Fulcrum by Richard Serra, London, England
NY Times Arts Dwell ARTstor Blog
TED’s A Greener Future? page includes 53 videos of lectures delivered by leading scholars, designers and activists engaged in the debate over the environment and climate change. Al Gore, Cameron Sinclair, Norman Foster, and others discuss a wide range of topics including global mass extinctions, sustainable food culture and urban design.
LeedVisuual “synthesizes information about USGBC’s credits into pictorial format.”
The site breaks down the credits – whether water efficient landscaping or innovation in design - and presents infographics that make the accreditation process easy to understand and therefore achieve.
Nonprofit media organization Worldchanging asks “What does it mean to build bright green structures for the 21st Century?” This online writer/journalist collective focuses on chronicling and questioning architectural, community planning, political, and corporate methods of affecting environmental and social change across the globe.
Architecture for Humanity is a nonprofit design services firm building a more sustainable future through the power of professional design. A network of more than 40,000 professionals work with communities around the world on site specific projects from a basketball court with an integrated rainwater collection system in Mahiga, Kenya to housing projects in Biloxi, Mississippi in response to damage done by Hurricane Katrina. Architecture for Humanity also promotes the proliferation of sustainable architecture through chapter projects, competitions and workshops.
In an effort to emphasize research in green building, the National Science Foundation will be working with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the National Academy of Environmental Design to establish criteria for the dissemination of new grant monies for architectural research. Made available through the NSF’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program, this grant money will facilitate and support architects researching in the fields of sustainable and environmental design. For more information visit Grants.gov or the NSF website.
The Austin-based Clean Tech Training Center offers workshops in solar installation, as well as educational opportunities to learn more about renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, and smart grid ). Clean Tech Training Center even offers a course, Photovoltaic Essentials, through UT Austin’s Informal Classes.
In an effort to increase green construction, the city of Austin and Austin Energy have launched an education series which will elucidate how buildings can be better designed with their environments in mind.
Associate Professor of Architecture, Werner Lang, reiterated the impact of building construction on our natural resources in an article from the Daily Texan. “I think the main message everyone should get from all this is to touch the Earth lightly,” Lang said. “Touch it in such a way that future generations can use its resources responsibly.”
The Green Energy Education Act, which passed in the house on April 22nd 2009 with a margin of 411-6 , will require the Department of Energy to partner with the National Science Foundation to award grants for undergraduate and graduate architecture and engineering programs in order to improve the energy efficiency of our nation’s buildings. Introduced by Congressman Mike McCaul (R-TX), the act will provide funding for the development of curricula, laboratory activities, training practicums, and design projects focusing on green buildings and green technologies. No funding amounts have been attached to the bill yet and it still needs to be passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President.
Read more from the American Society of Landscape Architect’s Advocacy Network and the American Institute of Architects.
Yesterday the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) along with participants from nations around the globe celebrated World Intellectual Property Day. This year’s focus on green innovation prompted a number of activities including legislative, initiatives, conferences and exhibitions in participating nations. In addition, the WIPO has published a special magazine issue that discusses topics in sustainability ranging from solar technology, efforts to eradicate hunger through agricultural innovation, and climate change legislation.
Click here for more information on World Intellectual Property Day.
Professor Werner Lang discussed green building on a recent edition of the Earth & Sky Radio Series which broadcast on over 1000 radio stations nationwide. Lang focused on building skins, the energy required to produce them, and the often inefficient nature of their composition. Lang also emphasized the need for a universal lifestyle shift that demands better energy practices and is committed to more effective and responsible stewardship of existing resources.
To read more or listen to the Earth & Sky podcast visit Architect Werner Lang on green building.
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