If you're in the area, the next project by Postgreen, the development company behind the award-winning 100k House, will be open for tours on Thursday, December 17. Dubbed The Passive Project, the tour will include two newly constructed row houses built to a rigorous and trendy German Passiv Haus standard. When certified, these homes — located at 2318-2320 Amber Street — should be the first to do so in the Philadelphia.
We are giving away one (1) copy of this book to a random commenter at the end of Friday, December 18, 2009.*
Recently, Harper Collins was kind enough to send a review copy of a new book called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. It's the story of William Kamkwamba, a youngster in Malawi who built a home-made wind turbine to light his home. Before reading the book, I thought it was going to be about William's discovery of wind power and how that changed his family and life. It was that. But the discovery of wind power was really only a fraction of this touching story. This is one of the top books of the year.
The new congress center for the 4th World Solar Cities Conference, which takes place in September 2010, is now complete. Located in Dezhou of the Shandong Province, the 75,000 square meter (807,293 square feet) center includes exhibition centers, scientific research facilities, meeting and training facilities, and a hotel. It'll be a showcase of solar design, solar desalination, and, of course, about 50,000 square-feet of solar panels on the exterior.
Recently in The Oregonian, there was an article by Ruth Mullen about this upcycled container cabana built by Mike Corvi using a 8′ x 20′ steel shipping container. Corvi bought the container for $2,900; hired some craftsmen to cut out the windows and doors; installed dual-pane Jeld-wen windows and a sliding door; wired the place for electricity, cable, and heat; and installed rigid foam insulation and birch plywood paneling. He finished the space for ~$8,000, and Corvi wants to sell similar container cabanas for ~$16,000. He’s also working on a prototype with a kitchen and bathroom.
A few years ago, we mentioned this project and want to take an opportunity to follow up. The new Lofts @ Cherokee Studios, designed by Pugh + Scarpa and developed by REthink Development, is now complete. Built on the same site as Cherokee Recording Studios, which was MGM Studios before that, the location saw the likes of numerous past and present musical giants, including Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, David Bowie, and Dave Matthews. It's now a mixed-use location seeking LEED Platinum certification.
Project Profiles
