CNN's taking charge

The Green Revolution- it cant succeed if it isn't known, it won't be known if we don't spread the word. I'm glad CNN is doing it's part in helping the cause instead of selling out to large corporations much like many other media organizations (hint Fox).

- Jassa Sidhu

STRAW BALE BUILDING

Straw is the dry stalks of harvested wheat, barley and other cereal plants. Tightly baled and used for exterior walls, straw is a strong, non-toxic building material with great durability. As with any straw bale construction, Tenax, a plastic mesh, keeps the straw in place and provides a base for the cement plaster that covers the interior and exterior.

A breathable, silicate-based paint covers interior and exterior walls, allowing moisture to pass from the house through the straw and ensuring the bales stay dry -- no vapour barrier is necessary in straw bale construction. It's hard to beat straw bales' insulating value, which proponents claim has an R value of 35 to 50, double to triple that of a conventional wall.

Any type of straw can be used, including wheat, oats, barley, rye and rice. Bales used for building are not custom-baled, but must be dry (less than 20% moisture) and tight. Two string bales are the Canadian straw bale construction standard, but in places where larger, three-string bales are the norm they too can be used and offer insulation values of R-55.

Straw bale buildings use the same foundation, flooring and roofing technologies familiar to builders of frame homes. Basements, slabs and pier foundations can all be easily adapted to straw bale construction. Similarly, prefabricated trusses can be used to provide the roof structure.

The straw bales in the walls are stacked in a manner similar to bricks or concrete blocks, in running bond. Window and door openings are created using wide, rough frame wooden bucks inserted into the walls during construction. The first course of bales is always started on a 2x4 curb, to lift the bales higher than the interior floor level, in case of flooding or spills.

There are two basic styles of straw bale construction. Post and beam style uses a structural framework to support roof loads, and the bales are either wrapped outside the framework or in filled between the framing members. While wooden post and beam systems are the most common, concrete and steel frames would also be suitable. Straw bales are a practical building material, abundantly available in most areas, and annually-renewable.


-chris c. --

Raising the (Green) Roof

Melbourne’s 6-star CH2 building

Newsflash: Green roofs aren't just for hobbits anymore. People are finally realizing the benefits of Green roofs, which are planted roofs—"usually made up of hardy, succulent sedums--can absorb storm water, helping to relieve our backed up storm pipes and drains, since loads of impervious surfaces—parking lots, driveways, etc". They are known to help reduce greenhouse gases and even act as insulators for buildings allowing them to be more energy efficient. In addition to these benefits, the lecture by Anna Toumai, stressed its benefits in a more social context. This was a refreshing intake on our generally 'eco-friendly' take on Green roofs. Where we can begin to see them as aesthetically pleasing social spaces in addition to their already beneficial nature.

- Jassa

GREEN ROOF WINNIPEG

Funded by the FCM grant, the City of Winnipeg explored the feasibility of developing a green roof strategy for flat-topped buildings in its downtown area. Such a strategy could help alleviate stormwater management problems in Winnipeg’s downtown. The City felt that a green roof strategy could be incorporated into the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) control model to reduce runoff effects and provide other environmental benefits.
The Assiniboine district was the focus of this study due to its high concentration of flattopped buildings. The area is also the most prone to overflows from the combined sewer system. Recent aerial photographs and visual inspections indicated that an area of 218,773 square metres (almost 20% of the total area of the district) could be used for green roof development.
Control-system models were created to simulate rainfall and runoff during a typical year. Various scenarios were examined to determine whether a green roof strategy could reduce not only the number of overflows in a year, but also their volume and the volume of wastewater going to the water pollution control center.
In this study plant species were also evaluated for their carbon-fixation and sequestering potential.
Data collected during the stormwater modeling process indicated that the number of overflows could be reduced by 16%, if 100% of the potential roof space in the district were used. The volume of the overflow could also be reduced by approximately 48%, which in turn would cut the volume of flow to the water pollution control centers. In terms of the carbon fixation it was found that if 100% of the potential green roof space were developed, 24.5 tonnes of carbon would be fixed (removed) annually.

--chris c.--

The Living Wall is needed downtown

Along with green roofs there are living walls. A living wall is either part of a building or free standing which is at least partially covered in vegetation and sometimes soils and other organic growing material. They are also referred to as green walls or biowalls. I believe that each building in the downtown area should have at least one living wall because at least then there is some green space in the district. By having green walls in office buildings, people may be better able to cope with what is known as sick building syndrome. Living Walls would also be a very easy way of reusing the greywater from the building. It would require no remodeling of the building in certain ways such as sending the greywater straight to the “free standing wall.” Beyond all of the ways they help create a healthy living environment, living walls also are very aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

The Living Wall

~Trevor

Big Ass Fans!

In any big space that is heated or air conditioned, the hot air will rise and it will tend to stratify, with hot air stuck at the ceiling, wasting a lot of energy. There are lots of high-tech things you can do, but the dumb simple thing is to simply put a big-ass fan up there to stir things up and that's where the Big Ass Fans® Company comes in. The concept is simple and it works, I guess you don't always need high tech gadgetry to be efficient.

BigAssFans.com TreeHugger.com

- Jassa

Anna Toumai spoke today about Urban Roof Garden Designs. The majority of her ideas came from her studies within Germany. The first idea that she brought up for urban roof garden designs was that of a beer garden located on the roof of different buildings. I think this is relevant considering the idea of beer gardens originated in Bavaria Germany. Having beer gardens on the roofs of workplaces would be a good idea in my opinion as long as they were only open after a certain time. By having the beer garden located on the roof of the workplace would allow for coworkers to congregate and have a place to socialize and become friends. This would allow for coworkers to become friends and therefore the work that is being within the workplace would become more efficiently finished, as all of the staff would be comfortable with each other. However if the beer garden was open during the day I do not think that the efficiency of the work would be very great because the staff would probably be spending a lot of time in the beer garden or else they would be drunk and unable to do any work. Locating a beer garden on the roof of their building would benefit the company financially as well. Instead of paying the staff their wage and allowing it to be spent on drinks at a bar, they are creating a space right on their roof and therefore they are paying the staff their wage and are getting paid a portion of that back at the end of the day. People would want to congregate at the beer garden instead of a lounge or bar for the most part because it is more live and a lot less dingy. I believe a lot of people would benefit from a beer garden on the roof of their place of work.

Rooftop Beer Garden at Otani Hotel in LA

~Trevor

Technology for Water

It seems as if we are taking away from our planets resources more and more as we see our lives getting easier through the constantly developing technology, so its always nice to know that there is technology out there working for the environment rather than against it. "ECONA", as its called, is a water-saving device that is said to "change the way you view your water consumption at home". Designed by Clara Descals (Valencia) and Emma Laurin (Sweden), the touch panel receives, stores and manages information about household water consumption. It then displays the info about the house, via the water-droplet shaped units, that warn you if you are using too much of that clear gold and how much you should be using.

The objective of this bluetooth-information-transferring device is to make we consumers more conscious of our water use at home. Its visual and graphic design is intended for ease of understanding by our little water consumers. The main control unit also has programmable software and a USB port that allows you to upload the information to your computer.



