Economist: Heat From The Street!

Rona from our NY office has found this great new idea of capturing solar energy from the surfaces we walk and drive on in the Heat From The Street article!

Our Director of Sustainable Design in NY says: "This article illustrates the sort of simple and great “out of the box” ideas that have enormous potential in our work to design a more sustainable world. This is also the type of idea that exemplifies the integrated design approach and the power of early “visioning” that returns us to simple ideas unconstrained by “design as usual”.

More Economist alternative energy articles

Here is one example: IHS have installed a unique system in the car park of their new offices in the Scottish Highlands. The Road Energy system is hugely exciting. Capable of heating and cooling buildings, roads and airport runways it takes advantage of the superior absorption capacity of asphalt. See details....

USGBC Honors Green Building Leaders

The Organizational Excellence Award was presented this year to HOK and was accepted by Mary Ann Lazarus, Senior Vice President. Sustainable design is a core value for HOK, and is integral to every aspect of the firm's work and operations. HOK was the first large design firm to join USGBC, and HOK's sustainable leaders helped USGBC develop the first LEED rating system. The firm has continued to be an active partner in USGBC, providing leadership in the LEED program and sponsoring and participating in Greenbuild and other USGBC activities.

The partnership reached a new level this past year when HOK sustainable design principals assumed leadership roles in the Gulf Coast Reconstruction charrettes at Greenbuild 2005 and the production of the resulting New Orleans Principles and other reports. HOK was also the first firm to reach 100 LEED Accredited Professionals and today boasts more than 430 on staff, including much of the firm's leadership. All new salaried hires are now expected to become accredited within six months, with the long-term goal to have 100% of design professionals accredited. HOK has adopted a policy to apply LEED to every project and has fully integrated LEED into "The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design." More...

Green Autodesk

The sustainable design movement is being led by you and we encourage you to visit their www.autodesk.com/green to find stories, profiles and information to assist in your continued sustainable design learning. Autodesk have recently sponsored the "Envisioning Change" art exhibit to increase awareness of the effects of climate change on the world’s coldest regions and to inspire changes in behaviour that can slow it down. More....

Carbon Neutral Building Design – How Low Can You Go?

Green Building Studio povides the tools and knowledge necessary to design carbon neutral buildings. "We will begin by assessing the carbon footprint of a schematic design and modifying the design to minimize its carbon footprint with parametric simulations" More...