“It’s well known that we have a problem with plastics in the environment,” says Mackintosh. “We face the challenges of figuring out ways to reduce and prevent it as well as clean up the water that’s already out there.”

Held by the University of Surrey, the brand new public competition solicited entries from anyone who had an idea for a bio-inspired robot. Mackintosh’s proposal was a simple drawing showing how the robot fish could swim through the water, its internal cavity opening and then compressing to force water over the gills in order to collect plastic particles. The winning entry was selected and built by a group of senior engineers and scientists with years of experience bringing robotic concepts to life.

“We don’t know where the vast majority of the plastic that enters our waters ends up,” says Dr. Robert Siddall, lecturer at the University of Surrey and initiator of the competition. “We hope that this robo-fish and its future offspring will be the first steps in the right direction to help us find and eventually control this plastic pollution problem.”

The roboticists assisting with the competition turned Mackintosh’s proposal into a remote-controlled robot about the size of a salmon. It swims by flapping its tail while keeping its mouth wide open to collect water (and microplastics) in its internal cavity. Once the cavity is full, the robot closes its mouth and opens its lamellar gill valves, pushing the water out of the valves and lifting the bottom of the cavity. Its features include pectoral fins, a gill and mouth motor, a gill raker, particulate mesh, a separate motor for the fins, a tail fin actuation rod, a tail fin motor, battery and microcontroller, and sensors that detect light levels and turbidity (clarity) of the water.

You can now make your very own Gillbert Robo-Fish, as the plans for the current iteration of the design are available as free, open-source CAD files on GrabCad.com. Future revisions will make the fish autonomous instead of remote-controlled so they can be deployed in groups. The public is encouraged to make their own changes and improvements as they experiment with the design.

Other entries in the 2022 Natural Robotics Contest included a forest-protecting robot bird, a hermit crab rover, a robotic sea urchin, and a plastic-collecting dolphin. You can see them all and apply for next year’s contest at the Natural Robotics Contest website.

“We chose Eleanor’s both because we really liked the idea and the way it used bioinspiration, but also because cleaning up ocean plastic was the most common purpose among all the entries we received, so we thought our winner should reflect that,” Siddall told FOX Weather.

The post Gillbert the Robot Fish Sucks Up Microplastics in the Water as It Swims first appeared on Dornob.

“When the designs for our newest additions to our Silicon Valley campus evolved into a large canopy structure, we knew we’d have to think beyond traditional rectangular solar panels to create something that balanced form and function,” said Google’s District & Renewable Energy Lead Asim Tahir on the company blog. “…The dragonscale solar roof that will adorn these buildings is the result of years of product development, collaboration with a handful of partners, and examining prototypes from manufacturers all over Europe.”

Google eventually partnered with Swiss company SunStyle, who offered a highly textured glass shingle that could be overlapped to fit the shape of the circus tent-like roofs on the Bay View and Charleston East campuses. The dragonscale’s prismatic surface traps light more efficiently than a traditional flat panel, increasing the energy production. The solar cells are implanted in the flexible polyvinyl acetate (PVAc layer) and then topped with six millimeters of hardened solar glass and backed with fire resistant Tedlar. The edges are also sealed to prevent moisture from seeping in, thereby eliminating the need for aluminum framing.

And the canopy-style roof allows for better efficiency, as well. A flat roof hits its energy-generating peak at the same time each day, but as photons strike the curved dragonscales throughout the day, power can be created almost as long as the sun shines. At full capacity, the two campuses will produce seven megawatts of renewable power, which should cover about 40 percent of the workplace energy needs.

While that is an admirable achievement, it’s still a far cry from being completely carbon-independent. Last year, Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer of Google and parent company Alphabet Inc., announced his 10-year “moonshot” deadline to have every office and data center run on energy from clean sources 24 hours a day. “I wish we were at this moment a decade earlier. I’m worried and very anxious we’re losing time,” said Pichai. “It’s a bit stressful because we don’t fully have all the answers to get there.”

The company has been making progress, though. In 2020, 67 percent of the 15.1 million megawatt-hours required at Google’s data centers were made with renewable sources on an hourly basis, an improvement of 6 percent from year before. Some of the firm’s facilities, like those in Oklahoma and Oregon, already operate on 90 percent clean fuel.

In addition to the dragonscale solar shingles as one piece of the solution, the tech giant’s research and development lab has been exploring the viability and aesthetic of adding photovoltaics on their building’s facades and windows.

“Investing in sustainable energy innovations will not only get us closer to our goal to be carbon free by 2030, but it will also help our partners and others get there,” said Tahir. “We hope that sharing our approach to blending design, aesthetics, and manufacturing will inspire more projects like it.”

The post Google Covers New Buildings in “Dragonscale” Solar Roof Panels first appeared on Dornob.

