You’d think bamboo floor is pretty cut and dry, but EcoTimber, a leader in the push towards environmentally-friendly flooring options, has found a way to innovate in this area.  They’ve just released a new, prefinished, strand-woven bamboo flooring that doesn’t look like your regular bamboo.  The top image is a blown-up version of the amber color (view others below).  Looks like a regular hardwood, doesn’t it?  It actually acts like a hardwood, too.  It took about two years to develop and can be sanded and refinished just like regular hardwoods.  With a suggested retail price of $5.99 sf, there’s no reason to stick with the old growth products.  Seriously. 

Here are a few green reasons to like this new EcoTimber Bamboo offering:

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Zorlu Ecocity is a Llewelyn Davies Yeang project located in Istanbul, Turkey.  It’s a mixed-use development located at the southern extremity of Buyukdere Street in Istanbul.  The plan is conceptualized as a "city within a city" and conforms to the city’s planning strategy to multiply the number of urban centers throughout the Marma region to relieve pressure on Istanbul’s historic core. 

Zorlu Ecocity will have 588,850 sm (6,338,329 sf) of accommodation, which includes office towers, residential towers, two hotels, apartments, and resort-style elderly units above a three story retail complex.  In total, we’re talking about 14 towers ranging from 8 to 26 stories. 

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This is a concept rendering for 110 The Embarcadero.  We’re talking about very early stages here (this hasn’t been submitted to the planning committee yet), but the San Francisco Chronicle just profiled the new design.  The building is a 10-story structure envisioned for Embarcadero and designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects for Hines.  The result, as you can see, is a glassy, viny, green mid-rise skyscraper.  I think 110 The Embarcadero is quite easy on the eye, to be entirely honest, and due to the simple design, it probably has excellent floor plates with great daylighting and views.  Can’t beat the location either, with a bird’s eye of both the city and the bay. 

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PaperStone, aka “the Earth’s Surface,” is quite popular in green building projects.  It’s most commonly used for countertops and currently available in three eco-options.  “Original” is made from 50% post-consumer materials, “Certified” is made from 100% recycled materials, and “Virgin” is made from virgin fiber sources.

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I just caught wind of an incredible new collection of transparent, glass mosaic tile called LIBERTY.  LIBERTY was designed by Giulio Candussio for Trend USA, a company we profiled previously for their Trend Q product.  These images are incredible.  The hand cut tiles contain a minimum of 50% post industrial recycled content and are available in 12 colors.  LIBERTY retails for about $45 psf, which is not bad depending on the use.  A wall might be expensive, but an accent will be more reasonable.  I’m gonna let the images speak on this one, but if you want more information, LIBERTY will be in tile shops all over the country (visit here or call 866-508-7363 for nearest location). 

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