Living Deco via TreeHugger.com

- Jassa

Floatable Homes

The Netherlands is a very small country and yet it is very densely populated. It is also a country, which is at a high risk from climate change and rising sea levels. One Dutch construction company, Dura Vermeer, has developed homes that can float on top of rising waters. The Maasbommel waterfront is lined with thirty-seven of these homes. Their foundation is built on a large hollow concrete cube, which gives the entire home its buoyancy. These concrete cubes are connected to the land by a single vertical pillar. The structure rests on the ground and is fastened to a 15-foot-long mooring post with sliding rings. These rings allow the home to float in times of flood. The next time that the Meuse River floods due to the “bursting of its banks” the homes will rise with it. Electricity water and sewage are pumped in through flexible pipes that bend depending on the movement of the house. These homes are able to withstand a change in the water table of up to 13ft. Unfortunately not everyone who lives in this area will be able to afford one of these homes as they retail at base of 260000 Euros or $310,000. Although they are pricey, the demand is still high. I believe the price is due mainly to the concept. I would like to see these homes become more of a mainstream; This idea should be implemented along all major rivers and any other large body of water which floods.

Rebecca Davis’ Tour of these floatable homes in Maasbommel along the river:

On a grey day in November, we head to a town called Maasbommel on the Maas River. We're going to see a lady who owns a floating house. Well, it's not really a floating house. It's a house that can float because it has a unique foundation. We eventually find the driveway that takes us down to a cluster of cool-looking houses along the river. They have a nautical feel, with curved lines and colored wooden planking. We’re supposed to be visiting the house of Anne van der Molen, but we can't seem to find hers. So we start knocking on doors. We want to see the inside of one of these houses. Finally, we find someone who is home: Mariana Smits. She is a delightful, energetic woman. If I had to pick one adjective, I'd pick perky. She invites us in for a tour. It has the look of a typical split-level house. A living room faces the river; stairs lead to a bedroom in back and to a master bedroom above the living room. "We are two of us, me and my husband," Smits says. "So it's big enough for us.” But then I make an odd tour request. I ask her if I can see her home's foundation. Luckily, she's happy to oblige. She leads us downstairs.” This is underwater," she says when we get there. We are in an enclosed basement with a low ceiling, and the Maas River is all around us. I mean, you poke a hole, and you're going to have water come in. You see, Smits' foundation actually sits on the river bottom. If the river level rises to flood stage, the house and the foundation float up with the water level. Flexible pipes keep the house connected to electrical and sewer lines. The house hasn't floated yet, but the prediction is that with global warming, the river will flood about once every 12 years. This ability to cope with floodwater rather than be devastated is why Smits moved here.” In the other village we have lived, there was always the water. I was very scared," Smits says. "Two times, we have evacuated to leave our old house. This was very scary for us. And we got the opportunity to buy this house. It's a safe place.” In fact, global warming, with the increased risk of flooding it brings, is causing some architects in Holland to change their philosophy. Chris Zevenbergen is with Dura Vermeer, the company that designed and built Smits' house.” The whole idea is, in our designs, we should always take into account what will happen when there's an extreme event," Zevenbergen says. In the past, the Dutch only built homes in places where dikes made flooding unlikely.” The concept that in fact you build in an area where a flood may occur is completely new," Zevenbergen says. New, and attracting attention. Go ahead and build houses in areas that might flood — just build them on floating foundations. At his office in The Hague, Koen Olthuis drums his fingers on his desk while he is fielding calls from people all over the world interested in water architecture. Olthuis is bursting with energy. He's the co-founder of a firm called Waterstudio, a small office with a dozen or so youngish employees. Olthuis' projects go beyond the idea of simply keeping the house and its contents dry.” The next step: we not only make the house floating, but we make the complete garden floating," Olthuis says. Why not? Why lose all those pretty Dutch tulips just because it floods? After all, Olthuis says, building floating foundations is a snap. Just fill a concrete box with some kind of plastic foam, flip it over, and you've got a stable platform that's ready to float. And the more of these platforms you join together, the more stable they are. So Olthuis doesn't plan to stop at single family homes.” You see a floating foundation, with a garden on top of it, a swimming pool on top of it, and a house on top of it. And you can fix those floating gardens to each other, and make a floating village of it," he says.

Ideas
Tour of Home

~Trevor

Architecture is Frozen Music

According to Dr. Shaunna Mallory Hill there is no sound in space because there is no medium to travel through and yet apparently “Architecture is frozen music.” It seems as though frozen music would have no sound, does that mean then that architecture is not considered a medium? If one is left with this thought, one is then left to question what they are living within. If architecture is not a medium, does it exist or is it just figurative? Do we as a species exist? These thoughts lead one to ponder whether or not they are a portion of reality or merely someone or something’s imagination.

~Trevor

Music and Architecture

Music and architecture, not something we are so used to putting together but apparently they are very much related to one another. So much that music,as Dr. Shaunna Mallory Hill emphasized, is believed to have changed with architecture. I came across an interesting article by a man named Allan Cohen who had a few things to say about this relationship that I found fascinating. Music he states, "is an interesting entity. It makes you feel happy, sad, relaxed, tense and so on. It recalls memories. For example, a specific song reminds you of a loved one, or a special moment in your life. It can also be boring. Elevator music is often bland. Music is also cultural. Every country has its unique instruments and its unique rhythms and harmonies. Sound and music are related. Music is organized or improvised sound played over a period of time. Everyday sounds may be considered music.The jingle of trains, trucks, and the random tempo of car horns provide a modern percussion soundtrack. The hum of a fan or an air conditioner can be a relaxing drone. The sounds of an old boiler or a radiator can act as an asymmetrical counterpoint to the everyday sounds of the people in that building. The author then talks about a record which contained recordings of musical sculptures. Many of these sculptures produced music using a wind chime analogy. They produced music when various parts of the sculpture moved and interacted with each other. He found the music to be interesting but it was the concept that he found fascinating. The idea behind these sculptures was simple. Random interactions, a breeze, people walking by and touching the sculptures, etc. produced random music. Random interactions with random sculptures produced a random symphony. The idea of music sculptures or musical architecture is an interesting concept. When houses and buildings are designed, space and lighting are considered. Why not sound? Why not create homes and buildings that take advantage of the surrounding sonic environment? Use architecture to enhance appealing sounds and use architecture to block unwanted sounds. Music plays an integral part of our lives. MP3s are everywhere. Many people have fancy stereo systems in their cars because they live a good portion of their lives in their cars. Music relieves the stress and tedium of the day-to-day commute. We also live a good portion of our lives in our homes. Why not use music or sound to make this portion of our lives more relaxing and comfortable. When it is hot outside play a recording of a snowstorm. Some psychologists believe that this may make you feel cooler. If it is cold, play a recording of a fireplace. Studies have shown that people find the sound of water to be more relaxing than any other sound. Play a recording of a gentle rainstorm, a country brook, or the sound of the surf when you are tense. Chimes are an easy musical sculpture to incorporate into your living space. The randomness of this instrument may contribute to a relaxing environment. Architecture defines our living and working space." Light and space, Cohen states, are important and I agree with him in that acoustics considerations should also be an important aspect when defining and designing architecture.

See Buzzle.com

- Jassa

Ed Epp- Flood Architecture

Looking at these past few years it seems as if floods are becoming more and more reoccurring. It seems that the only sensible thing to do, when considering architecture susceptible to flooding, is to design accordingly. Ed Epp's lecture inspired me to look more into this, that is how I came across Inhabitat.com, "a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future."

One of the most interesting design solutions for dealing with rising water levels has to be the amphibious architecture of Dutch firm Waterstudio. Architect Koen Olthius specializes in a unique technology that allows land-based buildings to detach from the ground and float under rising water conditions. Olthius’ claim to fame is that he focuses exclusively on aqueous design - design for building in, on and at the water - in a country where water dominates the landscape.