Edwin Bos got the idea for BeachBot (“BB” for short) after his four-year-old son dug into the sand at their favorite beach and produced a cigarette butt. Bos raked his hand through the sand and found more. “It’s such a beautiful place,” he says of Scheveningen Beach, located just outside The Hague in The Netherlands. “It really amazes me that all these things are just lying around. The filters of the cigarettes are full of micro-plastics. It’s bad that these end up in nature.”

Bos teamed up with fellow entrepreneur Martijn Lukaart to start TechTics, a company that combines artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and robotics technologies to create sustainable innovations. They produced the first AI-based detection algorithm that specifically spots cigarette butts in the sand and worked with students from Delft University of Technology to develop the BeachBot, which today uses a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) – a self-learning algorithm – to help it see litter of all shapes and sizes in all kinds of lighting conditions.

That learning process relies on input from the public. The company solicits photos of cigarette butt litter through Microsoft Trove, an app that connects AI developers with photo-takers and grants them modest compensation for each image (about 25 cents). The app also lets participants see exactly how their images are used. TechTics is hoping to get thousands of photos to help BeachBot’s AI system recognize and remember exactly what cigarette butts look like. Eventually, the team also plans to add new types of litter to the mix.

“The system learns how to see pictures like a child recognizing an object for the first time,” says Christian Liensberger, lead principal program manager of Trove. “The bot does all the legwork. It goes to the beach, and it is the hero of cleaning,” he adds. “But to clean, it needs all these people to give it consistent data input. Without that, the bot will run into new situations it doesn’t understand. Machines like this only work because of people.”

A prototype BeachBot machine demonstrated its abilities in September 2020 for World Cleanup Day, scooping 10 cigarette butts with its gripper arms into an internal bin within 30 minutes. It uses one onboard camera to watch for people and obstacles, and another to look down at the sand. It’s battery powered and can currently run for about an hour before it needs a recharge. To make it more efficient, TechTips is developing two smaller “helper” robots that will cruise the beach looking for cigarette butts, then send BeachBot a map to their locations. A second demonstration is set for later this summer.

The post BeachBot Rover Uses Artificial Intelligence to Clean Up Cigarette Butts first appeared on Dornob.

Travel wind turbine kits do exist, like this $168 unit on Amazon, but they’re far from robust, only generating up to 15 watts. The Wind Catcher blows that figure out of the water while weighing just 22 pounds, and it still only takes 15 minutes to set up. The Wind Catcher Lite produces 200 watts of power at a 12 mph wind speed, which is enough to run a small fridge, some lights, your laptop, and a router. The larger Wind Catcher produces 600 watts, reaching full speed at 17 mph. That means you can also juice up your e-bike, power tools, water pumps, sound systems, game consoles, drones, or small cooking appliances.

Unlike solar panels, the Wind Catcher turbine works day and night, even at wind speeds of just 8 mph. Don’t worry, though – it’s still compatible with a host of portable generators usually used with portable solar panels, including those made by Jackery, Goal Zero, Rainier, and Bluletti. Jackery’s Explorer 300, for instance, features multiple outputs, a 293 watt-honor battery pack, a carrying handle, and a DC input, and it’s also lightweight at just 7.1 pounds.

The creators explain that they’ve “taken the best of the ideas from flying turbines and have created a hybrid between a flying system and a more traditional wind turbine. By doing so, we’ve reduced the weight of materials by almost 90 percent. No more big poles supported by concrete or lifting cranes! We’ve made Wind Catcher to be easy and fast to assemble. It’s so simple and easy that you can do it just by yourself. Just set it up, and start charging your devices instantly. Wind Catcher requires no complicated knots. We’re using quick and easy-to-use belts for adjustments where it’s needed. It’s simple, effective, and quick to setup.”

“Wind Catcher Lite will start making usable energy e.g. charging a laptop (50W) at around 4 meters per second [9 mph] wind speed. This means you don’t have to camp in the most windy places to start producing usable power. When you need it, simply unpack it, set it up, and start generating power. Everything can be stored and transported with ease. We made Wind Catcher to have very low noise. It’s not silent like solar panels, but 20 meters away you won’t hear it!”

So what happens when the wind isn’t blowing? Just use solar! The Wind Catcher is a great way to augment a good portable solar panel system that plugs into the same type of portable generator, allowing you to assemble an impressively powerful renewable energy system that takes up very little space. That makes it perfect for extended travel, off-grid tiny houses, and even #vanlifers. The Kickstarter campaign for this handy gadget has already ended, but if you’re hoping to snag one for yourself, you can still sign up for email updates at the KiteX website.

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The post Wind Catcher: Lightweight Travel Turbine Provides Power on the Go first appeared on Dornob.

A new innovation in the photovoltaic realm was recently discovered by Carvey Ehren Maigue, an electrical engineering student in the Philippines. The concept involves harvesting ultraviolet light that can’t be seen, but is stored in materials the sun has touched.

