Next to mortgage payments and building costs, maintenance costs are another expensive aspect of owning a home. Even if your home is as sustainable as possible, these costs still apply and get worse with age. Enter the Maintenance-Free House, designed by developers Realdania BYG and Arkitema Architects of Denmark, in collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute.
Read more »
Carpenter Dave Herrle, based in Westbrook, Connecticut recently built this tiny, beautiful house deep in the woods. Him and his wife already live in it, seeing as both are environmentally conscious and wish to live as sustainably as possible. The cottage is also very romantic, from its old world interior details to its gorgeous natural surroundings.
Read more »
Discarded rubber tires may soon find a new use. A team of researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have come up with a method of harvesting the carbon black from them, which can then be used to create anodes for lithium-ion batteries that provide power to plug-in electric vehicles and store energy produced by solar panels and wind turbines. According to the researchers, the new batteries will perform even better than the ones we use today.
Downsizing is becoming a priority for many in this new economic reality, and while the innovative Taku-Tanku home by the company Stereotank, may not be adequate as a permanent residence, it does make for a very sustainable cabin or tent alternative. Once assembled, it is even light enough to be towed on the back of a bicycle.
Read more »
Ethan and his girlfriend Kelsey have recently moved into a tiny home which they built themselves for only $7,000. They built the home in a trailer, which they got for only $1,500, and it is located on an organic farm in Texas. The 100-square-foot home took them about seven months to complete.
Read more »
The firm Garrison Architects in collaboration with New York City recently unveiled the prototype of a modular prefabricated housing system. The structures were developed for quick deployment in the event of another hurricane like Sandy, or other natural disaster. By the looks of it, the houses were also very much inspired by shipping container architecture.
Read more »