The Dutch have fought their marshy surroundings with clever engineering since the country’s inception, and we’ve seen some impressive “floating architecture” from DuraVermeer and WaterStudio. Now that global warming is fanning the flame: melting ice-caps and raising sea levels, more and more Dutch designers are getting into amphibious architecture. Builder Hans van de Beek’s amphibious houses are an obvious yet genius solution to rising water levels. He explains; “They are pretty much just regular houses, the only difference is that when the water rises, they rise.”


DuraVermeer, Dutch Floating Homes, Dutch Amphibious Architecture, Dutch floating architecture, floating homes, Massbommel, Netherlands

Unlike the houseboats that line many Dutch canals or the floating villages of Asia, these homes are being built on solid ground — but they also are designed to float on flood water. Each house is made of lightweight wood, and the concrete base is hollow, giving it ship-like buoyancy. With no foundations anchored in the earth, the structure rests on the ground and is fastened to 15-foot-long mooring posts with sliding rings, allowing it to float upwards in times of flood. All the electrical cables, water and sewage flow through flexible pipes inside the mooring piles.

See Inhabitat.com

- Jassa

FLOOD ARCHITECTURE - E. EPP

ICFA Site

The industrial city and how it chooses to deal with flood architecture is hardly thoughtful. China as a quick growing country seems to be building with less thought and more speed. Although I can understand the need to build infrastructure asap because of the displacement of people and their need for new homes. But the design of compact building and concrete jungles seem outdated and create more problem in the long run, no sustainable systems in place. Ed mentioned that some places are abandoned entirely and surely paved over with concrete with a single purpose to stabilize the land. Instead of using the lay of the land or engineer with a purpose to work with the river should be priority over blow up, pave and cover with concrete. China has an opportunity to become a world leader and from what I've seen is unfortunate. I am sure that there are wonderfully built areas but the destruction of rural China is terrible. With a growing population and increase in industrial activity surely the long run should also be a priority in terms of sustainability.

On the other hand the architecture of the post industrial city seems very well designed with purposeful intentions. A clear intent to use the river in a less intrusive fashion is interesting.



CHRIS>C

S. HILL MALLORY - PART II - ACOUSTICS

The presentation this week was on acoustics. I was interested the most in knowing that the way a surface is designed has a dual purpose in the fact that it can refract sound or absorb it as well as being aesthetically pleasing. Depending on certain designs it can become a major problem especially in spaces that require a certain level of quietness like a library. An echo can become an annoyance, yet an echo could be wanted to create a certain level of reverb. I wish Shauna spoke more about technological advancements in the field like her presentation on lights. The talk about sound and the human psyche was also interesting in the fact that on a primitive level we are connected to living beings and the level of sophistication our hearing ability has. Our brain reacts and fires in very complex ways and regulates how our mood is and our ability to differentiate cultural nuances in how we perceive sound.

--CHRIS-C>

Water: how are we using it?

Ted McGlaukin also spoke of the water process and how right now we are wasting water in North America while people in underdeveloped countries haven’t even seen clean water in their lives. To us seeing how the rest of the world lives is an incredibly saddening sight and yet most of us do not get up off our seats to do anything. We continue to sit in awkward silence and stare in disbelief, unable to comprehend just how these people remain; how can they continue to function? They are able to function because unlike the developed worlds people, the underdeveloped worlds people do not know any different, they believe that their lives is how people were meant to live; in anguish and despair.
A very simple way to help these people is by conserving the fresh water on the earth’s surface. We would be able to do this in relatively simple ways, which is what McGlaukin was speaking of. The way our toilets have worked in the past is that for every flush 16 gallons is of water – fresh water at that – is wasted. McGlaukin suggests that not only do we convert all of our toilets to the 1 gallon flush or the dual flush system but that we change the way we use all of the water within our homes and work places. Why are we using drinking water to flush our toilets? That is a very interesting question. Why is it that we use our drinking water to flush our toilets? Apparently the reason is because in North America, any water that a child is able to touch has to be clean in order to prevent disease. There are other ways your may be able to go about using the water before it is thrown into the sewers. McGlaukin believes that you should be able to use water at least three times over before it is thrown into the sewer system. He suggests one way we do this is after we run our sink water and wash our hands; this water is filtered and then reused as our shower water. The grey water from the shower could be able to be filtered and then used as our toilet water. Nobody is drinking out of the toilet; children aren’t playing in the toilet, so why wouldn’t it be able to be grey water? Another way he suggests you may conserve water and at the same time reduce the run off of your property into the sewer system is by creating a water circuit in your back yard. Start the circuit by having the water run off from your roof fall into a small pond, which incorporates fish and other small pond creatures. This water will also be able to move from the pond into a marsh-like area, which would incorporate certain plants that remove the bad chemicals from the water. This water is then sent to your garden to water your vegetables and only after the water is used for all of these things is it able to move to the sewer system and by that time the water is almost drinking water again because it has been filtered by the different natural processes.

~Trevor

Scales of ten

Dr. Ted McGlaukin, the head of the Landscape Architecture program brought up the idea of looking at everything in different scales of ten in latitude with each other or at the same time. An example he gave was looking at a tree from as close up to see a knat on the bark to looking at that same tree and being able to see the moose, which is standing in front. I guess this idea would be able to work for everything from the project you do in your practicum to the way you live your everyday life. It could be very useful in some ways and yet get very irritating in others. By using this idea for specific projects, one would be able to look at each aspect in more than one ideal way and in doing so they would be able to gather a lot more information. If this idea was used to live everyday life, one would always be thinking instead of actually living.

~Trevor

Garbage Nation

It has been recently noted that the recycling business is in the toilet in the US; its been also noted that the same thing is happening in Britain; now they are drowning in paper that used to be shipped to China but that nobody wants now. The Confederation of Paper industries says in the Guardian:

"With no obvious signs of Far East buyers returning to the market soon there is a serious possibility that storage of recyclables may end up being a high-risk strategy with huge costs to those requiring storage, including the taxpayers through local authorities. The worst-case scenario is that some material collected for recycling could go to incineration or landfill."

According to Western Morning News,

At a time when levels of recyclable waste are increasing, councils are struggling to sell on the waste owing to a dramatic drop in prices of steel, aluminium, cardboard and plastics.

Mike Trim, head of cleansing services at Exeter City Council, said they had had to start stockpiling steel, since its value dropped "almost overnight" three weeks ago from £150 per tonne to zero.

Councils may have to start giving recyclables away free if the market does not improve, relying only on the £45 recycling credit per tonne contributed by the Government.

"We are still encouraging people to recycle. But the problem is that it is a world market – even China is closing its doors. Sadly, it is totally out of our hands," Mr Trim said.

He said cardboard has dropped from £60 per tonne to zero, aluminium has dropped from £900 to £400 and HDPE plastic (used to make milk containers) is down from £350 to £150.



Only high-quality paper and glass are holding their value.

So not only is recycling seemingly bullshit, it doesn't even work anymore when considering pileups all over the world. Soon the Linens 'n Things and Circuit City big boxes will be filled to the rafters with the stuff.

All the more reason why we have to immediately encourage reuseable containers and discourage disposables, and stop pretending that recycling solves the problem.

The Article

-Jassa

GREY WATER SYSTEMS

Light-greywater typically consists of drainage from bathroom sinks, tubs, showers, and often laundry. All three wastewater categories contain a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants as well as disease-causing micro-organisms; with the type of contaminants and concentrations in light-greywater depending on the specific drainage source (i.e. bathtubs versus laundry). Although light-greywater may have lower concentrations of contaminants than mixed wastewater, research shows that the concentrations can be comparable to, and at times even greater than, mixed wastewater. Most lightgreywater is expected to have a low enough concentration of contaminants and disease causing microorganisms that reuse applications can be considered without the need for biological treatment or disinfection as long as the application has a is low risk of direct public contact (e.g. subsurface irrigation, and toilet or urinal flushing), and when storage is not required. The only form of greywater treatment typically provided in these cases is sedimentation to remove coarse solids and grit, and coarse filtration to remove hair and lint.

