![]() |
14. Mod Pod A Nod to Flex Biz
Designed by the British firm Tate + Hindle, the OfficePOD is a flexible office space that can be installed, well, just about anywhere, indoors or out. The self-contained modular units measure about seven feet square and are designed to serve as dedicated space for employees who work from home or other remote locations. Construction of the modular pods includes natural, recycled, and recyclable materials, as well as insulation and a high-efficiency HVAC system. The pods are plug-in powered; the fully wired units connect to an existing structure (home, garage, office building, um...Starbucks?) while IT and phone connectivity is wireless, but can also be cabled in. Delivery takes approximately 12 weeks.![]() |
15. Transform any Work Surface into A Charging Station
![]() |
16. Concrete Slabs Plays up Rubber Ball Technology
17. Brown Rice for Greener Concrete
While slag from steel mills, fly ash, and silica fume are being added to concrete to reduce the material's greenhouse gas emissions and make it stronger and more resistant to corrosion, rice husks (the small cases around edible rice kernels) have so far proved an unsuitable additive because when burned, its ash is too contaminated with carbon. However, scientists were focused on finding ways to utilize rice husks because they are very rich in silicon dioxide, a core concrete ingredient. A breakthrough has come from researchers at Plano, Texas-based ChK Group, who discovered that superheating the husks to almost 1500 °F in an oxygen-free furnace produces pure, nearly carbon-free silica. ChK researchers, who are still refining their production processes, speculate a single full-size furnace could produce 15,000 tons of rice husk ash annually, which can be used to replace up to 20% of cement used in concrete production.![]() |
18. Killer Beetles Lead to Concrete Plywood
The mountain pine beetle is devastating British Columbia's conifer forests, and while some researchers focused on controlling the destruction, others focused on salvaging the billions of dead trees. The University of Northern British Columbia's professor Ron Thring and graduate student Sorin Pasca focused on salvaging efforts and discovered that dead wood from lodgepole pine trees is an excellent ingredient for cement production. While cement typically repels organic material, the beetles "enhanced" the wood in such a way that it sticks to cement and act as a substitute for typical aggregates like stones and rocks. Researchers say the concrete plywood hybrid board (above), which they call MPB (for mountain pine beetle), is water resistant and can be used in place of drywall and gypsum board or as flooring and countertop surfacing. Boards can be cut with regular woodworking tools and nailed without pre-drilling.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
New air-conditioning design standard allows for increased air speed to cool building interiors
Building occupants, who may soon feel cooler from increased air movement, can thank a committee of building science specialists. The committee in charge of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy—after months of study and discussion--has voted recently to allow increased air speed as an option for cooling building interiors. In lay terms, increased air speed is the equivalent of turning up the fan.
| Aug 11, 2010
PCA partners with MIT on concrete research center
MIT today announced the creation of the Concrete Sustainability Hub, a research center established at MIT in collaboration with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) Research & Education Foundation.
| Aug 11, 2010
Study explains the financial value of green commercial buildings
Green building may be booming, especially in the Northwest, but the claims made for high-performance buildings have been slow to gain traction in the financial community. Appraisers, lenders, investors and brokers have found it difficult to confirm the value of high-performance green features and related savings. A new study of office buildings identifies how high-performance green features and systems can increase the value of commercial buildings.
| Aug 11, 2010
VA San Diego Healthcare System Building 1 Seismic Correction
San Diego, Calif.
Three decades after its original construction in the early 1970s, the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System Building 1 fell far short of current seismic codes. This not only put the building and its occupants—patients, doctors, nurses, visitors, and administrative staff—at risk in the event of a major earthquake, it violated a California state mandate requiring all hospitals to either retrofit or rebuild.
| Aug 11, 2010
Green Building Initiative launches two certification programs for green building professionals
The Green Building Initiative® (GBI), one of the nation’s leading green building organizations and exclusive provider of the Green Globes green building certification in the United States, today announced the availability of two new personnel certification programs for green building practitioners: Green Globes Professional (GGP) and Green Globes Assessor (GGA).