Posts filed under 'Architecture'
Yahoo! founder, Jerry Yang and his wife Akiko Yamazaki (Stanford alum) have contributed $50 million towards the construction of a new science building for environment and sustainability. The building will be known as Y2E2 or Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building. The 166,000 square ft building will be made with recycled steel and other green materials and the building will use 56% less energy and 90% less water than another building with a comparable size. The building will also draw in cool air during the summer and insulate the interior from the cold during winters. The exterior walls have windows that open and close automatically using heat sensors to monitor the temperature insdie the building. It will also take advantage of natural lighting with light collecting spaces called atrias, and light shelf panels that open horizontally to catch sunlight but shade heat from the sun.
In addtion, Jerry Yang and his wife also donated $5 million to a new Learning and Knowledge Center for the School of Medicine and another $20 million for future projects at Stanford. There is never too much news about what Yahoo does for the environment so I can say now that Jerry donated a sh!#load of money to build Stanford’s new ecofriendly environmental building.
Read more about it at Palo Alto Online
March 6th, 2008
Alex
WetAir is an invention by Joseph Cory and Eyal Malka that is an inverted pyramid made from elastic canvas, recycled polycarbonate, and metal or glass that can extract 48 liters of fresh water from the air in a day. This inexpensive invention can be a great way to bring clean water to people who don’t currently have running water. This invention may not seem that important to us because we never have a problem finding water but there are still plenty of people in this world that actually don’t have clean water. Parts of the world still do not have electricity, showers, faucets, and toilets that are easily accessible.
The invention won first place in a Drawing Water Challenge sponsored by Arup, a global building, infrastructure, and consulting firm, and WaterAid, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the world’s poorest people gain access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene education. Joseph Cory of Geotectura and Eyal Malka of Malka Architects came up with the idea by dew that forms in the morning on leaves, spider webs, and tents. Dew drops form on the top and undersides of the panels of the pyramid at night and the drops eventually drip down to a well on the bottom. The structure was originally 96 square meters, but the dimensions can vary and can still produce the same effects. Hopefully, this invention will be used and implemented to provide water to people in underdeveloped areas of the world.
via abc.net.au
July 27th, 2007
Alex
In Pacifica, California, Dirk Dieter lives in a 250 sq ft house that he bought in 1999 for $101,000. I could not imagine doing that and I am sure many people will agree with me. Dirk’s girlfriend Yvonne, feels the same way.The industrial and exhibit designer has his own design furniture company at www.verb2.com based on two principles, putting people first, and making products that can be environmentally conscious and can last forever. He has recently added a garage but has been using it for storage due to the lack of space in the house. In Dieter’s house, there are no doors that swing out as all cabinets have sliding doors. To partition space, curtains and shades are used. The laundry room is just in a nook behinda natural-fiber shade. For furniture, Dieter has folding chairs and a futon. He has an original design rolling Tower of Power for audio-video equipment and another rolling clothes tower. The house was last appraised at $375,000. You can read more about the house and to see more pictures at the SFGate article here.
July 3rd, 2007
Alex
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will be building a new 12-story headquarter that is suppose to be the most energy-efficient office building developed in the United States. The $178 million 254,000 sq ft. design by KMD Architect will have dozens of wind turbines on the roof, solar panels embedded on the outer walls, a natural cooling thermal chimney, and other features that will supply 40% of its own energy. On a sunny or windy day, the goal is for the building to be completely provided by its own produced energy. The P.U.C. headquarters will also have faucet sensors, waterless urinals, and on-demand water heaters which should cut use to 5 gallons per occupant per day as opposed to 25 gallons a day for an average office building. There will also be a grey-water wastewater recycling system that enables the reuse of water from faucets and sinks from the toilets and cooling system. The new headquarters will also utilize sun-filtering shades, new window-glazing materials to bring sunlight inside the structure. The building is designed to exceed LEEDs-Platinum level and exceed California’s Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency in new office buildings by 60% . The building will be located at 525 Golden Gate Ave in downtown San Francisco and is planned to open in 2008.
via Dexigner
June 28th, 2007
Alex
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