Collection of the greywater is simple in concept, but is one of the more practically difficult aspects of reusing greywater. In the simplest case, greywater can be collected simply by placing a bucket below an open sink drain, and manually transported to the point of use. However, a piped system requires less user intervention and is more ideal from a public health perspective since it eliminates contact between greywater and user. In this case, a plumbing network simply takes the greywater, keeping it separate from the non-greywater, and directs the greywater to a point where it can be stored, treated, or reused.

SEWAGE DIAGRAM PDF



-CHRIS>C

WINDFARMING

“Wind farms” bring together groups of wind turbines to produce enough electricity to power thousands of homes. The world's largest wind farm, located in Texas, consists of 421 turbines producing 735 Megawatts of electricity. The turbines cover nearly 47,000 acres (190 km²) of land.

There is a big difference between a wind farm (known as “large wind”) and “small wind”. “Small wind” usually involves either a small turbine powering a house or a medium-sized turbine powering a farm, business or a small community. Large wind provides electricity to the electric grid (rather than just a home or business).

Right now, wind farms in Canada have a capacity of 1,876 MW – enough to power 569,000 homes or equivalent to 0.8 % of Canada’s total electricity demand. Canada’s wind resource is well distributed in rural areas throughout the country with 83 wind farms in operation, and more now under construction. In total there are 1,410 turbines now operating in Canada.

In September 2001 the City of Calgary decided to power their C-Train with electricity from commercial wind energy and named it Ride the Wind!™ because riders would actually be traveling with the help of energy captured from the wind. Before the switch, the C-Train’s energy supply accounted for about 20,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases and other air pollution every year – still less than 1/10 of the pollution that
would have resulted if all C-Train passengers had driven in their own cars. Most of that electricity came from coal-fired generating stations. How it works: Each of the 12 turbines that power the C-Train, can produce more than 600 kW of electricity, or 1.3 million kWh of electricity annually – enough to supply nearly 250 average Alberta homes – and more than enough to meet the needs of C-Train commuters. The results: Under the Ride the Wind!™ program, the C-Train’s expected air emissions from electricity use have been reduced from 20,000 tonnes to practically zero. The resulting greenhouse gas reduction is like taking 4,000 cars off the road for a full year.

Manitoba’s first wind farm at St. Leon generates 99 megawatts (MW) of clean power. The 63 wind turbines represent a $210-million project that will result in significant employment opportunities; $20 million in municipal taxes; and approximately $10 million in local landholder payments over the 25-year lifespan of the project. In addition, having a 99-MW wind farm up and running is equivalent to reducing 260,000 tonnes of global GHG emissions and can have the same positive impact as taking 50,000 cars off the road or planting 1.2 million trees.

>CHRIS.C--

Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia

Thomas Jefferson had a solid grasp on many concepts that many of the architectural scholars of today are just now today pushing on people in 1819. Only now are these concepts being consistently taught that they should be integrated into all of our cityscapes. While Jefferson was conceiving his plans of the University of Virginia he was thinking about many different concepts, which he thought were essential in the “academical village”. Many of his ideas we are now incorporating into our new urbanism designs of the city. While in the last century or so the majority of our cityscape designs have a vehicle first mentality, Jefferson had already conceived the idea of having a green space in the center space of all of the surrounding buildings. This green space was created for the intent of giving the students a place to walk and mingle with each other. Jefferson had a pedestrian first mentality and presented this with this green space. The streets were kept off of the original conception plan. Thomas Jefferson had also conceived the idea of a mixed-use society. The university buildings were a space for work - for the professors who lectured, a place for study - for the students attending and a place of sleep for both the proffesors and the students. In each of the building, the living quarters were located upstairs, above the classrooms. Jefferson also had the land, which the university was built on excavated and reshaped. The land was shaped into a sort of staircase. Each “stair” had its own faculty located on that level. The staircase led up to the head of the university, which in Jefferson’s mind was the library. Most universities at the time would have a chapel at the head of the university as they were centered on religion. Jefferson had a different idea of what a university should be based on; he believed it should be based on enlightenment. The university originally offered classes in philosophy, arts, science foreign language, law and medicine.

University of Virginia

~Trevor

Environmental Mapping

Jean Trottier a professor lecturing in the faculty of Landscape Architecture at the University of Manitoba spoke on several different topics related to the design complex. One of the topics, which I found highly interesting, was the idea of Environmental Mapping. Environmental Mapping is an incorporated part of the Biophysical context of the landscape around us. This type of mapping is an informative way of looking at topology in the specific area and relating the separate parts with each other. By using a universal base map, you are able to id, map and locate where absolutely everything is. How specific your map becomes is entirely based on how detailed you make each layer. An example that Trottier gave is a map, which gives the ability to site an area of best fit. This example incorporated soil types and water usage. Each type of soil and water use was coloured in different light depths on two separate layers, where the darker areas represented areas which would not be best fit areas. By incorporating both maps together and looking at where the light areas were, the reader got a sense of where the most logical best fit location would be for the site. This type of mapping originally seemed to be confusing and yet once I thought about the concept I understood that, the information that comes from this map is relatively simple to come by and yet it creates an intriguing and useful way of finding the ideal area for a certain site.

~Trevor

Big Touble in Little Suburia - TEDtalks

Recently I've been obsessed with these TEDtalks videos on youtube. I came across this hilarious video presentation by James Howard Kunstler. Here is what TEDtalks had to say about him and the contents of the video.

James Howard Kunstler may be the world’s most outspoken critic of suburban sprawl. He believes the end of the fossil fuels era will soon force a return to smaller-scale, agrarian communities -- and an overhaul of the most destructive features of postwar society. In James Howard Kunstler's view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about.

What I've taken from this video is that the way things are designed especially in North America aren't as thoughtful as the designers think they are. It makes me wonder in my own mind who made the decisions to make things the way they are. All of the examples in the video really point out that some designs are like cartoons of cartoons. Facades and useless ideas that disconnect us from the environment around us. Kunstler points out that most of America is a place that's not worth caring about and I think he is very persuasive and exciting to watch and listen to. Please watch this video!!!

TEDtalks Site

---CHRIS__C

Jean Trotier - Landscape Architect

Jean Trotier, our Speaker for the class on Nov 6, spoke on site planning. He mentioned the design complex, which I understood as the elements which he felt were necessary to consider when designing. The Design Complex included:

-Needs
-Bio-physical Context
-Technology
-Values
-Behavior

I agree that these factors are indeed relevant in producing an ideal design in our world today. On their own they perhaps would not be so successful but together they would result in, what I feel, could be the 'perfect design'.

Mr. Trotier later lectured on Site Planning, and how slope stability, drainage, frost action and compaction play in this process. He explained how groundwater, suitability for waste disposal and plant growth, and ground shift should also be considered. I understood through this part of the lecture that all these factors contribute to determining the difficulty when actually building.