This opens up opportunities in the solar-capturing field by allowing us to collect solar power even when the clouds roll in. Officially called AuREUS, which stands for Aurora Renewable Energy and UV Sequestration, the idea is to absorb UV light into organic luminescent particles. From there, the collected particles are converted into visible light and then into energy.

Referring to the solar film he created to complete this task, Maigue explains that “it’s similar to how we breathe in oxygen and we exhale carbon dioxide. It takes in ultraviolet light, and then after some time it would shed it as visible light.”

The innovation takes shape as a type of resin film that can be used on windows, walls, and building exteriors. Maigue created the material using waste from vegetable crops that he combined with resin. He then coated it with solar film and turned it into a 3 x 2-foot prototype he installed in a window of his apartment. That panel produces enough energy to charge a few smartphones, and he’s optimistic about the scalability of the material.

And he’s not the only one who’s optimistic, considering the fact that the project recently won the first James Dyson Sustainability Award. Recognizing the potential for the material, the informational release about the project says AuREUS is basically a vertical solar farm. All previous solar farms have been built horizontally, which takes up real estate in fields or rooftops. But by cladding buildings with the material, it can turn them into sources of clean and passive solar energy.

As an added bonus on the sustainability front, the technology relies on waste from farmers that they would otherwise have to deal with disposing of themselves. This support of the local agriculture industry mitigates financial loss by the farmers and provides an upcycling opportunity for ruined or unsold crops.

This symbiotic relationship seems an especially good fit considering the fact that this technology is based on nature. More specifically, the “Aurora” part of the system’s name comes from a process that results in the spectacular Aurora Borealis. Maigue explains that “Both AuREUS devices (Borealis Solar Window and Astralis Solar Wall) use the same technology derived from the phenomena that governs the beautiful Northern and Southern lights. High-energy particles are absorbed by luminescent particles that re-emit them as visible light.”

He continues: “When hit by UV light, the particles absorb and re-emit visible light along the edges due to internal reflectance. PV cells are placed along the edges to capture the visible light emitted. The captured visible light is then converted to DC electricity.”

Maigue plans to invest the $35,000 awarded from his Dyson Awards win into further research and development. 80 percent of his dyes currently come from fruits and vegetables, though he would eventually like to up that to 100 percent and eliminate chemical additives from the process altogether. This means finding a natural blue alternative, the only of the five total colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue) he’s yet to source wholly from plants.

The manufacturing process is already underway, with a current production of about 30 panels per month. Maigue notes that “additional funding can allow the creation of a team and facility that can increase current capacity.”

The post This Solar Panel Technology Doesn’t Require Sunlight first appeared on Dornob.

Computer science undergraduates Anita Nti and Jacob Buaful, his brother Caleb Buaful (who is studying industrial systems and engineering), and doctoral mechanical engineering student Danny Freudiger teamed up on the project, eventually founding a company called Electrion.

Motivated to combat the pollution created by running generators that power TVs, slow cookers, mini-fridges, and grills, the team developed a rechargeable battery pack with more than enough power to handle the job. They call it “energy storage as a service.”

When they ran a cost analysis, however, they quickly decided it would be cost prohibitive for individuals to buy personal battery packs. Instead, the students created a rental system that allows fans to charge up their tailgate activities sustainably using the rechargeable option.

“We really thought about the user experience. Because you are providing this as an alternative, you want that transition to be smooth. If it’s too hard, they’ll just keep using the generator because it’s easy to use,” Caleb Buaful explains.

Once the battery pack was developed, the students focused on a delivery system and decided on electric bikes that could easily zoom throughout the parking lots, quickly delivering batteries as needed. They then developed a mobile app that allows users to see when their battery is running low and instantly order another for delivery. The system has since found support at Ohio State, itself an eco-minded campus with big goals of its own (primarily to become carbon neutral by 2050).

Nti is president of a student organization called Smart Campus, which was founded by Freudiger. The mission of the group is to develop innovative solutions to improve communities at the university, and it’s safe to say that this project fits that bill pretty well. Mentor to the group BJ Yurkovich also expressed enthusiasm for the work the students are doing, saying: “It’s been exciting to watch this talented team of students not only develop cutting-edge technology, but also navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and business development.”

The university showed support to the initiative by awarding Electrion an $89,000 Ohio State Sustainability Fund grant. Outside of campus, MegaJoule Ventures, an investment firm focused on sustainability, also invested $250,000 to help get the company off the ground.

While they started small by hoping to motivate their fellow Buckeyes, the team estimates each tailgating day results in about 120,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted, which means their system could really be useful in cleaning up sporting venues all across the country.

Nti adds that: “We came back and started talking and thinking, ‘If that’s just from one day, that’s thousands of pounds of CO2 being emitted at just one Ohio State game, how much more would be over a season and then at other schools across the nation as well? We saw that as a very significant impact, so we thought about how we could possibly be a solution.”

