Can AI Benefit Green Building?

Architects, engineers, and urban planners are increasingly turning to green building practices to create sustainable, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly structures. One of the most promising tools in this endeavor is artificial intelligence (AI), which has the potential to revolutionize the way we design, construct, and manage buildings. AI for green building is an emerging field … Read more

The Ins and Outs of Solar Water Heaters

Solar water heaters vary in design, efficiency, capacity and price, but they all replace a good chunk of the gas or electricity used to heat water with clean, free sunlight. The three basic designs all have a way to collect heat, a tank to store hot water, backup heating for when your system can’t keep … Read more

Affordable Earthen Homes

inhabitat.com presented a collection of eight small “earth homes that almost anyone can afford” and half of them are built with earthbags! La Casa Vergara’s dome shape may captivate the eye, but what’s underneath is most impressive. The Bogota home, built by architect Jose Andres Vallejo, is made from earthbags, or tubular bags stuffed with … Read more

Designing an Eco-Friendly Home

Marc Berman at  programminginsider.com has come up with a list of aspects of ecological home design that I think is worth sharing. Selecting the right site is the first step in the design process. Orientation: Take advantage of the sun’s path by orienting your home to maximize natural light and passive solar heating. Position windows … Read more

An Interview with Sigi Koko

www.motherearthnews.com interviewed Sigi Koko for a podcast that you can hear at that link. Below are some of her comments: I have a graduate degree in architecture and I then had worked for a construction company doing just conventional housing construction to get some experience building so that I could talk to builders better and … Read more

Ugandan Art Center Made from Excavated Materials

London-based New Makers Bureau has built a new Kampala art center in Uganda from materials excavated from the site itself – earth, wood and reclaimed brick. “We took cues from the idea of archaeology and excavation, literally mining the site for material,” says founding director James Hampton. New Makers Bureau collaborated with Localworks on the … Read more