- Jassa

Transit Irony

Public transit, which in the face of record gas prices has been looking increasingly attractive (although fuel costs have recently declined), is now being challenged by the economic downturn as certain revenue streams dry up. For example, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (NYC) "faces a $1.2 billion budget deficit in 2009 — $300 million more than it had projected in July — that will very likely require new fare and toll increases or service reductions." This deficit comes in spite of the fact that ridership is up across the country. In the case of the M.T.A., which servces New York City and surrounding areas, "the deficit was caused. . .by the collapse of revenues from real estate and corporate taxes." The irony here is that while high gas prices encouraged more people to consider public transit, and the economic downturn only strengthened the need to save money, many transit authorities will be forced to raise fares and decrease services.

The New York Times via TreeHugger.com

- Jassa

JELD-WEN

Truth be told I did initially question the motive behind the 'Jeld-Wen' trip, but I quickly realized that windows and doors were much more important to sustainability than I had given them credit for. Sustainability plays a part in both the design of structures and also the design of the windows and doors themselves. Important as it may be, 'Jeld-Wen', the company itself still struck to me as another corporate firm using sustainability as a marketing tool in order to gain sales. The Jeld-Wen presenter himself was from a sales background indicating further the company's motive for BLING $$$. Most, if not all companies sole motives are profit oriented, my personal thoughts aside, the fact that they are moving towards a sustainable future is a positive point regardless of the intention.

- Jassa

Dockside Green: Check It Out

David van Vliet, a landscape architect professor teaching at the University of Manitoba spoke briefly about a Community development project in Victoria, British Columbia which is currently being created. Although he seems to be pessimistic in the ability for the finished project to carry out the original intentions because of what he believes to be difficulties and inconsistancies within the plans, I believe the idea behind the project to be incredible and I think that it is very plausible for all of the intentions to be carried out.
Completed Dockside Green will cover 15 acres making it the largest eco-residential/eco-industrial development ever created. It will incorporate a wide range of users. Dockside Green will be a “model for holistic, closed-loop design, it will function as a total environmental system in which form, structure, materials, mechanical and electrical systems will be interrelated and interdependent - a largely self-sufficient, sustainable community where waste from one area will provide fuel for another. Here you will find a dynamic environment where residents, employees, neighbouring businesses and the broader community will interact in a healthy and safe environment, reclaimed from disuse and contamination”.
Dockside Green is targeted to be LEED platinum community, which is the highest level of design. The plan includes: New urbanism, green building, sustainable community and smart growth. The plan strongly emphasizes the Triple bottom line (Natural Ecology, Economics and Social Equity) and all of the aspects being integrated with each other, intertwined throughout the creation of the entire project. By using a closed loop design, there is essentially no waste. This is due to the fact that waste from one building is used to operate another.
The entire community is planned to be greenhouse gas neutral, which basically means that there will be no net emissions produced from the site due to the fact that the site will reuse the gases to create heat.
The site uses alternate modes of transportation. The conventional thought of every person (or family) having their own car is non-existent within the community. There is a car share program that is “in partnership with the Victoria Car Share Co-operative. Dockside Green will offer a vehicle-sharing program. Exceeding the LEED® requirement and a recent traffic reduction study recommending one shared vehicle for every 150 residences, we plan to provide a total of ten vehicles – one for every 90 residences. The fleet will include a mix of neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV) that run on green electricity with recharging stations on site, and smart cars. [The plan also includes] introducing electric bicycles into the program.” There is also a harbour ferry which runs between 9am and 9pm that has a number of stops it makes throughout the day. The development is also planning on introducing minitransit (large vans with 20 seats) that will run between the site and downtown throughout the day and possibly the night. Biking will be encouraged by the community and secured bike racks will be available at all commercial, industrial and residential buildings. The racks will also double as art to add aesthetic to the streets. The entire community is designed to be pedestrian first.
Dockside Green will portray New Urbanism. “Accommodating a broad range of uses and accessible to a diverse mix of people, Dockside Green will be a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly hub of activity - a safe community where residents will enjoy an exceedingly high quality of life with incredible amenities and minimal impact on the environment”.
For more information on the site you should check out their website: Dockside Green, Victoria, BC.

~Trevor G

Ideas of Carmine Militano

Carmine Militano from Stantec had a lot of things to say about a lot of different subjects. Although he spoke way to fast to collect all of the information that he was throwing out at us I did catch a number of interesting and hopefully valuable ideas. I still need to figure out if I am able to implement them into my work or not.
One of the ideas that I thought could be extremely valuable in the near future is the idea of the “6 Step Decision Process” which Carmine believes should be used in all of your projects. According to him you need to go through the 6 steps to make sure that your project will work and be exactly what your client wants.

The 6 steps are as follows:

1. Leadership and Commitment
2. Frame the Problem (Be on the same page as the client, decide what EXACTLY the client wants and be sure to ask what they do not want)
3. Development Goals, Models and Alternatives
4. Collect Valued Information (focused material; ie: pick out 3 books that have information on the exact info you are looking for rather than 30 books on anything with the word you are looking for in the title)
5. Manage risk and Decide
6. Develop implementation plan.

Carmine also informed us of what he believes to be the 10 reasons why decisions fail. They are as follows:

1. Lack of process
2. Lack of leadership
3. Lack of commitment
4. Wrong stakeholders
5. Inadequate information
6. Wrong problem
7. Politics
8. Insufficient time
9. Company culture
10. Insufficient interest

I believe that these two ideas were the most helpful in the sense that I feel I can implement them into my personal endeavors immediately. The rest of the information I believe will have to wait until I have some weight and pull into how communities and the city are being designed and operated. This may take until I am actually working in the field.

~Trevor G

Bulb Design

The weird designs, such as the one above, are the result of the LED being lit from the back. The design around the light is actually a heatsink that's meant to dissipate the heat generated by the LED. This design gives the LED much longer life by dissipating the heat quickly. Fortunately, bulbs like this are designed for recessed lighting, meaning you won't see them at all once you have them in place. You'll just reap the benefits on your electricity bill, which is something that no weird-looking bulb can make any less awesome.

I couldn't have guessed that lightbulb design could be so interesting. Fact is we don't pay enough attention to them, most of the energy they produce is actually not even in the form of light, its heat. A majority of us are aware that regular old light bulbs are bad for the environment, but its the development like this of new designs for LED bulbs which can make a difference.

Article in the NY Times

- Jassa

WINNIPEG RECYCLING PROGRAM

I was interested in knowing about some recycling figures in Winnipeg. I had also came across an article about the difference between aluminum cans and plastic bottles in terms of production and recycling.

So last year in Winnipeg 43,857 tonnes were recycled and each year since 1997 progressively has recycled more and more material.

Ask Pablo again has answered a good question about whether aluminum or plastic bottles are better to use than the other. Aluminum cans take the most energy to produce and travel so are ultimately the poorer choice when it comes to what container to use but over 50% of it is recycled compared to only 30% of plastic bottles recycled. Unfortunately both produce are made from virgin materials and consume petroleum in the process.

Here is a snippet of the recycling psychology side of cans vs. plastic:

Since consumers are ultimately responsible for the production of a can or bottle through their purchases, the embodied energy and resulting emissions are their responsibility as well. Consumers have little control over what happens to the materials after they discard them, so we will attribute the emissions reduction from recycling to the demand side of the recycling system rather than the supply (rewarding consumers who purchase recycled-content materials or packaging). Analyzing with this method rewards consumers who buy less, rather than falsely rewarding consumers who consume a great deal but recycle. Recycling reduces environmental impact but does not eliminate it as well as does not consuming in the first place.