The idea for this generator alternative was born during the 2019 football season, and the team founded their company shortly before the pandemic hit. They are currently working up prototypes and hope to have a finished product available by the time tailgating is back in session.

The post Students Create Rechargeable Battery System to Replace Gas Generators at Tailgating Events first appeared on Dornob.

Engineer Ryan Mario Yasin recently came up with a smart solution to this problem: a permanently pleated fabric that expands and contracts over your features for a custom fit. If BETA[MSK] looks a bit futuristic, that’s probably because it’s ahead of its time even when it comes to textile innovation.

Sustainably made from recycled PET plastic bottles using a patent pending technology and waste-reducing patterns, the BETA[MSK] is a form-fitting face covering that’s adjustable enough to fit the vast majority of adult faces. The pleats are engineered to be hard-wearing, so they’ll bounce back to their original tight formation even after they’ve stretched many times.

The mask secures in the back with quick-release velcro, so it’s very easy to put on and take off, and you can wear it like a cuff around your neck when it’s not in use. Just put it on and pull at the pleats until it’s securely covering your nose, mouth, and chin. The mask also features a filter pocket for PM2.5 carbon filters (two of which are included with purchase), along with a form-fitting removable nose wire. Offered through Yasin’s company Petit Pli, the BETA[MSK] already sold out two previous batches, but there’s a waitlist up for the next round.

As you might imagine, this textile has some other convenient uses, too. Yasin first developed it when he realized his young nephew was rapidly growing out of his clothes, and constantly repurchasing bigger sizes just felt like a waste. Before pivoting to masks during the pandemic, Petit Pli was primarily a children’s clothing shop offering adorable pleated waterproof and windproof outerwear that stretches as kids grow, helping them last longer.

The company’s official website reads: “Inspired by aerospace engineering, Petit Pli’s continuous size adjustment is a new way of approaching garment design — one suitable to high growth rates in children. Petit Pli uses technical materials that are ultra-lightweight, reinforced, rainproof, and breathable because children are extreme athletes.”

“The Petit Pli BETA[MSK] is made from recycled fabrics and has a monofiber construction. Through its approach towards sustainability and innovation, Petit Pli hopes to instill slow-fashion values in humans whilst designing for the needs of humanity — little and tall. We aim to inspire humanity to value longevity and innovation in some of the most intimate products in our lives — garments. The Petit Pli Beta[MSK] is made in London, supporting our local supply chain.”

The company adds that: “The BETA[X] range signals a Petit Pli research project made in limited quantities in London. If feedback is positive, the project progresses onto the next stage. This ensures we do not overproduce and waste resources. We want to design the best garments possible for you, with you. Constructive criticism from BETA[X] owners is welcomed to help evolve the garment.”

The post Expandable Mask Made of Recycled Plastic Flexes to Fit Your Face first appeared on Dornob.

Launched on Kickstarter in June, Bottle Farm is a simple, affordable kit that can help you transform any old plastic bottle into an indoor farm producing edible plants like herbs and salad greens. It requires no electricity and is fully self-watering, so it’s highly efficient and a great option for people who aren’t the most attentive gardeners.

This mini farm relies mainly on hydroponic technology, requiring the user to grow plants in water instead of soil. It’s designed to simply sit in your window though, so you don’t have to set up any grow lights or waste electricity to help it thrive. It comes with two bottle stands, two “suction pads” to stick it to a window, four “grow baskets” you insert into the sidewall of a plastic bottle, and eight “grow pods” made of recycled coconut husk.

To get started, you simply cut slots in the bottle using a provided template, insert the grow baskets, and drop in the grow pods, which expand when they come into contact with water. The kit provides basil, chard, chives, coriander, parsley, lettuce, tomato, rocket, and chili seeds, along with packets of “plant fuel” fertilizer, but you can always swap in other seeds better tailored to your preferences.

The kit can either be placed in a windowsill, if there’s enough room, or suction-cupped to the glass. Little suction cup “grow clips” let you support bigger plants like tomatoes as they grow. Most of the components are made of 95-percent recycled plastic, and to offset those materials that aren’t, the company partnered with Carbonfund.org.

They explain that “one year ago, we noticed a problem. The food we were buying was being wrapped in single-use plastic and flown across the world to get to us. That has a large environmental impact. But we live in London, so how were we meant to find space to grow our own food? Then we had an idea. What if you could grow food using an everyday object, which was otherwise going to be thrown away, in space you can’t use for anything else? We created Bottle Farm.”

“We are a small team of physicists and designers with experience developing large-scale home hydroponics systems. We’ve spent this past year designing every part of Bottle Farm with care and attention, down to the minute details. We used a beautifully simple design process. Iteration. We took each part needed to create a Bottle Farm, worked out what it needed to do, then designed Version 1 and made the first prototype. Then we would test it until it broke. From this we learnt what worked and what didn’t. Then we would re-design and repeat. That’s how we’ve packed so many features and so much functionality into this little box.”

