Collaborate Disseminate
A large percentage of a building’s energy usage is consumed by heating and cooling, but a new dynamic shading system designed by researchers at the University of Toronto could help. Inspired by the skin of krill, the system uses cells of blooming pigme… Continue reading Low-energy fluidic cells could shade and cool buildings dynamically
While most of us have been content with swing and sliding doors for the vast majority of our needs around the home, the revolving door remains popular in a wide …read more Continue reading Revolving Doors Aren’t Just Annoying, They’re Energy Saving Too
To us hackers and makers, the tools of our trade are often as important and interesting as the details of the hacks themselves, but what about the most important tool …read more Continue reading Learn By Doing: Turn Your Garage Into Your Perfect Workspace
The traditional Ethiopian Gojo is a circular domed dwelling constructed from a central vertical beam, and a surrounding structure of curved beams made from wood or bamboo. A covering of …read more Continue reading Rainwater Storing Gojo Is A Stroke Of Genius
Heating and cooling buildings is a major consumer of energy, especially older ones that weren’t built with modern energy efficiencies in mind. Now, engineers at Fraunhofer Institute have developed a modular facade powered by solar panels that can heat … Continue reading Modular building facade heats and cools rooms with solar power
Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, we’ve seen a host of superb architecture projects reach completion this year, from innovative social housing to creative performance spaces, 3D-printed homes, and even an otherworldly museum inspired by the … Continue reading The best buildings of 2021
Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world, but it comes at a huge environmental cost. Engineers in Japan have developed a new technique to make concrete by recycling waste concrete and combining it with captured carbon dioxide.Con… Continue reading Green new concrete recycles building waste and captured CO2
Here we are in the future, thinking we’re so fancy and cutting edge with mega-scale 3D printers that can extrude complete, ready-to-occupy buildings, only to find out that some clever …read more Continue reading Retrotechtacular: 3D-Printed Buildings, 1930s Style
Concrete may not seem like a particularly hospitable environment for life, but bacteria do actually live inside it. A new study led by the University of Delaware has examined this concrete microbiome to find out how they get there, how they change over… Continue reading Concrete microbiome could act as early warning system for collapse
Heating and cooling systems are some of the biggest energy guzzlers in use, so passive temperature control could be a good way to reduce emissions. Phase-change materials (PCMs) show promise for this, and now engineers at Texas A&M have developed a new… Continue reading 3D-printable phase-change materials insulate buildings better at scale