The article is really informative and Pablo is always able to run the numbers really well. Don't take my word for it read it yourself! here's the link:
href="http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/01/28/ask_pablo_plastic/">

__CHRIS.C

PVC: are we sure its the way to go

So if PVC is made up of 57% salt (chlorine) and 43% ethylene (natural gas) doesn’t that mean that there are a bunch of disgusting toxins that are created when the two of them are combined. When these two chemicals are combined is the only product PVC or what are the other products and what sort of damage are they doing to the environment. Is it really worth making this material or is it actually really harmful to the environment.
I notice now that PVC seems to be popping up and being used in almost everything, from fences to doors and windows to phones, dishwashers and furniture. I am guessing that there must have been some pretty extensive studies done on the affects of creating PVC in order for people to start using it in the creation of everyday item known to man. Apparently it is very energy efficient to make and to use. My concern is then that in a few years we will figure out after we have done some more extensive research that in fact there is some very negative disease causing chemical that is being created in the process of creating the PVC. At this point everyone will have come into contact with PVC at some point in their life and have some unknown disease eating away at their insides. Do we have all of the answers associated with Poly Vinyl Chloride?

Poly Vinyl Chloride Products

~Trevor

JELD-WEN's Brasada Ranch

JELD-WEN is strongly involved in the green building design of windows and doors. Apparently they strive to have all of their manufactured products certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). One of the projects that was mentioned during the JELD-WEN tour was Brasada Ranch, a resort located just outside of Bend, Oregon.
Brasada Ranch is a central Oregon equestrian and golf community. It is the first resort to receive LEED Gold. In fact each of the main five buildings that compose the headquarters, have received this honour. These include: the community barn, the bed-and-breakfast, the post office/general store, the recreation center, and the clubhouse. The community barn was the first new construction resort to receive the honour, which was in 2007. The community recreation center is topped with solar rooftop thermal system that supplements the heat for the pool, faucets and showers within the locker rooms. The ranch is plugged into the power grid but also uses hydroelectric and wind resources for power. The five main buildings use a lake bottom version of geothermal. The bottom of a lake keeps a very even temperature according to Rich Carr, the chief architect in the design. Apparently by using this technique you can reduce energy costs by up to 60%. The lake on the 18th hole of the resorts golf course is the lake they use to generate their energy. This lake also doubles as an irrigation and storm water management system.
The barn was created using reclaimed pieces of wood, which were taken from an old lumber mill located 15 miles away. Artifacts that have been found in the surrounding area have been resurrected and used on the mantle pieces of the fireplaces. According to Rich Carr who is the owner of Cottle Carr Yaw Architects: “From a design standpoint, these materials [provide] an instant patina that contrasts nicely with contemporary features such as skylights and board form concrete”. Lava rock is also used in the creation of the barn.
Many of the resources used in the creation of the site were local therefore the transport costs were relatively low. According to Jenny Sullivan, a journalist for Builder online, “The buildings incorporate low-VOC adhesives, paints, carpeting, and composite wood products; 100 percent recycled, reinforced vinyl and cellulose-fiber roof shingles; waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets; and dedicated recycling centers. Efforts to minimize construction waste diverted as much as 75 percent of jobsite refuse from local landfill.”
I think that Carr and his team of architects are definitely onto something. It seems as though they have covered almost every conceivable aspect of how to create a green building. I know that there are more/different aspects that could have been incorporated within the design but many aspects were thought of and taken care of in the creation of this series of buildings. On top of being so environmentally friendly these buildings are very attractive.

JELD-WEN

Brasada Ranch

~Trevor G

JELD WEN PRESENTATION

Last Thursday we visited Jeld Wen's sales show room and I was impressed at the level of environmental consciousness they had within their company. I think that in terms of technology they have a sound group of researchers who are constantly testing new innovations and designs to make their products more efficient. PVC is their flagship and it was cool to note that all the waste is reused. Jae had mentioned that doors and windows are the most biggest expenditure of a building so it's only fair that they be well designed to limit the transfer of heat to cold, and be produced and made of environmentally safe materials. Also I should add that the products are sourced locally and distributed locally as well which is good to reduce the footprint materials usually cost in order to save some dollars. It's a hard switch off which is why I am sure it's hard for some people to give up mega businesses like WALMART because they save money but behind all of that people should educate themselves that in order to save money that waste is being produced for you to save money. So that why it was so refreshing to hear a company being so upfront about their plans. They do make quality products which is why I am sure that their products are probably pretty expensive. But just like most green products they are meant to last and be made of quality and not quantity and be healthy for the planet. Eventually when the market becomes more saturated with companies with the environment as a priority the cost should be more competitive.

LINK: href="http://jeld-wen.ca/eng/main.html">

--CHRIS.C_

GREEN PARTY PLATFORM

Although the election is already over, since then I have been curious about the Green Party's platform so I did some investigation.
Basically their general goals are to focus on decentralized renewable energy and less on huge projects that take a lot of resources to make and energy to continue to work. They also note that being strong as a whole, but this is nothing new and most platforms are the same saying we should stand united.
An interesting part is a strong stance with arts and culture. 75% of Canadians believe that arts and culture are important in the quality of our lives and 85% of Canadian believe that the government should support arts and culture.
Here is a summary of their reasons why:

A savvy economic development strategy recognizes that a healthy environment for Arts and Culture:

* Attracts and retains knowledge industry workers and immigrants
* Increases a sense of well-being among it’s citizens
* Generates “clean” industries
* Provides genuine and consistent returns on investment
* Proliferates small enterprises
* Promotes a stronger sense of community; artists live in all of our communities; they are not corporations with international headquarters elsewhere
* Increases people’s pride in the place where they live
* Energizes people and builds and breeds more creativity, which spills over into every domain of our lives
* Supports the tourism industry
* Enhances all levels of education

Personally I support their support in the arts and culture because I came from fine arts and I know how art has shaped my life. I do think it's important and from the many murals around the city it does give a sense of pride and shows how multicultural our city is. I have heard before that Winnipeg is a city that has miles of talent but not the market to support the monetary exchange of art so most artists within the city get noticed else where. The reason I came to architecture was because I was scared I would be unable to find a job that would support a family. It's not impossible by any means to be an artist but I need to be able to provide for myself and others. It's good to know that someone out there cares for artists and what they do. I hope that importance of the arts and culture doesn't get cut out of the budget because it's a great teaching tool and a way for artists to survive.
check it out for yourself!
href="http://http://www.greenparty.ca/en/policy/artsandculture">

--CHRIS_C>

Just Walk Away

The "ultimate property", according to some designers, has been unveiled. Its a walking house that they say will provide a perfect solution to beating the floods.

"The property has been built on six hydraulic legs and was designed by art collective N55 in Copenhagen, Denmark, who worked in conjunction with engineers in Massachusetts, U.S". Now I do find this to be a tad bit weird, as I'd probably live in a trailer home than this strange contraption, however, this structure brings something new to the table. It is solar and wind powered and has 'legs' that can walk through all terrains.

Helen Robinson of the Wysing Arts Centre makes a good point in saying that '...this is far more than a caravan. It's all about sustainable living - it can sustain a life for many years. It may seem radical but it could be a solution to land use in the near future.'

- Jassa

Green Industry

Its nice to hear that their are large corporations out there that work to better the environment rather than purely for economic wealth. LG for instance is investing $168 million in converting a plasma display plant into a solar panel plant. "What better use for a decommissioned factory that once made energy-sucking plasma display screens than making energy-generating solar photovoltaic panels. Talk about an awesome 180".
I realize that LG isn't doing this for charity reasons, especially considering that the global solar industry market is valued at over $10 billion, but at least this is an investment that can help the environment conserve its resources by utilizing this renewable power generation system.