Kits are available for pre-order on Kickstarter now for as little as £20 (about $26 USD), but larger pledges will net you extras like expanded seed varieties and additional grow clips.

The post “Bottle Farm” Kit Turns Used Plastic Bottles Into Indoor Gardens first appeared on Dornob.

Located about three hours from the capital, near the RMK Pähni Nature Center in Varstu Parish, Estonia, the handmade wooden megaphones sit among the fir trees, surrounded by nothing but the sounds of chirping birds and rustling leaves.

The project is the brainchild of architecture students from the Estonian Academy of Arts. The group built and installed the megaphones — individually called RUUP — in conjunction with an acoustics engineer consultant back in 2015. The goal was to experiment with surround-sound amplification inside an unlikely location, the outside. More specifically, Estonia’s Võru county forest.

Estonia’s forests cover nearly half of its total area, and all of them are available to residents and visitors for recreational activities year-round. As you can imagine, finding a remote location away from the noise pollution of cities was not difficult here. Even with the off-the-beaten path placement, the installation manages to attract hikers, musicians, and solitude seekers, each looking for their own experience.

Hannes Praks, course advisor and Head of the Interior Architecture Department at the Estonian Academy of Arts, shared his perspective on the project’s remote location, stating: “the farther we get from the intense vibration of the capital, the better we are able to sense the low-frequency vibration of nature. This is why the installation would be missing its essence if it were to be located next to Tallinn. In the megaphones, a certain surround sound effect, communicated by the megaphones when the distance and angle is just right, is worth testing.”

The massive structures measure three meters in diameter, with each one sitting six meters from the center of a large circle. With the help of a map from the somewhat nearby visitor’s center, artists and nature enthusiasts can visit for a moment, an afternoon, or even camp out overnight. Musicians have flocked to the area to experience the sound of music played from inside a RUUF, hosting small-scale cultural events and concerts. Others visit simply to view the architectural design, or to delve deep into meditation within the natural setting.

Each handbuilt megaphone allows visitors to peer through either the large opening or the smaller frame on the other end. Although the initial goal may have been to create a surround sound of nature’s music, the display also seems to have opened the possibilities for other ways to experience the space. Exploring the structures from the front, back, and center of the circle all yield different amplification experiences, but some debate whether they really amplify the sounds at all, inviting visitors to also step outside the RUUF to contemplate the difference in sound. In this way, the attraction also draws visitors into nature, putting the spotlight on what the forest has to offer, both as a sensory experience and as an opportunity to be introspective. Some might even say the project allows you to listen to your own thoughts more than the sounds of the world around you.

The post Nature’s Volume is Amplified With Megaphones in This Estonian Forest first appeared on Dornob.

Passive solar design is a no-brainer — yet the conventional way to deal with building facades that will be subjected to the hot, unrelenting sun is still just to insulate them, add some blinds, and plan to use a lot of air conditioning. It’s high time more architects and builders consider the ways the sun’s energy will affect a structure, and integrate some simple features that will make its interiors far more comfortable all year long.

Often low-tech and low-cost, passive solar techniques reduce energy costs and maintenance by tailoring designs to the climates around them. Orientation of the roof, windows, and facade with the position of the sun in mind, proper ventilation and insulation, shading, and thermal mass all make a big difference in interior temperatures.

The latter comes into play in a big (and beautiful) way in a new home by Manoj Patel Design Studio. Located in Gujarat, western India, the modern home uses clay roof tiles in an unexpected fashion, displaying them along the east facade in a pleasing pattern. What’s more, 40 percent of the tiles are reclaimed from the waste of other construction projects.

Clay is known for its thermal properties, retaining much of the energy it absorbs to cut down on the need for mechanical heating and cooling. It’s also highly durable, non-toxic, long lasting, and recyclable. Clay tiles on a sunny facade can absorb a lot of heat during the day, releasing it after dark when it’s cooler.

This isn’t the first time Manoj Patel Design Studio has experimented with clay roof tiles. Previously, the designers cut v-shaped clay tiles to create a wavy pattern on the facade of a house in Vadodara, India.

The architects add: “Here the ratio of 40 percent of waste clay tiles at free cost and 60 percent of new clay tiles at 10 INR per piece were collected, cut into six to eight one-inch wide parts, fixed in with [a] chemical solution against the available perpendicular surface of wall at 45 degrees, and crafted into a customized series for obtaining an everlasting beauty… Furthermore, the layering of th[ese] horizontal and vertical clay tiles is [based on] sun’s movement from south to west throughout the day as per Indian context, which keeps the area shaded by reduction in temperature.”

“An illusionist display is casted on the uniform surface of the wall through these angular patterns, which transform the solid form into more organic mass. Thus, this dwelling carved out its own character through contrasting red-colored earthy textures and volumetric masses, becoming a distinguishing dwelling among the surrounding street.”

