Greener Design

New, Green 'Safe Spoon' Goes Where Normal Utensils Can't

GreenerDesign Staff — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:12:22 +0000

SpoonLidz has developed a new, paperboard spoon touted as an alternative to plastic or bio-based spoons and which cannot be used to cause harm.

In a Rare NGO Merger, GreenBlue and Metafore Join Strengths

GreenBiz Staff — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:08:17 +0000

GreenBlue, which focuses on facilitating sustainable product design and materials sourcing, has acquired Metafore, a nonprofit that specializes in sustainable paper purchasing, are joining forces to further influence sustainable design and procurement.

How Silver Can Bring a New Element to Green Chemistry

Michael L. Krall — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:54:33 +0000

A number of innovative bio-technologies are on the market today that offer highly effective alternatives to traditional chemical formulas, proving that products don't need to be toxic to be effective. Case in point are silver-based technologies.

SocialCycling Program Launched To Reuse Non-Recyclable Products, Materials

GreenerDesign Staff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:45:00 +0000

The new SocialCycling program from consultant firm DMD Green will route non-recyclable products and materials out of waste streams and toward companies and artisans that can reuse them to make new products.

Why Flying Monkeys Don't Rule the World: Recognizing the Ecological Context of Design

Tom McKeag — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:47:00 +0000

There is a resuscitated movement to judge our built work by the wider ecological context into which it is put. To optimize its beneficial effect rather than maximize its financial profit (or simply minimize its environmental harm). Optimizing our resources and decisions within the limits of our natural world is not merely wise or clever or noble; it's a requirement for our survival.

Axion To Build Two Additional Recycled Plastic Bridges For the U.S. Army

GreenerDesign Staff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Axion International Holdings has been commissioned by the U.S. Army to build two bridges from recycled plastic at Fort Eustis in Virginia. The bridges are planned to be able to handle 130 pounds, more than Axion's previous two recycled plastic bridges at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Rolling Towards Greener Tires

Jonathan Bardelline — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:35:00 +0000

By making tires better at overcoming the resistance they face from the road, tire makers are helping vehicles increase their fuel economy and discarding the long-held principle that says any increase in rolling resistance would lower tire durability and grip in wet conditions.

50 Companies Add U.K.-Specific Recycling Label to Packaging

GreenerDesign Staff — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:35:00 +0000

Fifty companies have signed up to use a standard, U.K.-specific recycling label for packaging since the label was introduced seven months ago. The program is an attempt to have one type of recycling label on all packaging in the U.K. and to increase recycling rates by making it clear what parts of a package are widely recycled.

Put Your Servers In a Bath to Cut Cooling Costs to Almost Nothing

GreenerComputing Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:43:52 +0000

At the Supercomputing 2009 conferencing this week, Iceotope unveiled a new technology to allow servers to be cooled by immersion in water, a new design that the company estimates could cut energy used to cool data centers by as much as 93 percent.

Dell Protects Laptops With Bamboo Packaging

GreenerDesign Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Dell is introducing bamboo cushioning with its Inspiron Mini 10 and Mini 10v netbooks, part of its broader goal to reduce its packaging by 10 percent and use more recyclable material.

UL Environment to Develop Standards for a Range of Green Building Materials

GreenerBuildings Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:40:59 +0000

UL Environment plans to develop sustainability standards for stone, ceramic, clay and glass building materials, as well as glazing materials, windows and their associated hardware and accessories.

Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation

ClimateBiz Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:37:12 +0000

This study finds that a robust climate bill could boost the U.S. economy by about $111 billion by 2020 and create as many as 1.9 million jobs.

Green Seal's New Business Certification Aims to Catalyze the Green Marketplace

Matthew Wheeland — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:31:23 +0000

Marking a shift in tactics after 20 years of certifying individual products or services, the nonprofit green certification group has launched a new project that will measure and seek to improve the impact of a company's entire operations.

What's Better for Green Design: Glass or Ceramic?

Travis Lee — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:58:11 +0000

When a design project requires a material with a cold, smooth, high-quality feel, what's better -- ceramic or glass?

Marriott to Launch Prototype for Green Design of Courtyard Hotels

Leslie Guevarra — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:38:19 +0000

In the latest move to expand its sustainability efforts, Marriott International Inc. says its green hotel portfolio will grow tenfold in the next five years with the introduction of a design prototype for new green properties.

Ford Mixes Wheat Waste With Plastic in 2010 Flex

GreenerDesign Staff — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:30:00 +0000

The 2010 Ford Flex will include the auto industry's first use of wheat straw, a waste byproduct from wheat production, expanding Ford's use of bio-based and alternative materials.

Vetrazzo Gets a Green Audit to Back Its Product Claims

GreenerBuildings Staff — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:10:20 +0000

The manufacturer of recycled-glass surfaces announced during Greenbuild 2009 that it had published an Environmental Product Declaration, allowing customers to verify the reduced impacts of its product line.

Nanotube Sponge Promises Improved Pollution Mop-up

Danny Bradbury — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Chinese researchers say new carbon nanotubes will make oil spill clean-ups quicker and easier.

The Companies Mixing Up Greener Cement

Jonathan Bardelline — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:09 +0000

Cement and concrete companies are using a range of strategies to lower the impacts of their industry, which contributes 5 percent or more of CO2 emissions. Using a power plant byproduct, secret ingredients and mixtures that make concrete waterproof are just some of their methods.

Perkins+Will Launches First Chemical Blacklist for Building Designers

Jonathan Bardelline — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Architectural firm Perkins+Will has unveiled its Precautionary List, which includes 25 chemicals commonly used in buildings, explains why they are a threat to humans and the environment, and lists safer alternatives.

Thinking Outside the Box on Packaging Design

Dave Douglas — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:50:49 +0000

Although many people think of packaging -- especially wasteful packaging -- as an afterthought, as more and more environmental regulations begin to address packaging's impacts, manufacturers are starting to design their packages with more care than products themselves.

How Second Place (or Third) Can Mean a Win for Designers Everywhere

Jess Sand — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:21:10 +0000

The Cooper Hewitt People's Choice Award was the only category in the Smithsonian Institution's recent National Design Awards to be opened to public voting, and over 6,000 designers, consumers, and interested citizens spoke up. Some of the biggest design names in the country were nominated. But it was an independently produced sustainable design website that managed to squeeze past the designerati to place in the final three.