-Jassa

Lights: a crucial ingredient for a good nightclub

Nightclubs are an awesome place to meet new people, relieve stress and let it all hang loose. A nightclub needs several ingredients to become a popular spot. First of all, there needs to be a great location that has easy access. Second there needs to be a style of music that reflects the people they want to attract. In other words there has to be one genre of music otherwise people won’t come. This is because someone who likes rock generally won’t want to listen to hip-hop and visa versa. The third thing that you need to have at a nightclub is a lot of liquor with good service behind the bars. Good service brings people back. The last thing you need to have at a nightclub is a great light system. They add the drama that all nightclubs need.
The professional nightclubs use laser and LED lighting packages to add the dramatic lighting effects needed in a club. The light show effects add an unforgettable edge to the place, which keeps its customers coming back. Some of the packages also include fog machines, which also add to the entire affect. Some of the lighting systems move at a random movement but the more high tech ones can move with the rhythm of the music. There is another option that goes with the nightclub lighting systems. This is the “512 DMX control system”. This system offers entire control over the entire clubs lights. It is a computer software program, which allows for complete control over the lighting design and effects. It also allows for the option of when the lights move. There are an amazing amount of different systems that are available.


~Trevor

Lighting

This week the guest speaker was Dr. Malory-Hill. She spoke on Architectural Light and its impact on humans. There was an abundance of information, which I found to be extremely valuable. I had no idea that there were so many different types of lights that being used today. I also found out that almost all light was restricted to only sunlight and flame up until 18th century. This is another example of how technology is progressing along at an amazing rate and only gaining speed. There have been an astronomical amount of different types of lights produced in the last 3 centuries. These include: Edison’s light bulb, halogens, new balance, fluorescent, high intensity discharge and LED.
Apparently Edison didn’t even have the idea for a light bulb but he purchased the patent for it from a Canadian. No one remembers this Canadian’s name and yet everyone associates the light bulb with Edison. I guess maybe the Canadian should have experimented with his idea for a couple more years instead of selling the patent. He probably made a buck for the patent and he lost his space in history. Apparently all Edison did was add a carbon or platinum filament to make the patented light bulb work. The worst part for the Canadian is that his light bulb, which was fiddled with by Edison, is still being used today even though it is probably the least efficient source of light. Only 10 % of the energy emission from this bulb is light, while the other 90% is emitted in heat.
The halogens are supposed to be a lot more efficient and last a lot longer. They are supposed to last at least 5 years and yet the ones that I use at home last a maximum of 6 months.
The large High Intensity Discharge lights are used only in large areas such as gymnasiums, hockey rinks, banquet halls, stadiums, large department stores and streetlights. At first I didn’t understand why this was and then Dr. Mallory-Hill showed us that it takes forever to turn on and even longer for it to turn on after it is turned off. When she showed us this using the one bulb she had, it dawned on me as to why street lights look as though they are burnt out and then an hour later they are on again. I always thought it was very strange that the maintenance crew of our city worked so fast on changing the lights of our cities streetlights and yet were so slow in getting anything else done. The other thing I could never understand is why the city workers would fix the light in the middle of the night. Now I understand that its not fast city workers at all but a very slow light. When something gets messed up within the light it turns off and takes up to an hour to turn back on because it has to completely cool down before it can heat up again.
So LED lights last up to 80 years and are the most energy efficient lights. Why is it then that hardly anyone uses these lights other than for Christmas lights? I fathom the fact that it is a very low emission of light but there are ways you can use that. You can use the LED’s in a large quantity and get a bright light. The other way you could use it to your advantage is for setting the mood, either for an intimate dinner or at the club or any other places that you want a dimmer light.
The store, which I work at just recently, went through a changeover meaning that we have a new owner. He has decided that he wants to redo the entire floor plan of the building in order to make more retail space. He has also decided to exchange the fluorescent lights we currently have in place to a T8 halogen. Apparently they are energy efficient as well. I asked him why he wouldn’t just put in LED lights since they are the most energy efficient and would save him even more money per year than these T8’s. He didn’t have an answer really so I think he might be looking into changing his idea of the lights.

~Trev

Something fun for the drug addict inside all of us...

-CHRISc-

DATELINE CFL spot

Interesting video on CFL disposal. Some other videos on youtube of the same thing seemed biased and basically spreading fear about CFLs. It is interesting because I was never informed about the potential hazard of these types of lights. I'm not quite sure how big of a risk they are to have. The videos all seemed very biased and none of them spoke about the benefits of a more efficient product. Also interesting of what happens to them when they burn out. Is this also a poorly designed product in terms of sustainability? LEDs SEEM like the best choice as soon as the price drops! This is another video of slander against CFLs from CSPAN.



-CHRISC-

LED INFO

I scoped out a site with person named Pablo Päster who wrote an article about LED lights. The article itself is really informative and compares incandescent, CFLs and of course LEDs against each other based on efficiency and cost.

Here is the meat of it, once again this is written by Pablo Paster!

...A 7W LED can be compared to a 10W CFL, which also emits 500 lumens. The closest incandescent bulb that I could find was a 460-lumen or 40W bulb. The next thing is to compare the efficacy of the bulbs. This is done using the measure of lumens per watt, or light emitted per electricity input. The incandescent bulb has an efficacy of 12 lumens/watt while the CFL has an efficacy of 50 lumens/watt, only to be outdone by the LED at 71 lumens/watt. So it's clear that LEDs are by far more efficient than incandescent bulbs. But does this justify forgoing CFLs in favor of LEDs? At over $50 per bulb, the high upfront cost will give everyone pause. But is the long lifetime or the high efficiency worth the cost?

A 10W CFL, available online for $6.90, has an expected median lifetime of 10,000 hours. While this is about 10 times longer than the life expectancy of an incandescent bulb, it is only one-fifth the expected life of the LED. So LEDs have the potential of cutting down on ladder time by a factor of 50 over incandescent bulbs! At about 25 cents apiece, the incandescent has by far the lowest upfront cost, which is why many people still use them. If we normalize the cost of all the bulbs over a 50,000-hour period, the incandescent bulbs cost $12.50, while CFL bulbs cost $34.50, and the LED bulb costs $59.95. But, as you may already know, the upfront cost of a bulb is by far the cheapest part. It's the electricity required to operate the bulb that adds up.

Over a period of 50,000 hours, a 40W incandescent bulb will use 2,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh). At 15 cents per kWh, this will put $300 in the pocket of your local utility, bringing the total cost of the incandescent bulb, over 50,000 hours, up to $312.50. The CFL bulb only uses 500kWh over the same time period, or $75, totaling $109.50. Finally, the LED bulb will use 350kWh for $52.50, with a total cost of $112.45. So, in this example, the LED light does cost a few dollars more but the difference is negligible. Think of the time you will save by not running to the store to buy bulbs and climbing the ladder to change them.

As for their disposal, LED lights, unlike CFLs, contain no mercury and many of them are compliant with the European Union's Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. Like CFLs they do contain electronic circuits, which are hard to separate back into individual materials for recycling. But with a life span of 50,000 hours, the relative amount of waste created will be quite minimal...."

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/05/05/ask_pablo_leds/index.html

-CHRIS_C-

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE SKIN

The presentation by Dr. Mallory-Hill today was very informative. Although she never really touched on any particular ways of lighting in practical applications. Learning about the history of light and it's impact on human behavior and our culture was interesting. I was most interested in how light is influential in human productivity and general wellness. Recently I was interested in finding out if light therapy is beneficial to the emotional state of a human. I think we can all agree that natural light is the most beneficial from a historical stand point humans have always relied on sunlight to live, work and socialize in. And from last week a tool to heal. It was in this nature that our eyes evolved and why we generally have a predisposition to nature. Something else I thought was interesting was hearing the environmental impact of the production of light and light products. Also not to mention that light is classified as a pollution and has the ability to change delicate ecosystems. I can just picture the Waverly auto mall right now pumping enormous amounts of light all through the night with a sad attempt of a mash near by and the plants changing on a molecular level.

