Flexible paving slab harnesses kinetic energy of people walking!

Every time the rubber Pavegen stone is stepped on, it flexes 5mm and the dynamo technology stores the kinetic energy produced. Five paving slabs distributed over a section of a pavement will provide sufficient power to illuminate a bus information panel overnight. 

How about using those in the dance floors in clubs?!

Read more here:

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=12560

"The Bridge" is the largest homeless center to achieved LEED rating

The building targets a LEED Silver rating and includes a green-roofed dining room within an open courtyard, ample daylighting, which reduces energy consumption and enhance the connection to the outside world. The Pavilion reuses an existing warehouse and can accommodate 200 people. It contains ceiling fans and radiant heaters for temperature control. And finally, the greywater system is said to save more than 1.5 million gallons of potable water per year.

Read more here:

http://www.contractdesign.com/contract/content_display/design/news/e3ib047da6a5b38efff93e44776e47c8b2e

Showing the Benefits of ‘Green’ Retrofits

This new report will reveal the savings which have been made due to retrofitting buildings in New York City via a public database of several hundred retrofitted buildings. 

This will definitely be a big step forward in better understanding building energy usage and proving that building more efficiently is really worth it!

Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/realestate/commercial/02deutsche.html

The story of stuff...

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever..

Watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM

The story of bottled water

"The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand—how you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap. Over five minutes, the film explores the bottled water industrys attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces. The film concludes with a call to take back the tap, not only by making a personal commitment to avoid bottled water, but by supporting investments in clean, available tap water for all.

Our production partners on the bottled water film include five leading sustainability groups: Corporate Accountjavascript:void(0)ability International, Environmental Working Group, Food & Water Watch, Pacific Institute, and Polaris Institute."

See the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

Développement touristique: « La destruction du lagon mauricien » révélée par Thalassa

Ce vendredi 23 avril sera diffusé sur France 3, un documentaire réalisé dans le cadre de l’émission Thalassa. Il fait état des dégâts irréversibles causés à l’environnement par le développement touristique non-contrôlé.

Thalassa, magazine de la mer, consacre une série de reportages sur Maurice. Les sujets traités interpellent et dénoncent les dérapages et dégâts engendrés par le développement touristique : privatisation du littoral à outrance et des lagons détruits. L’océanographe Vassen Kaupaymoothoo est d’avis que le documentaire «choque et montre une autre image du paradis île Maurice».

Certification - les initiatives internationales

La certification des bâtiments "verts" est un outil de reconnaissance de leur performance environnementale. Obtenir un tel certificat prouve non seulement aux potentiels acheteurs/tenanciers qu'un bâtiment est de très haute qualité environnementale et a été conçue avec une vision de développement durable, mais cela donne aussi la possibilité de comparer le bâtiment a d'autres bâtiments similaires a travers le monde. Tout comme la qualité et le confort d'un hôtel sont indiques par des étoiles, la qualité d'un bâtiment vert est indique par une échelle similaire. Les initiatives internationales sont nombreuses, comme l'explique l'article suivant. Plusieurs pays ont adopte leur propre "green label", prenant en compte les principaux éléments locaux comme la culture, la gestion d'énergie et d'eau, etc. En attendant que l'ile Maurice ait son propre outil de certification, il y a plusieurs options pour ceux voulant obtenir un certificat de performance environnementale. L'article suivant parle des différents outils internationaux et de leurs avantages et inconvénients.