Style of Design

Inhabitat readers huffprojects recently wrote in to tell us about this green office complex they designed for their clients R. B. Murray and Co. Here at Inhabitat we have been referring to this beautiful building as the Butterfly House because it features a distinguished butterfly roof that opens to allow a maximum amount of daylight into the building’s open offices, executive core, and conference rooms. This roof has greatly reduced the need for artificial lighting during the day. As for the other green aspects of this project they intend to use natural, recycled and reclaimed materials, and the building’s design features natural ventilation, air filtration, and abundant views of the landscape. Such features have the added benefit of improving the quality of the work environment and employee productivity.

The building will exhibit a warm aesthetic that is pleasing to both occupants and those passing by. The new R.B. Murray Company office building signifies the company’s forward thinking commitment to creating an architecturally progressive and environmentally conscious future.

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Post tags: air filtration, butterfly house, butterfly roof, Green Building, hufft projects, huft project, huft projects, natural ventilation, R. B. Murray and Co., Sustainable Building

Italian firm Studiodosi’s proposed building for the waterfront in Leeds, UK definitely packs a radical punch with its bright green facade, but its sustainable features are just as notable. Named “The Calls Henge,” the design was developed for the 36 Calls competition, which challenged architects to submit proposals for a site by the same address. Situated by the northern bank of the river Aire, the verdant building (which actually looks more like a hedge than a henge) is an eye-popping addition to the area.

Read the rest of Studiodosi’s Henge Adds a Radical, Modern Look to Leeds City Waterfront

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Post tags: geothermal heating and cooling, Green Building, green design, London, rainwater recycling, sustainable archtiecture, sustainable design, The Calls Henge by Studiodosi, UK

If you’re reading Inhabitat, you’re no doubt aware of how popular the ‘green’ trend has become. Businesses have finally started to realize that the environmental movement is here to stay, and that there is money to be made in going green. This is something that Inhabitat readers and concerned citizens should be happy about… sort of. While it is great that so many businesses finally see the green in ‘going green’, too often businesses approach going green in all the wrong ways – producing useless ‘eco’ products, tone-deaf marketing, or even worse: greenwashing. Check out our list of the top 5 mistakes that businesses make when trying to go green.

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Post tags: eco business, environmental business, environmental policies, going green, green business, green your business, Greenwash, tips to green your mistake, top 5 business mistakes

Many of us can’t wait until spring is finally arrives at our doorsteps, but you have to admit there is something really special about atmospheric glow of winter snow. Designer Anna Palomaa has taken that inspiring light and recreated it in her Kide Lamp. Made from sugar and completely biodegradable, the lamp resembles the glittering snow when it is lit up. Now that’s sweeeet!

+ Anna Palomaa

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Post tags: biodegradable lamp, kaamos palomaa, kide lamp, snow lamp, sugar lamp

What’s a Gribble? It’s a tiny marine shrimp found on the southern coast of Britain — and its ability to digest wood may provide a breakthrough in efficient biofuel production. Researchers are studying the gribble’s digestion process at a new UK bioenergy centre in order to synthetically copy the process so that grasses, husk, straw and willow can be converted more efficiently into biofuels. The scientists reckon that information learned from the gribble could increase the efficiency of biofuel conversion by a factor of 6, making biofuels even more cost effective and utilizing non-food crops.

Read the rest of The Wood-Eating Gribble May Hold the Key to Biofuel Production

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Post tags: biofuel production, bioful, conversion process, eco design, green design, gribble, UK

The technology sounds ultra-futuristic: concentrated solar heat that can vaporize biomass (wood, crop waste, etc.) into synthetic fuels. But the process, developed by Sundrop Fuels, is real, and it can produce twice the amount of gasoline or diesel than conventional biomass gasification systems.

Read the rest of Sundrop Fuels Uses Concentrated Solar Heat to Vaporize Biomass

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Post tags: biofuel, biomass, eco design, gasoline, green design, sundrop fuels, syngas

There are a lot of things wrong with the way we build our cities, and in these hard times, there is a lot wrong in the way we are rebuilding them, or unbuilding them as the case may be. These activists were out the other night trying to stop the demolition of 41 historic buildings in Brantford, Ontario, that are coming down because some people think that this is better than trying to fix them. But fixing them is greener, and just one of many things we could do to make our cities and buildings better, more efficient and healthier.

Read the rest of Big Steps To Make Our Cities and Buildings Better

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Post tags: “sustainable architecture”, building materials, energy efficient buildings, Green Building, green construction, green design, green renovation, sustainable design

Hey Inhabitat readers! Is your laundry room in desperate need of a clean green makeover? Does your washing machine waste buckets of water and is your dryer a drain your electricity bill? Well you’re in luck – Inhabitat is teaming up with Method to give away an incredible green laundry room renovation worth $8,500! One lucky winner will receive an eco renovation by Method that comes complete with a new energy efficient washer and dryer in addition to a year’s supply of Method cleaning supplies — including their recently released line of laundry products. We’ll also be bringing you a series showcasing tips and tricks to create a smarter, greener, and cleaner laundry room, so enter the sweepstakes today and stay tuned for more!

ENTER THE METHOD LAUNDRY ROOM MAKEOVER SWEEPSTAKES >

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Post tags: cleaning, green cleaning, green design, green interiors, green products, method laundry detergent, sustainable design

Graffiti is one of the most controversial art forms out there since it defaces public property – but what if graffiti artists actually cleaned up the walls they tagged up by etching their sketches into the grime that already exists on them? The delightful process, called reverse graffiti or “scrubbing” isn’t new – we’ve written about it here and here before – but awesome examples of it keep popping up. Case in point: one band of students in Durban, South Africa who’ve been gracing spaces with works of the subversive street art form in their area.

Read the rest of REVERSE GRAFFITI: South African Artists Tag Walls By Scrubbing Them Clean

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Post tags: clean graffiti, durban, eco design, eco street art, green art eco art, green design, green graffiti, green street art, reverse graffiti, scrubbing, Street art, sustainable design

Attention cyclists across the US: the wait for decent biking directions is over! Google Maps users can finally get biking directions along with walking, driving, and public transportation directions. Best of all, the new feature takes into account hills, bike lanes, and even busy intersections when calculating routes.

Read the rest of Google Maps Adds Biking Directions for 150 US Cities

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Post tags: bicycling, biking, eco design, Google, Google maps, green design