In 2017, Manoj Patel Design Studio won a first place RTF Sustainability Award for its modular plantable screens made of clay tiles, which can be added to surfaces outside homes in places that receive a lot of solar exposure. Not only can you establish a vertical garden within these tiles, but you can also tuck lights into them for a look that’s even cooler after sunset.

The post Clay Tiles Bring Passive Heating to New House in India first appeared on Dornob.

Climate control is an expensive component in relation to the infrastructure of classrooms, art studios, and exhibition halls. Most of these institutions spend a pretty penny maintaining the temperature within their confines as a way to protect the pieces and provide comfort for the artists. But one vintage warehouse in Los Angeles has implemented a sustainable way to protect the art and lower the carbon footprint, all while aiming for a prestigious LEED certification.

Once a 21,200-square-foot industrial wallpaper factory, the building now houses the Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studio, a UCLA-based gallery and art center where students study art, architecture, and design. In September, the now 48,000-square-foot campus held a grand opening to reveal all the renovations that had been made to the space.

Designed by Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee and led by architect Sharon Johnston, the updated campus is now open for classes beginning with fall term 2019. It boasts 42 different studios and labs where students can focus on computer-aided graphics, ceramics, photography, and more. The upstairs houses a studio apartment loft for the live-in artist’s residence. The designers planned the area to allow for both personal work space and public spaces where art can be shared and evaluated by others.

With sustainability in mind, the architects also designed the campus to be LEED Gold certified — a certification that recognizes materials and projects aimed at energy savings, water efficiency, carbon emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, stewardship of resources, and sensitivity to their impacts.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally-recognized independent green building verification organization. A gold certification means that the building’s design has earned high marks for efficient use of resources and a healthier environment for residents.

In the case of UCLA’s Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, that meant using passive means instead of energy-consumptive technology. To achieve this goal, “innovative building systems and elemental materials [were] distilled towards a holistic and efficient structure rather than adding layers of sustainable technology.”

Starting with the exterior walls, the architects replaced the original materials with concrete, finishing them with a special technique that eliminates the need for waterproofing and insulation, and leaves a very small construction footprint, to boot. On the inside, workshops are basically open-air courtyards that allow for natural airflow under the protection of the structure. Relying on the temperate weather of southern California minimizes the need for expensive and consumptive heating and cooling systems.

The campus project was funded by alumni Margo Leavin in 2016. Her $20 million gift provided the means to not only develop a program in her vision, but also to place it on a campus that encompasses a view of both sustainable schooling and art production.

Leavin said in a recent statement: “I’m grateful that my career in the Los Angeles art world has afforded me the opportunity to support those at the very heart of this community: artists. The students, alumni, and faculty from the art department at UCLA shape the future of the arts in Los Angeles and beyond. It would be my wish that others who are passionate about the future of the arts — especially other women who have enjoyed professional success — will join me in harnessing their resources to benefit those who are still developing their creative practices. We need to remember that without artists, there would be no art world.”

The post UCLA’s New Graduate Art Studio Stresses the Importance of Sustainable Schools first appeared on Dornob.

Currently in development, the complex will consist of two enclosed biomes. The Northern Biome reflects the botanic diversity found among Oman’s Northern Mountains, while the Southern Biome will hold the forested habitats of the Dhofar region. These glass structures echo the natural topography of the areas they’re replicating, undulating in waves and connecting to each other and the rest of the gardens via walkways and cable cars.

Visitors feel like they’re meandering through the wadis, mountains, and deserts of Oman in this immersive man-made landscape, experiencing all of the sultanate’s beautiful plant life in a matter of a few hours. Much of this flora is endemic to Oman, meaning you won’t find it anywhere else in the world, and many of the species are also endangered. The 420-hectare (about 1,037 acres) site is one of only a few locations in the world where the ancient seabed is still visible. That’s because tectonic activity has elevated the bed to 100 meters (about 328 feet) above sea level.

The eight defined habitats are arranged at the center of complex alongside a visitor center and educational/research facilities. The layout considers things like passive and active shading, efficient plant irrigation, natural daylight optimization, and a careful study of foot traffic to produce a harmonious and sustainable whole. All of the buildings are being designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the globally-recognized standard for sustainability.

“The Oman Botanic Garden is an astonishing project with many layers of interwoven cultural and environmental significance,” says Keith Brewis, Partner at Grimshaw Architects. “Its scale and diversity is truly world-leading, and we are honored to work as the architects for a project that has the conservation of bio-diversity as a core design driver.”

“At Arup we have enjoyed the many unique challenges presented by the Oman Botanic Garden; from designing natural and authentic landscapes to recreating the cool mists of the Khareef,” says Ed Clarke, Associate Director of Arup. “More than 700 of our multi-disciplinary engineers and specialist designers were engaged to explore and find solutions that would befit such an ambitious and creative brief. The Oman Botanic Garden must surely be one of the most marvelous projects in the world.”

