are going to be the sustainable occupations of the new economy? Here are 10 predictions for green-collar jobs that will grow and grow:

Bicycle / Scooter Technicians. Bicycles are elegant and efficient ways to get around, and enormously reliable. They’re also a piece of cake to maintain in good working order. But bicycles are going to change. Electric bikes (such as Urban Mover’s range) are going to bridge the gap between gas-powered and human-powered, and fixing them is going to require a special blend of mechanic and electrician. Like motor mechanics, they’ll charge a not inconsiderable amount to get you back on the road – but with the money you’re saving by not using gas, you’ll be able to afford it!

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Public/Private Alternative Energy Engineers. There are millions of dollars around the world awaiting to be saved by a switch to sustainable energy sources – and the technology to allow such a changeover is just round the corner (such as super-efficient solar energy). So there will be a lot of solar panels, wind turbines and ground-source heating to install – funded by local municipalities eager to invest in long-term energy savings, or private companies eager to secure our cash. It’ll be a massive undertaking – and a booming job market.

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Emissions Managers. As companies shift to newer, greener ways of working, there will be a period of transition. It’s the job of the regional and federal government to encourage companies through this transition, either from in front (the carrot) or from behind with the stick – the threat of fines or prosecution. (Carrots work better, it’s official). Either way, companies will be held responsible for the (diminishing) level of their environmental impact – and they’ll need a special blend of scientist and public relations spokesperson to make sure they’re toeing the line.

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Urban Replanners. To make the most of new green innovations, most of our cities need redesigning. Those acres of concrete soaking up heat, creating “heat islands” that force people to turn up the A/C. Those buildings in the way of naturally cooling, turbine-powering air-currents. Those profoundly unpedestrian areas that you can’t navigate without being inside a car. They can all go. And we also think that truly green city architecture should raise a sweat.

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Urban Gardeners. The cities of the future will grow. It’s not science fiction – just the cheapest, most natural way of getting our cities to regulate themselves, and creating places our spirits can thrive in as well as our bodies. Grass-coated roofs bring building temperatures down. Trees scrub the air. People grow their own vertical gardens. To kick things off, we’ll need trained urban gardeners promoting the right way to do things. And wouldn’t it be great if they used to do the same thing in their spare time?

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Recycling Specialists. As the public and private sectors of the recycling industry grow, it’s going to become more and more critical to be on the cutting edge of recycling techniques, whether to make the most of taxpayers’ money or keep profits on the up. Companies and job positions tailored to the recovery of specific materials (like Recovco, focussing on recovered aluminium) are going to crop up everywhere. Plastic specialists are going to have a field day.

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Organic Farming Specialists. Their heads filled with a mixture of cutting-edge organic agricultural innovation and a thousand years of farming techniques that worked just fine before synthetic agrochemicals came along, students of organic farming are going to be heavily in demand. They’ll understand the dangers of taking shortcuts with the health of the land, and they’ll know how to keep production and food quality sky-high.

Environment Refuse Processors. Restoring the sustainable potential of our hard-pressed planet is going to involve the largest clean-up job in history. We’re going to have to scour the sea bed for nurdles and skim the waves for plastic bottles. Land fills (packed full of recyclable materials) will be reprocessed and rendered less toxic. Our mountains of trash aren’t just hazardous, they’re an energy goldmine – and these people will be our miners.

High School Ecologists. Alongside Math, Chemistry and Biology, it’d be nice if Ecology had a place on the school curriculum within our lifetimes. It’d be a subject grounded in a pragmatic, useful concern with our place in the natural world, teaching the Why behind all branches of green-collar work. And all taught without even a hint of a kaftan or a floral print shirt.

And lastly, how are members of the current workforce (blue-collar, white-collar and so on) going to adapt to the new job opportunities available to them? By seeing an Environmental Career Consultant, of course!

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Pizza, gelato and vino are easy to come by in Italy but eco is not. The word even gets lost in translation there, until reinforced with hints like verde (green) and il mondo (the world).

That’s why I was surprised to bump into Singapore Supergarden on one of those meandering alleys off the San Marcos Square. Part of the 11th annual Venice Architecture Biennale, the exhibit showcases 22 objects which reflect the insights of emerging young architects and visionaries working in Singapore today.

