Net-zero energy DPR office becomes Austins first WELL-certified workplace

Construction management firm DPR Construction has recently moved into an impressive new workplace of its own making — a LEED Gold-certified facility located on the east side of Austin, Texas. Designed to follow sustainable principles, the net-zero energy office is fitted with energy-efficient fixtures, environmentally friendly materials and health-minded features that have also earned the project WELL Silver certification. The interiors of the new office — DPR’s regional team occupies the top floor of the mixed-use facility — were designed by IA Interior Architects.

DPR’s Austin office is the fifth net-zero energy office completed by the company across the country and is seen as one of the firm’s “living labs” for sustainable design. In addition to a focus on energy efficiency, the building is notable for its promotion of healthy living. Natural lighting is emphasized while materials with volatile organic compounds are limited wherever possible. Circadian lighting design, ergonomic workspaces, a spotlight on healthy eating and activity incentive programs have helped the project achieve WELL Certification.

Related: Sound-absorbing materials fold into a giant origami-like meeting pod

The workspace design is also reflective of DPR’s four core values: integrity, enjoyment, uniqueness and ever-forward. As an extension of the company’s flat organizational structure, an open-office concept was created in place of private offices. Instead, employees can work from a variety of different work areas with adjustable-height workstations. Amenity spaces such as the bar/break room and the gaming corridor surround the office.

“Multiple green walls with air plants and succulents, like the one in reception, enhance and in some cases provide privacy,” reads a project statement by IA Interior Architects. “Environmentally friendly and sustainable local materials, views to the outside, circadian lighting design and an increase in natural light provided by the added skylights are all factors contributing to the design’s sustainability story and DPR’s commitment to wellness in the workplace.”

+ IA Interior Architects

Photography by Robin Hill via IA Interior Architects

from INHABITAT https://ift.tt/33ILWkk
via Inhabitat

Studio NAB wants to rehab parking lots into energy-producing urban gardens

Paris-based design firm Studio NAB has unveiled a proposal for transforming the traditional asphalt parking lot into an urban farming green space with solar-powered parking spaces. Created with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in mind, Studio NAB’s Car Park 2.0 rethinks the car park as a productive space that could generate green jobs, renewable energy and food. Retained parking spaces would be set on permeable paving, rather than asphalt, and could be connected with solar-powered charging stations to improve the site’s ecological benefits.

According to Studio NAB’s research, fine particulate pollution and automobile activity account for 48,000 deaths annually in France. In an effort to clean the air, combat climate change and reduce waste — the studio says that less than a quarter of the 4.5 million tons of plastic produced in the country is recycled — the designers have proposed an innovative idea for reclaiming parking lots and to transform the great expanses of asphalt into productive centers for new economic and ecological growth.

In the Car Park 2.0 concept, asphalt would be ripped up to expose the soils underneath, which would be rehabilitated or replaced to create a fertile growing environment. The studio promotes hyper-local production of food in the parking lots, a solution that they say would reconnect people to nature, encourage economic growth through the sale of garden spaces and locally grown food, and create local jobs. 

Related: Studio NAB proposes rebuilding Notre Dame with a greenhouse and apiary

Studio NAB proposes implementing the redevelopment scheme in five phases: removing and recycling the asphalt surface; treating the soil, replanting the areas, and adding stormwater retention ponds; building metal-framed structures overtop each parking lot space to support shading devices or solar panels; installing renewable energy equipment and storage; and finally, opening the site up for the creation of food and green energy. The number of parking spaces would be dramatically reduced and the new “ecological parking spaces” would be topped with awnings that can produce solar energy or algae via photobioreactors.

+ Studio NAB

Images by Studio NAB

from INHABITAT https://ift.tt/2JXxVap
via Inhabitat

Biodegradable coffee pods are now available for composting

In the United Kingdom alone, approximately 95 million cups of coffee are consumed daily, with more than one-third of British coffee-drinkers admitting that they dispose of their coffee capsules into trash bins. Roughly 20 billion non-biodegradable, one-cup coffee pods end up in landfills. But Italian espresso giant Lavazza is offering a more eco-friendly alternative — a compostable coffee pod.

Non-biodegradable coffee pods are a challenge to recycle because a single capsule is comprised of a mix of materials, including aluminum, foil and especially plastic. Plastic takes up to 500 years before it begins to disintegrate.

Related: The problem with coffee pods and the eco-friendly alternatives to use instead

Lavazza, meanwhile, is now offering more sustainable coffee pods, called Eco Caps, that are biopolymer-based. In contrast to the non-biodegradable coffee pods, Eco Caps take just six months to degrade. These pods are convenient to dispose of in the food waste bin, depending on your local composting rules.