“The Oman Botanic Garden project set itself and the entire design team unique cultural and technical objectives, and aspirations,” says Alisdair Hinshelwood, Designer and Director at hsd. “Hsd has relished working on a project where the botanical, landscape, and cultural heritage of Oman is being expressed through the detailed scientific research, technical design, and sheer creative enthusiasm of the entire time, client and design alike.”

The post Garden Will Be World’s Largest Ecological Oasis first appeared on Dornob.

Growing gardens full of bee-friendly plants is one great way to do that. Another is engaging in some small-scale urban beekeeping. Starting a honeybee hive can be a daunting prospect for beginners, especially if the only space they have is a small backyard or balcony. Now, a new kit called the B-Box aims to make it as easy and compact as can be.

Designed to be safe, simple, interactive, and city-friendly, the B-Box is an innovative hive design featuring patent-pending technology that lets you monitor your bees and harvest honey without disturbing the hive. The only entrance and exit for them is at the top of a long chimney about 7.2 feet above the ground, keeping them safe and well away from any people that might be around. That means no protective clothing is needed to approach the hive.

It works using a special lever you pull when you want to access the honey. Bees can then exit the honeycomb chamber, but can’t enter. After a few hours, the chamber will be completely empty of bees, so you can pull out just one of the 16 mini-frames full of honey at a time, which are just the right size for use by an average household. Plus, this modular system also makes sure there’s enough honey left for the bees themselves to use. You can also collect beeswax, nutrient-dense bee pollen, and royal jelly from the frames.

The whole setup is small enough that it requires no more than a square meter of space, so as long as you have even the smallest of outdoor areas, you’ll be able to use the B-Box, too.

The product’s Indiegogo page reads: “B-box is, at its core, a bee hive. We aren’t pretending otherwise! But the traditional beehive we all think of today was invented over 150 years ago for professional use. It’s time that home beekeeping caught up with modern technology! That’s why we’ve re-engineered the traditional beehive to be more people and bee friendly — not to mention better adapted for domestic use.”

“In traditional hives, you have to disrupt your bees to check on their health. Imagine if a giant suddenly took the roof off your house! With B-Box, regularly agitating (and sometimes squishing) your bees is no longer necessary. Polycarbonate walls (the same material as shatterproof windows and eyeglass lenses) are hidden below the warm and cozy wood exterior panels of B-Box, allowing you to observe your hive anytime you like! See them at work, storing honey, and building honeycomb as you please. This also means you can monitor your bees’ health without disturbing the hive.”

The B-Box just completed a successful round of crowdfunding, raising over $200,000. Pre-orders have closed, but the unit will likely be available to the general public by early 2020.

The post B-Box Compact Hive Made for Backyard and Balcony Beekeeping first appeared on Dornob.

In reality, it’s a petroleum-based product that requires rock, sand, and fabricated cement components to stay strong and hold the pavement together. That means it requires drilling, mining, and processing before it can even be used a single time. On top of that, water runoff from paved surfaces is charged with water pollution, with asphalt constantly generating harmful gases called VOCs.

With all of this to consider, governments around the world have started exploring options other than asphalt for their road surface needs. Most recently, Tasmania invested in the first-ever Australian road to be made from recycled waste. Charlton Street is now being celebrated around the world as a shining example of creative resource management.

The Kingborough council worked in conjunction with road construction company Downer, as well as resource recovery and recycling companies Close the Loop and RED Group, to pull the project together. An estimated 500,000 plastic bags and other soft plastic packaging components were used to enhance the performance of standard paving materials. Somewhere around 100,000 single-use glass bottle equivalents were also diverted from the landfill and ground into a sand-like material for the new material, which is also comprised of 33 tons of recycled asphalt and the toner from 5,900 recycled printer cartridges.

“Together with Kingborough Council and our partners, we have proven that with thought, leadership, and the tenacity to make a positive difference, we have set a new benchmark in the State when it comes to sustainability by creating new avenues to recycle and repurpose waste materials. It’s all about pulling products, not pushing waste,” says Stuart Billing, Downer’s General Manager of Pavements.

Of course, the 500-meter road is still a bit of an experiment — albeit one aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of standard street resurfacing. The council is hopeful it will live up to expectations of a longer lifespan so they can continue expanding the concept to other areas. And while the upfront cost of the recycled road might be higher, it’s definitely worth the investment in the long run.

According to Close the Loop Australia’s General Manager Nerida Mortlock, the new ashalpt is a total “game-changer.” She explains: “Soft plastics don’t disintegrate well in landfill. What happens here is it’s melted down into an additive, [which means] no micro-plastics or pollution problems whatsoever.”

