Architect Designs Passively Cooled School in Burkina Faso

Architect Francis Kere writes that the permeable suspending ceiling, the inclined corrugated sheet roof as well as the completely obvious shaded windows ensure a natural ventilation of the rooms in the L-shaped school addition he designed for Dano, Burkina Faso, in Africa. Compared to conventional construction methods there, for which mechanical air-conditioning is usually required, this is the more sustainable solution in the face of limited fossil resources and increasing energy prices, he says. "This especially applies to a country like Burkina Faso, which is ranked second to last place on the UN poverty list and which has to meet its entire energy demand by importing fuel." Kere uses local workers throughout the construction process - local artisans are trained in new techniques, ensuring that building methods will stay within the community. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Kere said about his architecture training in Germany, "In the back of my mind, I was thinking about going back to my country later to improve building methods there. That was my idea from the very beginning." As someone from a rural African community where more than 80 percent of the people are illiterate, who got the chance to attend higher education in Europe, he regards it as his duty to use his skills for the benefit of the people of his home continent. The Dano school received a Global Award For Sustainable Architecture. (Image ©2010 Diébedo Francis Kéré Architecture)

Bladeless Wind Turbine Won't Harm Birds

A bladeless wind turbine whose only rotating component is a turbine/driveshaft could generate power at a cost comparable to coal-fired power plants, according to its developers at Solar Aero. The New Hampshire-based company recently announced its patent on the Fuller wind turbine, which is an improvement on a patent issued to Nikola Tesla in 1913. The bladeless wind turbine is completely enclosed in a relatively small compact unit. Instead of using wind-powered blades to rotate a shaft and generator, the Tesla-inspired design consists of an array of closely spaced, parallel, thin metal disks separated by spacers. When air flows in the spaces between the disks, the spacers are arranged in such a way as to provide inward momentum to the air, causing the disks to move. The disks are connected to a shaft by spokes, so that the rotating disks cause the shaft to rotate as well. As explained in the patent held by Howard Fuller, the turbine design “provides maximum efficiency in converting wind energy to mechanical power.”  -  by Lisa Zyga

Biodynamic Farm Powers More Than Plants with Sun

Tani Creek Farm in the Pacific Northwest uses sunlight for more than just growing vegetables. In the misty hills of Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington, a 25-acre biodynamic farm uses solar power for all its agricultural needs such as irrigation, water movement (pumped from ponds to other uses) and food production, as well as for residential purposes. Contrary to popular belief, solar power in the cloudy Pacific Northwest - where Bainbridge is located - is a viable energy alternative to fossil fuels according to solar contractor Jeff Collum of Sound Power. The farm's 29-kilowatt system covers two outbuildings and are part of the owner's mission to create a self-sustaining farm that uses clean energy.

Victoria's Dockside Green Does It Right

Dockside Green is located near downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is a 15-acre master-planned waterfront community consisting of three neighborhoods designed to incorporate New Urbanism, smart growth, green building and sustainable community design. Dockside Green presents a model of urban regeneration through brownfield reuse, green design, and community building. A model for holistic, closed-loop design, Dockside Green functions as a total environmental system in which form, structure, materials, mechanical and electrical systems are interrelated and interdependent - a largely self-sufficient, sustainable community where waste from one area provides fuel for another. An example is its membrane bioreactor package wastewater treatment plant that recovers heat from sewage, bathwater, and dishwater. Dockside Green is intended to be built over 12 phases in three neighborhoods, with a total of 1.3 million gross square feet (73 percent of which is residential) in 26 buildings, housing 2,500 residents. (There are currently over 450.) Dockside Wharf is the initial neighborhood, with two primarily residential projects and two commercial buildings. The first phase of the Wharf, a LEED Platinum condominium project named Synergy, sold 85 percent of its 96 units in 3 hours with the first residents moving in May 2008.

Key sustainable features:

•The biomass energy system, which uses waste wood as fuel through a gasification process.

•Passive solar heating.

•An advanced building envelope and high-performance window glazing to help prevent heat loss.

•A 100-per-cent fresh air system with heat recovery.

•High-efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors.

•A 65-per-cent reduction in indoor water use with dual flush toilets, low-flow fixtures and use of graywater for sewage conveyance.

•Treatment of 100 per cent of the site’s wastewater in a campus-wide plant, which reuses it in central water features, toilet flushing, and on-site irrigation.

The project is one of a handful in Canada to achieve LEED Platinum and the first master-planned development to target this level of certification.

Thai Resort Brings Kids and Ecology Together

Organic design features prominently in "The Den" - a Children's Activity and Learning Centre thatis part of the Six Senses Soneva Kiri hotel resort on Koh Kood, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. This project was conceptualized by kids for kids, and then made to work by the creative architecture firm 24-H Architects of the Netherlands. 

The Den is located at a rocky slope close to the sea, with its Manta-ray inspired bamboo dome perched in an elevated position that offers magnificent views. http://www.solaripedia.com/13/233/six_senses_ecological_childrens_den.html

Electronic Waste Shipped Overseas

We've got big problems with disposal of electronic waste. Francesca Lyman shines some light on the issue in her article in Popular Mechanics, republished on Solaripedia with a few additional links and videos. 
Consider this:

- There are 500 million obsolete computers in the U.S. alone.

- 130 million cell phones are disposed of annually.

- 20 - 24 million TV’s and computers are stored annually in homes and offices.

- Only 10% of unwanted and obsolete computers are recycled.

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition points out that one computer monitor can contain four to eight pounds of lead, which if released can hurt an entire community. The problem has reached crisis proportions because of the sheer volume of global electronic waste.

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/232/e-waste_recycling_ever-changing_landscape.html 

PV System Fits into a Suitcase

This little portable solar electric system provides power so that remote medical clinics have lighting and the ability to charge walkie-talkies or radios for communication. Developed by We Care Solar, a non-profit organization that facilitates safer childbirth in third world countries, this PV device has been assembled by teenagers in Washington, D.C. to send to Haiti. http://www.wecaresolar.com/node/82