The View From Spain's Solar Power Tower

Hundreds of enormous mirrors that turn "themselves towards the sun like a field of giant metal sunflowers" allow Spain's Solar Power Tower to produce 11 megawatts of energy, enough to power a town of 6,000 homes. Valerio Fernandez, the director of operation, isn't satisfied with that accomplishment and continues to refine the tower in order to produce more energy. Check out the article online at CNN.


- Anna

After the Snow Melts

Have you checked out the Green Team's new magazine subscription to Greensource? It is full of sustainable design solution examples. Very inspiring! If you can't find our actual copy (because Andy has it at his desk), you can also check out the magazine online Greensource

The current issue has an interesting article about how the Vancouver Olympics has made strides to produce a carbon-neutral event. For example, all new competition venues are targeting minimum LEED Silver ratings. Check it out!

Anna

A Different Kind of Treehouse

This is amazing. Architect/forester Roald Gundersen builds houses using entire trees, not pieces of lumber. The resulting structures are gorgeous, and the process is so much gentler on the environment than traditional logging (or building with steel supports). Here are some of the highlights:


"According to research by the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, run by the USDA, a whole, unmilled tree can support 50 percent more weight than the largest piece of lumber milled from the same tree. So Mr. Gundersen uses small-diameter trees as rafters and framing in his airy structures, and big trees felled by wind, disease or insects as powerful columns and curving beams.

Taking small trees from a crowded stand in the forest is much like thinning carrots in a row: the remaining plants get more light, air and nutrients. Carrots grow longer and straighter; trees get bigger and healthier.

And when the trees are left whole, they sequester carbon. “For every ton of wood, a ton and a half of carbon dioxide is locked up,” he said, whereas producing a ton of steel releases two to five tons of carbon. So the more whole wood is used in place of steel, the less carbon is pumped into the air.

These passive solar structures also need very little or no supplemental heat."

Now go check out the slide show. (Nice work noticing this one, Anna!)

-Kaitlen

The Blue Fence Project

A new definition for recycling and innovation has been established through The Blue Fence Project by Studio Superniche. Such playful ingenuity is a breath of fresh air. Thanks Nick for this link!

Droolworthy Indeed

Check out TreeHugger's slideshow of 10 Droolworthy Eco Structures. Most are just concepts, but they're quite interesting. They range from totally gorgeous to a little, well, fugly. And #6, the Helix Hotel, makes me hungry for a tall stack of pancakes.

-Kaitlen