The Memphis Greenline

Over my thanksgiving break I had the opportunity to try out the Memphis Greenline which was opened a month ago. Memphis in recent years has really been working toward a healthier community. Currently the Greenline extends 9 miles on an old railroad bed. The trail stretches from Shelby farms (Memphis’s Largest Park) to midtown by my parent’s house. The city is working on developing 400 miles of easements for the new trail system. The next phase of the trail is to connect midtown to Tom Lee Park downtown on the river. I grew up in Memphis and this is a very big step forward. They are the most obese city in the nation.

Solar vs. the Bank

This is an interesting chart that shows that $20,000 invested in solar can save you much more by putting it in the bank. I would be interested to know if you would save much on energy in Mississippi.

NatureMill Composter

I found this to be really interesting. It is a small composter for your kitchen that does not smell. The system balances temperature and air for optimal composting. The system mixes and decomposes the waste for a great soil conditioner. The kitchen straps takes about 2 weeks to breakdown to be used in the garden. It cost about $300-400 depending on model.
Link: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2EwVgA/www.naturemill.com/

The Global Carbon Project

Global emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide are on track to hit a record in 2010, a leading annual study said on Monday, Driven largely by booming economies in China, India and Brazil and their reliance on coal says David Fogarty writer for Reuters. The Global Carbon Project said emissions dipped 1.3 percent in 2009 from 2008 but the decreases was less than half what was estimated a year ago. The scary thing was that they predicted that emissions would drop because of economic crisis in fossil fuels emissions. The U.S emissions fell by 6.9 percent and Britains fell by 8.6 percent in 2009. However, emissions rose by 8 percent in china and 6.2 percent in India. The global trend is still a dramatic rise in green house gases and reports say that global warming will increase by approx. 2+ degrees Celsius. The link is below.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/6pdnHY/www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AK1OU20101121%253FWT.mc_id%253Dsmg_SU_Green_003

Study Abroad in Ecovillages

Living Routes has a study abroad program where you can live and work in different eco communities around the world. They offer college credits from University of Massachusetts. The program offers opportunities in Australia, Brazil, India, Israel, Mexico, Peru, Scotland, Costa Rica, USA. This would be an excellent opportunity for those interested in learning about personal and community based solutions in:

Sustainable Development Environmental Studies & Research Appropriate technologies Consensus decision making Habitat restoration World views and consciousness Permaculture & ecological design

Organic agriculture Fair trade Local economies Green building Environmental justice Women's empowerment Bioregional studies

http://www.livingroutes.org/

Bees Solve Complex Problems Faster Than Supercomputers

Bumblebees can solve the classic pathway problems, which keeps supercomputers busy for days. The bees learn to fly the shortest possible route between flowers even if they find the flowers in a different order, according to a new British study at Queen Mary University, London. The University did a study on the bees using computer controled artifical flowers. The scientist believe that bees can help solve circulation and network problems helping congested cities.  

www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/10/bees-solve-complex-problems-faster-than-supercomputers.html

Cohousing Sections and Perspectives

These are the 2 sections, elevation, and 3 perspectives I created. Let me know your thoughs on quality and recommended improvements.

Cohousing Community Enlarged Plan

It is nice to be done with the last design project. I was pleased overall with the enlarged plan. I did the preliminary plan within the 2-3 hour time frame and only made some minor adjustments to the buildings and pathways. One think that I would like to have done was add some more interest along the pathways to improve the journey as you walk through the site. I would have also liked to change up the residential units a bit so that they are not all the same size.

