Eco Factor: Energy-conserving building harvests rainwater.
The Springfield Public School District’s new Thurston Elementary School replaces an existing school on the same site with a building that reflects the surrounding McKenzie River Valley. The new sustainable building aims to promote environmental understanding at a young age.
Eco Factor: Zero-emission motorcycle with an electric engine.
The brainchild of industrial designer Tian Lingrui, the Kumoi is what the world of today desperately needs. The Kumoi is an all-electric lightweight motorcycle that promises a zero-emission drive with great efficiency. The electric motorcycle is designed to offer an ergonomic ride at a fast speed.
Eco Factor: Concept device to monitor water and energy usage.
Out of the many ways to save energy, being aware of one’s extravagant use seems the most promising. Industrial designers haven’t left any stone unturned in designing energy monitoring devices that apart from maximizing conservation are appealing as well. The M.O.E. (Monitoring Our Energy) by industrial designer Liz McKibbon tries to encourage conservation by smiling or crying on your energy and water use.
Eco Factor: Floating development harvests solar, wind and tidal energy.
The Gyre by Zigloo is a conceptual floating development that has been designed as an underwater skyscraper. The development will bring scientists and vacationers together to understand the ocean, without polluting its delicate ecosystem. Peaking at a depth of 400m, the development will provide space for a comfortable living and working environment, including space for shops, restaurants, gardens and recreation.
Eco Factor: Collapsible shipping containers to reduce carbon footprint.
Going by the statistics, about 26 percent of all containers shipped every year originate in China, and most of them are returned empty, but they take up the same amount of space on a ship. Dutch firm Cargoshell is demonstrating a new breed of shipping containers that can collapse to one-fourth of their original size, meaning that more containers can be shipped back to the source in less space.
Eco Factor: Zero-emission vehicle powered by electric motors.
Ford will unveil the production version of its upcoming Transit Connect electric delivery van at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show to be held later this week. The company announced last year that it will be building an all-electric version of its popular delivery van, which will be offered to fleet customers in the U.S. later this year.
Eco Factor: Sustainable pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010.
Latvian architects Mailītis A.I.I.M. have commenced construction on the Latvia Pavilion to grace the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The Latvian Pavilion has been inspired by nature and its façade will symbolize nature and its various facets including the forests, the sea, the land, the sky and the wind.
Eco Factor: Charger harvests renewable energy from bikes.
The demand for eco-friendly gadget chargers has made manufacturers think about solar and wind-powered devices that are great if it’s sunny and windy, but make you go back to the wall socket if the climate isn’t helping. Now a California-based company called High Tide Associates has come up with a device that harvests pedal power for a green recharge.
Eco Factor: New material promises to power hybrids and EVs without any additional batteries.
Hybrids and electric vehicles of today need heavy battery packs to generate power for their onboard motors, which does degrade the efficiency of the vehicle. Researchers at the Imperial College of London are developing materials that can store and discharge electric current just as a conventional battery does, but also serve as the bodywork of the car.
Eco Factor: Renewable energy system converts wave energy into electricity.
Ocean Energy has partnered with Dresser Rand to develop commercial ocean energy systems. Dresser Rand has agreed to develop and supply turbines for its system for converting wave energy to electricity. Ocean Energy has been testing the system since 2007 and is preparing to commercialize it.
Eco Factor: Thermoelectric generator produces renewable energy from body heat.
Perpetua Power Source Technologies has announced that the company has been awarded a contract to develop and demonstrate a wearable thermoelectric generator that can provide renewable energy to power wireless sensors. The device will be capable of harvesting available energy from body heat and convert it into usable electricity.
Eco Factor: Recyclable lighting material made using graphene.
A team of Swedish and American researchers have developed a fully recyclable lighting material using graphene. The material is inexpensive to produce and could also be used to make glowing wallpapers. The technology is being claimed to be much better than conventional OLEDs, which is both expensive and cannot be recycled.
Eco Factor: Dog leash generates renewable energy to power three LEDs.
We’ve seen industrial designers come up with devices that harvest human energy for renewable electricity. Fido Fashion, on the other hand, is thinking differently – with an aim to generate renewable energy, the team has come up with a unique dog leash that uses the coil and recoil of the leash to generate energy, which then powers a set of LEDs to illuminate the way.
Eco Factor: Super Sustainable City to harvest solar and wind energy.
Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture has been named winner of the Green Dot Awards for their Super Sustainable City concept that envisions Gothenburg as a city that is self-sufficient in terms of energy and food. The project sees the treatment of transportation, energy, food and waste charge drastically.
Eco Factor: Zero-emission concept vehicle powered by electric drivetrain.
Students at the Belfort-Montbéliard University of Technology in France have designed a working prototype of an efficient all-electric sports car dubbed the E-Sphyra. The vehicle features a fiberglass body and a rear-mounted electric motor. The fiberglass construction keeps the weight of the vehicle to just 800kg.
Eco Factor: Concept car powered by electricity.
Swiss company Protoscar has developed an all-electric LAMPO2 sports car that is a successor of the company’s LAMPO that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2009. The LAMPO2 will also be unveiled at the same venue this year with less weight, improved aerodynamics and improved efficiency.
Eco Factor: Concept highway lighting powered by renewable energy.
Concerned about the safety of the ever increasing number of cars on the highways, designers over at TAK Studio have come up with a sustainable lighting system dubbed the Turbine Light. The design is an entry in this year’s Greener Gadgets competition, and it aims to illuminate highways using renewable energy.
Eco Factor: Self-sufficient skyscraper harvests solar and wind energy.
Conceived as a city that takes input from nature and the surrounding the Eco-Cybernetic City by Orlando De Urrutia resembles a forest of trees that are in search of light. The building is not only self-sufficient in terms of energy, but features systems that allow it to save energy and rely on natural sources for everything from energy to water.
Eco Factor: Zero-emission car powered by electricity.
With the world’s most important cities introducing zero-emission zones, all vehicles that are unable to run on electric engines will be banned. In a reaction to this change, Jaguar has unveiled the XJ that runs purely on electricity for a silent, zero-emission drive.
Eco Factor: Eco-skin to transform old towers into sustainable buildings.
UTS Tower in NSW, Australia has often been singled out as Sydney’s ugliest building, which is desperately in need of a facelift. Multinational architectural practice, Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) has proposed a green way to transform the UTS Tower and other 1960s Sydney icons into next-gen sustainable buildings with a unique “Tower Skin”.