Green Building : Jetson Green

Tempe Transit Center Covered in Green

We've seen solar-powered transit shelters, but this eco-friendly transit center with transit stops outfitted with green walls may be a first.  With the help of greenscreen green walls, the City of Tempe Transit Center is seeking LEED Platinum certification.  The mixed use facility, designed to be 52% more efficient than a traditional building of its kind, went with green walls to provide a buffer from the harsh Arizona sun and heat. 

Xeripave Natural Stone Permeable Pavers

Stormwater design and control is a huge aspect of green building, especially with LEED credits provided for reducing impervious cover, increasing on-site filtration, and reducing pollution from stormwater runoff and eliminating contaminants.  We've mentioned a company previously makes recycled content pavers, Vast Pavers, but I thought I would also mention another company that's been making news in the industry, Xeripave.  Xeripave makes permeable pavers in various colors that have a flow through rate of up to 1.5 gallons per second per square foot.  Watch how the paver works:

Water Wise Landscaping Goes Modular

Recently, Knibb Design let us know about their new endeavor to modularize landscape design with a new site: Knibb Modular Garden.  Knibb Modular lets you create a custom residential or commercial garden online in about four steps.  When you're done, you'll have an estimated total cost of all the materials, which should be about $12-$16 per square foot.  Unless you install the garden yourself, installation will run about $4-$6 extra per square foot.  So all in, a modular garden like this will cost about $16-$22 per square foot, sans land preparation costs.  

A Positive Energy Landscape Hub

Yes, it has a Wilson bi-fold garage door.  Yes, it has translucent photovoltaic panels that also illuminate the interior workspace.  Yes, it's heated and cooled by a geothermal system.  And yes, it's pretty much the most amazing landscape storage shed around.  Designed by Gray Organschi Architecture, this storage barn -- more appropriately a storage rack that doubles as an 800 square-foot building -- is the central hub for a landscape business in Washington, Connecticut. 

Modern Style for Backyard Urban Hens

I've had the opportunity to keep in regular contact with Rob Pyatt (i.e., 1940s Boxhouse and Pinon House), principal of Pyatt Studio, and his work with Urban Hens is really taking off right now.  The Urban Hens Project is meant to develop a sustainable, closed-loop model for establishing chickens in urban settings.  Hens provide eggs, they eat kitchen and garden scraps, and if you're really hard core, they'll become a fine little dinner.  Check out these modern, Quonset hut-inspired chicken coops:

PNC Brands Headquarters with Largest Living Wall in North America

Update 9/22/09: Largest Green Wall in North America is Complete!

In a recent press release, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) announced plans to install a 2,380 square-foot, soil-based living wall on the southerly exterior of the company's Pittsburgh headquarters building, One PNC Plaza.  The living wall, pending municipal approval and installation in September 2009, will be the largest green living wall in North America.  Produced by Green Living Technologies and designed by Mingo Design, a careful arrangement of locally-sourced plants will brand the building with PNC's logo. 

Santa Fe Sustainability with Solar

Solarsmith, a green building firm out of Santa Fe, New Mexico, recently helped Betsy Armstrong and Richard Barr build an eco-friendly, traditional southwest-style home in the foothills of Santa Fe.  The residence's roof is filled with solar panels, which are tied into the grid, helping to heat water for the radiant floors, exercise pool and appliances.  Excess energy is fed to neighboring homes.

Greenscreen Modular Trellis Panels

Greenscreen is not a new product, but the modular trellis panels are versatile enough to, in my estimation, inspire someone to put them to new use.  Or use them to create something unique or innovative.  The elements of the system are simple, with just the planter, panels, and the plants -- if you have the time to wait for the design to grow in, you can create a pretty unique looking living wall, fence, column, curve, or practically any other shape.  The panels are made with 14 gauge galvanized steel and are available in ~ six colors. 

Chicago Eco-Bridge to 2016

This conceptual proposal for Chicago's Monroe Harbor was designed in honor of the great American architect Daniel Burnham, but perhaps more importantly, to secure Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic games.  The proposal is a modern interpretation of Burnam's 1909 master plan for Chicago.  In a land locked city, the Chicago Eco-Bridge offers an extension of the landscape that would dramatically change the face of the city, and perhaps the United States. 

A Living House by R&Sie Architects

We've seen some interesting living walls and green roofs, but this goes beyond these applications and into the realm of being a complete living house.  Referred to as the Lost in Paris House, the structure took five years to complete and was designed by R&Sie architects.  The unique living envelope comprises 1200 ferns (or Dryopteris filix-mas) in a hydroponic system – the plants are not sustained by soil but by a chemical mixture of bacteria, nutrients, and rainwater.