All of the organizations involved in the project hope to inspire other countries to develop similar partnerships with their own local eco-minded organizations to help “drive” the idea of recycled roads into reality.

The post Tasmanian Road Built From Recycled Plastic and Used Printer Cartridges first appeared on Dornob.

The monotony of these limited ceiling treatments is exactly why TURF Design was created: to give the world of ceilings something totally different without disrupting existing conventions.

One way to change old habits is to start from a place that everyone can agree on, and the appeal of TURF Design’s products begins even before they are made. More specifically, their ceiling systems are made from 99 percent post-consumer plastic, half of which comes from single-use water bottles. This reduction in waste extends to the way the company controls the inventory of their products, in that they only manufacture on-demand from their Chicago plant.

With sustainable practices at the core of their business, TURF focuses on reducing echos in large spaces using ceiling systems that are both acoustically functional and aesthetically pleasing. Using parametric design, they create systems that make vacuous-feeling rooms a lot more intimate and fun.

What do clients find so interesting in the systems that TURF builds? Among other things, the fact that they can be installed without disturbing existing ceiling panels. No, this system of baffles can be adjusted and reconnected depending on the style a particular space needs. For example, the company’s Switchblade ceiling system is made from 99 percent recycled polyester plastic. Its 9-mm polyester felt boards are held to the underside of the steel grid magnets, which means no major renovation would be needed to alter the ceilings and reduce the noise in the space below. It also gives the space a new aesthetic that looks far more appealing than the one that was there before.

Then there is Swell, a ceiling system that looks like it’s literally growing. As the eye travels down the hall or across the room, the ceiling bulges and swells as if an otherworldly creature were about to pierce through.

Some might find that it looks creepy, but after a while, the wave-like forms that surround diffusers and sprinklers actually feel pretty soothing. This drop ceiling, unlike the typical drywall ones, can be installed easily without taking apart the existing one.

With so much talk of disruption in industry after industry, TURF Design is showing that the best way to succeed may be to avoid disruption altogether.

The post TURF Design’s Stunning Non-Disruptive Ceiling Systems first appeared on Dornob.

Photos of tiny seahorses clutching used cotton swabs under the sea may be heartbreaking, but are they enough to galvanize people into giving up convenient products? What if there were reusable alternatives that could perform the very same tasks while reducing pollution? It can be hard to break our harmful habits, but products like the LastSwab aim to make positive change a little easier for all of us.

Plastic-stemmed cotton swabs (or Q-tips, as they’re known in the US) are a major source of marine pollution, adding to the estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris that have accumulated in the world’s oceans thus far. More than one billion Q-tips are produced every single day, and thousands of them can be found along any given beach virtually anywhere in the world.

Swabs made with paper sticks are at least biodegradable, but they’re still single-use products. And while it may seem like such products have to be disposable for hygienic reasons, that’s not necessarily true. The LastSwab, which bills itself as “the last cotton swab you’ll ever need,” demonstrates how we could rethink such items and make them a lot more earth-friendly without sacrificing their functionality.

People use Q-tips for all kinds of cosmetic and hygienic applications, from touching up eye makeup to dabbing ointment on wounds. If only they’d listen to experts when they tell us not to jam them into our ear canals, we’d probably be tossing a lot fewer of them into the trash every day. But even if you insist on ignoring this advice, you could be contributing a lot less plastic to the waste stream simply by buying the LastSwab instead. Made of medical-grade silicone, it’s durable enough to be thoroughly washed over and over again, and it even comes with its own carrying case so you’re less likely to misplace it.

The LastSwab is available in two distinct styles: a pointed, smooth-textured swab for makeup applications and a grippy, textured nub for cleaning. Each style comes in an array of colors. While the expected retail price of $32 for a two-pack and $48 for a three-pack may seem a bit steep for something you normally buy for just a few bucks per 100, just think about how many disposable swabs you could avoid throwing away. Plus, it’ll definitely end up paying for itself in the long run.

“Paper, wood, and hemp cotton swabs are bad too,” say the makers of the LastSwab. “The CO2 emissions from the production and transport of these single-use cotton swabs can be avoided with LastSwab. Even the case for LastSwab is biodegradable, and the packaging it comes in is made of eco-friendly cardboard. The real game changer is that the swab is designed to last for thousands of uses — and we really hope the one you buy from us will be the LAST Swab.”

To truly combat the urgent problem of pollution, the companies that produce disposable products must take responsibility for the total life cycle of the items they sell. Manufacturers have the resources and power to make big changes that could transform the concept of “trash” as we know it. But our small individual actions matter, too, and if you’re looking to reduce your own impact, choosing reusable products like the LastSwab is a great way to start. You can back the reusable Q-tip on Kickstarter and choose from a variety of rewards at a reduced price, or wait until it’s available to the public later this year.

The post LastSwab Aims to Be the Only Q-Tip You’ll Ever Need Again first appeared on Dornob.