I was drawn into the Supergarden Pavillion through a continuous green surface from the exterior of the walled space. In the ultra clean courtyard, a footpath with park benches in a garden setting leads to the main exhibit room. There, a display table with objects stretches across the entire space. Each design is accompanied by a pre-recorded audio description by its maker.

An object that caught my eye immediately was Zeth, a bike described as a “formidable machine inspired by the fluid expressions of kinetic sculptures” with a frame made of recycled steel. The rims are fabricated using refurbished spokes that were previously discarded. The seat and headlamp are vintage. The architects, Angelus Novus Studio customize recycled bikes for sale to the public under the name Vanguard.

Another firm, called UNION, says it is dedicated to the creation of beautiful human environments that inspire hope. It created The Unreasonably Beautiful Fan of Faith, Hope and Love, a hand-crafted design peopled with their colorful Asian community and new office in a former church atop Mount Sophia.

Another presenter, Out of Stock Design, offered a Forrest Stool with an organically sculpted Y-junction of the legs inspired by tree branches. And Singapore-based artist Tang Ling Nah built a Luggage of Possibilities packed with the art tools she uses to create her work which is inspired by transitory spaces such as public housing void decks, alleys, ehopping malls and Mass Rapid Transit stations.

Curator Peter Sim observes the goals of the Pavillion are to present a slice of design culture in a country where the potential for new ideas is immense. This ecosystem of design thoughts involves young professionals connecting with one another to create a hothouse of  ideas for future environments.

“Visionaries and social commentators alike predict a future for architecture highly augmented by new technology; both with regards to the softer aspects: robotics, electronics, projections, sensors, monitors; and those more traditionally associated with the building: newer, greener, stronger, lighter, cheaper materials and methods,” says Sim.

The exhibit runs through November of this year.

Have you ever wondered what happened to all of those shiny gold and silver subway tokens that used to jingle in your grandpa’s pocket? The folks at tokens-coins.com have saved them from the abyss (and landfills) creating cuff links, key rings, jewelry and money clips.

Choose from such cities as New York, San Diego, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Buffalo, Washington DC.,Honolulu , San Francisco, Indianapolis, San Francisco (Market Street Railway), and Trenton. Each should come with its own authenticity card.

Find them at Cuffart.com, Wall Street Creations, and Fahrney’s. And do your homework, as prices really do vary!

To meet our future energy requirements, we need to rely on a huge range of alternative sources. Let’s not forget the whimsical beginnings of our efforts to harness electricity (I’m referring to the kite of Benjamin Franklin). It’s only fitting that electricity generation technologies come from left field.

Cars. Let’s keep those cars on the road – because the weight of vehicles driving over metal plates could be used to generate electricity. (Perfect for lining public transport routes).

Tornadoes. Banish the image of tornado-chasers lugging HYminis – Louis Michaud is planning to create artificial vortices from hot air generated in power stations, and use them to drive turbines.

Cows. And in fact, farm animals in general. Although it lacks charm, manure is an energy powerhouse, releasing countless tons of natural methane. A study at the University of Texas has estimated that this manure could represent 100 billion kwH of electricity a year. And there’s more: cows also generate methane in other ways that could yet be put to work.

Food. It’s no small potatoes in terms of energy. With a couple of electrodes and a little high school physics, you can generate a current. It’s pitifully small, but it’s there. Are food batteries round the corner? It’s possible.

Rain. As National Geographic reports (video), the theory is simple – piezoelectric sensors convert impacts into electricity. Spread them over a wide enough surface, and the trickle of power could become a flood. Extraordinary potential.

Gray Water. Flush a toilet, run a faucet…turn a turbine and charge a battery. Hydroelectricity in the home.

Trees. In 2006, MagCap Engineering claimed to be generating an electrical current directly from trees (Treehugger has the story). Could the same apply to plants in general? Street lighting powered by Nature – there’s a bright idea.

Us. There must be hundreds of ways. Those piezoelectric sensors capturing rain energy? They could line our office floors and sidewalks, energizing our footsteps. Every mechanical task we personally undertake, from mowing the lawn to running on a treadmill, could generate electricity (maybe fed directly into our own Personal Batteries). And electricity from trees? That’s because living things generate a bioelectric field. Same applies to every one of us – we’re aglow with energy. It’s sounding a bit Matrix-y, isn’t it?

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