Natural architecture

This is a interesting post of natural architecture.

www.designboom.com/contemporary/naturalarchitecture.html

Photovoltaic research

Some scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have been working on the first 3-D photovoltaic solar systems that can work underground. The new technology has the potential to improve the area that is exposed on the surface. Meaning that cars could be manufacture with imbedded PV under the roof with only the tips of fiber optic wire exposed on a flush surface. This also means that there is potential to generate more electricity per square inch than traditional PV systems.

www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/cheap_3d_solar_cells_are_6x_more_efficient_work_underground.php

George Carlin's take on the planet

This was an interesting video. I agree that we can't save the world but we can actively be a part of the earth's natural process. God made the earth and is in full control of the changes. The reality is that God has given us the minds to explore and therefore participate in changing with it. Therefore environmentalism is a good thing. We still need to actively pursue a green future in order to handle future population growths and help the less fortunate.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=948Nm34arfA&feature=player_embedded

Wind power system

This site shows a high altitude wind turbine called MARS. The thether is 1000' long and the system generates 100-1000kw depending on winds speeds.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9CucHx/www.magenn.com/

Burning water as fuel

I think this is pretty cool. Altough, I am sure the energy used to burn the hydrogen in the water is much more that the output. Whats your thoughts?

Creative steps

Earth Houses

(Above)The earth ship houses are in New Mexico where my family has a cabin just an hour away.

Building with nature

I have seen this before but I cannot remember where. Anyways it is a cool picture and I hope the tree does not die.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/3977773445_39c57db815_b.jpg

Landscape architecture workshop in Japan

From an article by Julie Marianne Weltzien...http://www.landscape-me.com/show-articles.php?id=7

Since 2004, each fall chosen students and their teachers from different parts of the world and universities meet in order to address and develop specific themes of landscape and urban design, which are then further developed by the local municipalities. Countries the Landscape Program of AUB (American University of Beirut, Lebanon) has so far visited include Tunisia, South Korea and this year Japan, but workshops have also taken place in Morocco, Lebanon, and China. Each two-week workshop is developed into a final presentation. The jury distributs medals to the students teachers after the final presentation.


http://www.landscape-me.com/userfiles/Picture%20162.jpg

Cohousing Preliminary Plan

The preliminary plan was created from the third concept plan and was drawn in CAD so that additional changes could be made. The preliminary plan was drawn in the 2hour time period and the color was added afterward.

Some useful maps of Aiken Village

Theses are some maps that may be helpful in your design process. The first one is a elevation map showing the low and high areas of the site. The darker the green color the lower the elevation. The second one is a birds-eye view of the site generated from Bing map.

Cohousing Concept Plans

Below are my 3 concept diagrams in the order that I completed them. Let me know your likes and dislikes. I went back and completed the third concept which is a combination of the first two concept plans. The third concept plan is the one taken to the next level.

Burning Man Paper

Hydro-Electric -Barrel Generator

This thing is pretty cool. Check it out.

From: http://www.hydro-electric-barrel.com/index.html
A floating waterwheel that can generate electricity when suspended over a river or other flowing water regardless of the depth and speed of flow.

Cohousing Functional Diagrams

I would have to say that coming up with a concept statement, and two functional diagrams in an 1.5 hours was quite a challenge. I think my concept statement is headed in the right direction but still may be changes. The functional diagrams I think work but I still need to play around with the spaces and the relationships between them.

Concept Statement:

Design a utopia for students that reflect the regenerative process of renewable systems in the landscape.

 

Aiken Village

I went to Aiken Village to look at the location of our next project to turn it into a cohousing community. The main thing that shocked me the most was the erosion of the adjacent stream. Most of the water from the cotton district, the MSU Hump, and Aiken Village ends up in this stream. As you walk down the stream the erosion gets worse. The erosion gets so bad by the northeast corner that it is killing large trees by washing the soil away exposing the root system.

EcoVillage of loudoun County

One of the reasons I chose this ecovillage is because I used to live about 30 minutes from it. I did not know it existed then. The main difference from this ecovillage is the large land area. They are working to preserve most of the 160 acres as natural forest. The homes are much too expensive for a middle class family but they homes are equipped with some really cool systems.

Cohousing Precedent Study

Altough some cohousing communities are ecovillages I think that the cohousing community offers something different. The cohousing I think also benefits those that are no quite ready for a ecovillage life style. It is a cross between traditional and the ecovillage.