Loll Designs makes contemporary, durable outdoor furniture from recycled materials.  You've probably seen their 4-slat Adirondack chair, but the company has a number of other pieces, as well as some new ones, too. They're made from 100% recycled post-consumer HDPE, and 90% of the manufacturing waste is sent to a recycling plant (or remember when the guys from Hive Modular recycled Loll pallets to create a barn?).  Loll uses recycled packaging and does a number of other things to reduce the environmental impact associated with business.  Here's a preview of some of the new work:

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• Make me greener, please.
• 8 innovative green buildings.
• Potential $400 B market for green building retrofits.
• Interactive graphic: how to green your home.
• The challenge of green building valuation.
• Toronto developers see red over green roof law.
• Do you have to be LEED to be green?
• Greenwashing legal claims are on the rise.
• 75+ environmentalists to follow on Twitter.

Follow @jetsongreen on Twitter for more news, links, and commentary.

The July/August issue of Dwell brings us this beautiful desert home in Pioneertown, California (not too far from Three Junipers, actually).  The home was designed by architect Lloyd Russell for Jim Austin, an entrepreneur who wanted something simple.  The functional home of 1,600 square feet is what Austin calls, “the ultimate desert structure.”  It’s built with recycled and durable materials, as well as a prominent steel canopy that shelters and shades the home.

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This is a new urban nature center, the Discovery Center at the Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC), which will open Saturday, June 20, 2009.  Although the initial goal was to achieve LEED Silver, the 10,000 square-foot facility will likely achieve LEED Gold as a result of an early and collaborative effort by owner CNC, architect Lord, Aeck & Sargent, landscape architect EDAW, and general contractor Genoa Construction, et al.  Here's what it's all about:

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This is the Green Cubed house, which was designed by Nelse Design + Build.  Located on an infill lot in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, the 5-star home was recently the superstar of a Green Built home tour.  And for those in the area, this modern, single-family home is listed for sale for $900,00, which includes four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms in a 2,667 square-foot package.  Some of its many green features include the following:

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In conjunction with the small structures trend we’re following, reader Joseph Sandy sent in these photos of his 8′ x 10′ backyard shed in Sonoma County, California.  Sandy bought $180 worth of old fencing from Heritage Salvage, the local reclaimed material supplier, and cut the pieces in usable 2′ segments to create the mesmerizing reclaimed rainscreen.  With a polycarbonate clerestory and plywood/pegboard walls, the inside is ready to go.  And Sandy liked the finished look so much, he’s thinking of turning the design into a prefab kit offering of sheds, studios, offices, and housing.

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