The presentation on digital daylighting was very interesting as well. I found it hard to keep up with some of the concepts and the little time left only allowed him to speak so much of his research. But the work he showed us of the renderings were fascinating and I can really understand that thinking ahead of time is a great idea to keep in mind for the future. I mean multitude of forms that could be created to accommodate the surrounding spaces were interesting alone. I thought that his research was very well thought out and being able to incorporate hard numbers gave him a better understanding of his parameters. The different forms from the renderings were really interesting from the way they carved through the space and created strange dimensions within the building. I guess the main idea was to track and use light in a controlled way to be used in a practical situation which is something I'm sure some of us will have to deal with later on in our careers. Once again it was really neat to see what sort of real world applications their are out there waiting for us.



-CHRIS C.

Colours- part 2

Light Therapy: therapeutic exposure to full-spectrum artificial light that simulates sunlight

I had heard, long before Vaike Ruus' class, that light and colour had a tremendous impact on those who suffered from seasonal depression, however I didn't fully understand the psychology behind it until just recently. Our mind and body both thrive on the Sun's light, which by the way we take for granted all too much. Through its rising and setting our body clocks function, even when this sequence is off by a little bit, as after a flight, we suffer (jet lag in this case). After this class it became apparent to me that we had in many ways forgotten what our ancestors had already known, that light and colour have a deeper purpose, beyond all that we can only see.

- Jassa

iPhone rocks!

One great way to go green is to practice conservation, or as I like to call it, "avoidance." In other words, avoid using gas by missing traffic, avoid using excess electricity by turning your lights off remotely, avoid waste by buying used goods. One little tool has a growing ability to help you ditch the need for the little-bit-mores that we want to cut out: the iPhone.

Not only is it the best lookin phone out there (I think so atleast) but there are actually a wide range of applications available for the iPhone which can aid one in saving energy. These 'apps' range from gas and energy to time and money.

There's 'GasHog', CarCare,and 'GreenMeter' which can Monitor a car’s fuel efficiency.'SmartLinc' and 'Home Manageables' are programs which can actually monitor and control your home’s energy use through remote access. These are only a few examples of the technological use of the iPhone that can help us to keep our lives 'green'.

- Jassa

The Sunbathing Cure

During Vaike Ruus’ presentation I learned that during the 1930’s “sunbathing” was largely accepted as a healer for different illnesses. I cannot fathom why then, despite all of the research that has shown this method to be successful, society has not reverted back to the simplistic method of treatment. If sunbathing does in fact work then why are not all doctors prescribing it to their patients? I would assume that sunbathing would be the cheapest treatment considering the suns rays are free, and yet this type of treatment is no longer used as a widespread treatment. Perhaps there are other treatments that target the specific illness more closely. Then again, perhaps it is just that doctors want to get paid and they wont receive as much money if they tell the patient that all they need for therapy is to lie out in the sun. Whatever the reason is I think that if the therapy works then it should continue to be used because it is more cost efficient and it limits the amount of chemicals being pushed into the human body.

~Trevor G

Four Virtues

During Vaike Ruus’ presentation this week she was speaking about a theoretical Heliotherapeutic Spa that would cure people of their illness with the use of colour and light from the sun. During this presentation she mentioned the idea of receiving a greater strength out of an illness. I also believe that out of Illness can come a greater strength; an inner strength. I believe that when a person gets sick and it is not known if they will ever recover many thoughts pass through their mind. The most prominent thought, which must stay in their mind, is how they are going to recover from their illness.
Through the duration of an illness, a person learns many virtues. The greatest virtues, which they learn, are: strength, trust, patience and perseverance.
The strength they learn to hold is used to carry the burden of their illness as well as to remain stoic for loved ones. These people learn to portray a calm and positive demeanor to others even when in their mind their world is falling apart.
They learn to trust others in more ways because in some cases when they are ill they are no longer able to do everything they were once able to.
The patience that is learned is important in being able to wait for what seems like an eternity while the medication or other alternatives of healing takes its time to act on the illness.
Perseverance is figured to be one of the most important virtues learned while being ill. Perseverance is needed to be able to tolerate the pain and continue with the treatments even when they do not seem to work in any way. It is also needed to keep a positive attitude and a straight mind.
When the patient learns all of these virtues then they tend to be better off, whether the illness is cured or not, the patient is at peace


~Trevor G

Peter Tielmann's Way

I think Peter Tielmann was onto something when he moved to Winnipeg from Germany and created EQ3 after only 2 years of living here. Obviously it shows as his company is thriving throughout North America and now moving into international venues as well. He moved to a place, which he wanted to live, and found a job in that was related to his field of study in design. For two years, as he worked, he evaluated the market and found a niche which was not being filled by what was being provided throughout the market. This niche was a furniture alternative for young living; upscale designs without the higher costs. Tielmann has inspired me to strive for excellence and to do EXACTLY what I want to do in every aspect. Taking his way of doing things I am not going to take the first job opportunity that comes up. I am going to move to a city that I enjoy living in first and only then accept an offer. Once I am working in the field in which I desire then I will examine the market and decide if there is any niche that is in desperate need to be filled. I will then turn my attention and efforts to filling that niche.

~Trevor

Reflection on EQ3 presentation

The presentation we viewed at the EQ3 factory was very informative. It gave us insight as to how different aspects of product design are made as well as rough estimates in the time it takes to create a single product. Six months seems as though it would be an eternity for one piece of furniture, the same can be said for three months in the case of the accessory products. The presenters told us that there were a couple things that went into each designed product; the inspiration time, the range analysis, the sample building and the actual design production were some of these.
I think the inspiration time would be the most interesting and informative process of the four. I believe this because this is the time you, the designer, are traveling and visiting different shows in different cities across the world. This is also the time when your mind as the designer is able to use its most creative side in thinking up the style of the product and questioning yourself as to how you are going to make it a reality. The range analysis would also be informative but in a different aspect. It would give you an insight as to what the customer buys therefore what works and what doesn’t. It would not however be nearly as exhilarating as the inspiration part of the process. I think sample building would also be a creative process to see if the design actually works in reality and to make the changes needed to create the reality if it does not work based entirely on the design. I think that the most time consuming and repetitive process would be the actual production. I believe this internal process, since the majority of the creation is based outside the local area, would feel like an eternity for it to come to an end.
The presentation was also very informative about the beginnings of EQ3. I learned a lot about the history and the reasoning behind EQ3. I had thought that it was just another furniture chain that had risen from the states to take over more of the Canadian market. I had no idea that the actual beginnings of the company were here in Winnipeg. Granted the ideas were by no means local and were that of a German man who had only been in Canada for two years, the actual foundation plant was dug in Winnipeg in 1999.
The German man, Peter Tielmann’s beliefs must have been right. There was room in the market for something that was less expensive than some of the high end specialty shops but higher end then IKEA. He wanted the same quality for a smaller price tag. He wanted to create a furniture company that fit into the “Young Living” niche of the Canadian furniture market. His ideas have definitely paid off. He already, in nine years had twenty stores across North America and two internationally. The company is still growing. This shows that as he says, “EQ3 is not simply some dream. We have become a daily reality for thousands around the world.”

EQ3 site

~Trevor G