Green Building : Jetson Green

Dow Unveils Impressive New Powerhouse Solar Shingle (with Photos)

Yesterday, Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) unveiled its new line of DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle.  The Solar Shingle was designed to be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials.  Dow expects the shingle systems to be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and more widely available in 2011.  And although the company says the system will provide a low-cost solar option for homeowners, we have not received any specific pricing details at this time (see below).  

Six Clever Products in the Pipeline

This year's Innovation Pipeline at West Coast Green was relatively small.  In part this may reflect the state of the economy, which has lead to decreased investments in new building technologies.  Despite that, there are a few interesting technologies that have been brought to market recently or will hopefully be available soon.  Here's a look at several products that may just change the future of this industry. 

The Largest Green Wall in North America

A few months back, we reported that PNC (NYSE: PNC) was in the process of installing the largest green wall in North American on the exterior of their Pittsburgh headquarters building, One PNC Plaza.  Now, as you can see in this monstrous image, PNC has successfully installed the 2,380 square-foot living wall with 602 modular panels.  Each 2'x2' panel has roughly 24 plants, so there’s approximately 14,448 plants covering the wall of this 30-story building.  Wow!

How about the Simple Solar in a Box?

The other day, Ready Solar announced the availability of this ground mount accessory for its modular Solar in a Box photovoltaic system.  The ground mount is just one more accessory that fits well with Ready Solar's line of dead simple solar products.  It bolts onto the integrated solar system and the tilt angle is established based on the distance between the front and back legs. 

A Bold Green Turbine-Powered Chicago

One hundred years ago, in 1909, architect Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett completed a document called the "Plan of Chicago," which, to use the words of The New Yorker, "determined the shape of modern Chicago."  Now, in an effort to build upon the work of Burnham and plan for the next 100 years, Big. Bold. Visionary: Chicago Considers the Next Century presents the work of nearly three dozen architects and planners with a vision for the windy city. 

An Efficient Coolerado in the Wild

About two days after hearing that Coolerado had won the Western Cooling Challenge for the hybrid commercial version of this technology, I saw this on a newly built home.  This is what appears to be the M50 Coolerado.  Coolerado says they have the most efficient air conditioning system made -- it uses up to 90% less electricity than a traditional air conditioner, depending on the humidity and elevation above sea level.  High and dry works best; see how:

Austin's Solar SunFlower Electric Garden

Every now and then, you see something just knocks your socks off.  It’s either beautiful or creative or cutting-edge or all three.  And that’s what happened when I read about these solar SunFlowers created by Mags Harries and Lajos Héder for Catellus Development Company in Austin, Texas.  The permanent public art display was switched on in July and features 15 SunFlowers – photovoltaic solar collector panels on welded steel frames and stems. 

Portland's First Rooftop Wind Turbines

Over the weekend, Hoffman Construction lifted four Southwest Windpower turbines into place on top of a new building, Twelve West.  Located at Southwest 12th Avenue and Washington Street, Twelve West includes a mixture of office and apartment spaces and was designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects to achieve LEED Platinum certification.  ZGF included the turbines in early renderings, and developer Gerding Edlen, probably the foremost green developer on the West Coast, determined to give the turbines serious chance.

Shower Green with an Oxygenics Storm

Oxygenics was kind enough to send us their new STORM showerhead, which was designed to provide 20%-70% water and energy savings.  The unit has 54 spray nozzles that shower you with 30% more water pressure compared to other brands.  They do this with their Pressure Boosting Technology (see below), which squeezes the stream of water while adding air to it. 

A Distinctive Greenscreen In the Wild

We've mentioned Arizona State University's green School of Sustainability, and we've also mentioned greenscreen modular trellis panels, but we're going to bring it all full circle here in one article.  ASU used greenscreen green walls in the renovation of this 1960s building to add a little something extra -- to cool the interior, clean the air, and bolster the design.  A wall was removed to add this distinctive element, and the strategy seems to be working.