By: Johnny Hartsfield

The Pharos Project is a consumer-driven method for evaluating green building materials that is in harmony with principles of environmental health and justice.  The success of this project relies on a partnership between those who use building materials and those who study the products’ impacts on health and the environment.  Using a transparent web-based model, the Project is made up of three elements: the Framework, Lens, and Wiki.

Mapping a 360 degree view of green material attributes, the Pharos Project aims to put the control back in the hands of the consumer.  The Pharos framework is organized into three categories (1) Health + Pollution   (2) Environment + Resources  and  (3) Social + Community.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Imagine closing your curtains for shade on a hot summer day while producing electricity at the same time.  This is exactly what architect Sheila Kennedy imagined for her new prototype.  Kennedy, and her team at KVA Matx, have brilliantly integrated solar cell technology with architecture in their SOFT HOUSE - a home that produces nearly 16,000 watt-hours of electricity by transforming household curtains into flexible, semi-transparent, solar collectors.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Are you ready to get inspired by two brothers (ages 22 and 30) from Portland, Oregon, who are single handedly developing one of the first residential “Living Buildings” in the country?

Dustin and his brother Garrett Moon, whom I saw present last week at the Living Future Unconference in Vancouver B.C., are in the process of raising $200,000 to construct “The Commons“, a project conceived to push the envelope on what it means to live communally and sustainably.  Their new home in Southeast Portland will be built in place of an existing inefficient home they bought for $195,000 in 2007 on Craigslist.

According to their website, the Moon brothers have three main goals with The Commons: to answer the Living Building Challenge; to design and develop a communal living space for two families; and to study, learn, exemplify and contribute to the knowledge of sustainable designs and dwellings.  They are attempting to accomplish all this by building the house themselves.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Dyesol, the leading supplier of 3^rd generation solar technology, has developed a transparent solar cell that can act as both a window and an energy generator in houses and commercial buildings.  According to Professor John Bell - a project collaborator from the Queensland University of Technology - “the new solar cell glass would make a significant difference to home and building owners’ energy costs and could in fact generate excess energy to be stored and sold”.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield  

Currently featured at the Museum of Modern Art Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit in New York City, SMIT’s (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology) new product called GROW.1, is designed to harness power from both sun and wind. Using emerging technology from the photovoltaic and piezo industries, this hybrid device is not only innovative but also aesthetically pleasing. Imagine the sides of your house fluttering in the wind like leaves on a tree - all the while providing your home with renewable energy. Wind power is generated by the fluttering of the solar leaves which can be attached to any building surface.

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By: Gareth Loveridge

We would like to explain a bit what we intend to accomplish with the “Materials” category.

In the first round of discourse, we hope to begin to explore the broad range of materials and systems that exist. Culturally, we seem to be quite hesitant to explore, or experiment, with our building systems. We feel that we need to recognize this tendency, and at the same time find ways to get over it. Solving the complex problems of global sustainability relies on innovation and progress, yet there is relatively little support for either.

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