Monthly Archives: June 2014

//June

A Beach Retreat Built From a Recycled Shipping Container

Tiny Yellow House

When Seattle, WA based designer/contractor Hartman Kable wanted a home away from home, he opted to built for himself a beach house from a repurposed shipping container. The SurfShack, as it is called, is located on the Washington Coast. With clever design elements, the finished beach house has room enough for two to stay in it comfortably, while it was also made using mostly repurposed materials. The SurfShack was also featured by Derek “Deek” Diedricksen on RelaxShacks.com. You can watch the full video tour at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trsZ-PD-TMA, from which the photos that accompany this post are taken.

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By |June 21st, 2014|Container Design|2 Comments
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Solar Powered Tiny Travelling Home

Dog trainer Julie Olson found herself in need of a mobile home, so she decided to build a tiny house on wheels. Olson has no architecture training herself, so she made the plans that detailed everything that she wanted her home to have, and sent them to Jason Dietz of Molecule Tiny Homes. It took him about two months to build Olson a home that was in keeping with her specifications. These included 2 loft areas, one of which was to be used as a bedroom, and the other for storage. Olson also wanted a fold out porch, storage stairs, a bathroom and a closet.
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By |June 19th, 2014|Solar|8 Comments
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A Table That Can Charge Your Gadgets

Dutch designer Marjan van Aubel has developed a table that is able to transform sunlight into enough energy to charge your gadgets. The Current Table, as it is called, is capable of performing in this way due to a special process that is very similar to photosynthesis in plants. More specifically, the table is covered by glass panels that contain a dye-synthesized solar cell, which utilizes color properties to generate an electrical current, in much the same way that plants use green chlorophyll to transform sunlight into energy.
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By |June 18th, 2014|Green Tech|0 Comments
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Econtainer Bridge Made of Recycled Shipping Containers

The so-called Econtainer Bridge, designed by Tel Aviv-based Yoav Messer Architects will be the world’s first bridge made entirely of repurposed shipping containers. The bridge will be built across the Ayalon River to the gates of the Ariel Sharon Park and it will be responsible for transporting about 2,000 acres of the Hiriya waste dump, which was closed in 2004, into a nature reserve. There is currently a 25 million-ton mountain of waste at Hiriya, which is threatening to collapse into the Ayalon river. The finished bridge will be 160 meters long (525 feet) and it is designed to carry bicycle and foot traffic. Cars will not be able to cross it, but there will be a public shuttle vehicle going across it.
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By |June 17th, 2014|Container Design|0 Comments
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Small House That is Huge on Sustainability

One of the winners of this year’s American Institute of Architecture’s Small Project Practitioners Knowledge Community 8th annual Small Project Awards is Small House in an Olive Grove designed by Cooper Joseph Studio. The home is located in the Dry Creek Valley near Sonoma, California and functions almost completely off-the-grid.
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By |June 14th, 2014|Solar|4 Comments
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KBHome Unveils ZeroHouse 2.0 Which is Both Water and Energy Efficient

The builder KB Home just unveiled their newest project, the ZeroHouse 2.0, which is located in Los Angeles County, CA. The home is also called “Double ZeroHouse” since it is both water and energy efficient. This home is the first built by this contractor to have both net-zero energy status, and zero freshwater irrigation. According to KB Home estimates, the ZeroHouse 2.0 is capable of conserving 150,000-gallons of water per year, which is a 70% reduction compared to a typical home. ZeroHouse 2.0 is also capable of producing all the energy it needs.
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By |June 9th, 2014|Water Efficiency|0 Comments
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