I mentioned Nanosolar back in August because I found an excellent video about the company — they’re poised to dramatically flip this solar industry inside out.  Today comes news that they shipped their first product and received an actual revenue check.  This is a big deal.  Thin film solar is incredible because it can be used more flexibly and produced at a much lower cost. 

Their powersheet product was recognized by Popular Science as 2007 Innovation of the Year.  Now that the product is a reality, we’re going to see some craziness.  They’ve accomplished a slew of world’s firsts (below) and decided to auction off an early batch of product on eBay.  Unfortunately, that’s all you’re likely to get because they’re sold out for the next 12 months!  Better start your orders now. 

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Lee Industries, a high quality, custom furniture company has introduced an impressive eco line: naturalLEE.   The beauty of Lee has always been that you can choose one of their fabrics and one of their furniture designs and have a custom piece made to fit your style.  Now, with naturalLEE, you can still choose any one of their furniture design and they will make it naturally! 

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This is the San Francisco Sunset Idea House for 2007, and it's one of the first LEED Certified residential remodeled homes in the nation.  This home is unique from other Sunset Idea Houses in that it's in a dense urban area on a compact site.  There are two-units and the smaller one, which is about 1,200 sf, is reportedly on sale for $1,089,000.  No word on whether the larger, 3,600 sf unit will be for sale. 

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This is the Artek Pavilion, aka "The Space of Silence," which was designed by Shigeru Ban and built with primarily one material: an environmentally-friendly, paper plastic composite known as UPM ProFi.  Debuting in the U.S. this weekend at Design Miami, the pavilion is roughly 131 long x 16 feet wide and can be assembled and taken apart quickly.  It’s a nomadic installation in the beauty and power of next generation materials in real world applications.  The main material, UPM ProFi, comes in three modern colors and is made from scrap paper and plastic.  UPM ProFi is normally used in decking, but this installation proves that it’s durable and flexible enough to be used with variety.  I’ll update the images if I can get some shots from the Miami exhibition. 

More images: @Helsinki + @Milan

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I’m writing this article on Chipotle, and I can’t help but think how nice a little midnight chicken burrito would taste.  I love this place.  Minimalist.  Exposed.  Clean.  And.  Green.  Ever notice the fact that no two Chipotle Restaurants look alike?  They put their restaurants in all sorts of locations, old and new.  We just got a new one in an old building, but the restaurant is nice.  It’s fantastic.  Their napkins are made of recycled content, and if my memory serves correctly, I remember reading on one of their cups that they source their beans fair trade.  But that’s not all.

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