Lavazza has partnered with TerraCycle, a waste collection service that specialized in hard-to-recycle items, to make it easier for Eco Caps to be industrially composted if local composting is not available. The TerraCycle partnership was formed to solve the issue of consumers being generally confused about what can be recycled.

Compostable and biodegradable coffee pods are becoming a trend. For instance, online retailer Halo also offers a separate range of compostable pods that are made with paper pulp and sugar cane.

“The coffee revolution has happened, and one of the key challenges the industry now faces is the millions of tons of waste created as a result,” explained Richard Hardwick, Halo’s co-founder. “Aluminum and plastic coffee capsules are difficult to recycle, so most of them end up in the bin. And that’s why up to 75 percent are currently being sent to landfill every minute. Most people don’t understand the irreversible damage these coffee capsules are inflicting on the planet.”

+ Lavazza

Via The Guardian

Image via Shutterstock

from INHABITAT https://ift.tt/34IllnB
via Inhabitat

Sead Pod offers grassroots solution to air pollution and global warming

Gardening should be good for the environment, adding oxygen to the air, nutrients to the soil and filtering water for consumption. But plastic and toxins have become ubiquitous, leaving the home gardener to make intentional choices about which products to use. That’s where Sead Pod comes in, a vertical garden made using sustainable practices and recycled materials.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Sead (Sustainable Ecology, Adaptive Design) Pod offers a simple plastic planter for bringing gardens into the smallest spaces while reusing plastic, which is problematic for the environment. The pod simply clips on to any chain link fencing, providing water efficiency from the vertical garden design while diverting plastic from the landfill.

Related: This self-sustaining planter doesn’t require sunlight for plants to thrive

“The Sead Pod represents a new way of thinking about green design in an urban context,” said Bryan Meador, Plant Seads’ Founder and Chief Design Officer. “By reimagining existing architectural elements like chain link fencing as a tool in the fight against climate change, we’re able to leap into the green movement immediately, fighting climate change at the grassroots level and making our cities cleaner, healthier, and more livable—right now.” 

Based in Kingston, New York, Meador is familiar with the limitations of urban gardens so he designed the Sead Pod to jump start the urgency of climate change. What he described as “the sluggish response of government and multinational companies” lead him to take action, experimenting with 3d printing and rapid prototype development to finalize the design.

Proving his self-labeled impatience, Meador had the Sead Pod designed, manufactured and released in less than nine months. “Our generation is the first to be born into Climate Change. This crisis is not hypothetical to us, and we’re tired of waiting around for others to address this issue in a meaningful way,” Meador said in a press release. 

With lofty goals of tackling CO2 emissions at a grassroots level, the Sead Pod gives everyone the ability to contribute to the solution. Imagine every chain link fence in your community covered in greenery and you begin to see the potential. The pods also connect to chain link material the size of a picture frame and Sead Pod offers five sizes of sead frames to suit the needs of every home and office. They are designed to be durable for long-term use even when exposed to harsh elements, not to mention, they are recyclable at the end of their life cycle.

This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Thursday, October 31, 2019 8:59 PM PDT.

+ Plant Seads

Images via Plant Seads

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

from INHABITAT https://ift.tt/2NHvs58
via Inhabitat

Decrepit barn in Quebec was converted into stunning modern design by salvaging all of its old materials

We’ve seen quite a few amazing barn conversions over the years, but this new design by La Firme is simply breathtaking. Located in a rural area in Quebec, the old barn was in near ruins until the Montreal-based firm was hired to convert it into a secondary family home. Thankfully, instead of bulldozing the beautiful old building to the ground, the studio managed to salvage nearly every single material to reuse in the new design.

Referred to simply as The Barn, the building has sat at the foot of the Owl’s Head Mountain for decades. Sitting majestically over the idyllic setting, the barn is elevated up on a small hill with expansive rolling hills on one side and forest on the other.

Related: 6 barns converted into beautiful new homes

Despite its pristine landscape, the old barn had fallen into dire disrepair. However, the owner had a strong attachment to the building and wished to see it’s life extended. Accordingly, when he approached the La Firme team about converting the barn into a cozy modern home for his children, his primary request was that they do what they could to retain its original character.

The architects took his request seriously, approaching the conversion with a strategy of adaptive reuse. According to the team, the project began by numbering and recording each and every single piece of the hemlock structure. As they were rebuilding the new family home, they managed to reuse every every part of the old barn.

With the original materials given a second chance, some new elements were added to create a contemporary home. For example, a new standing seam metal roof creates a nice contrast with the barn’s weathered facade.

And although the exterior retained its rustic, agrarian roots, the interior of the home is a beautifully contemporary design. With massive 30-foot ceilings with exposed beams and all-white walls, the living space is fresh and modern. Large steel-framed windows and an entire glazed front wall provide breathtaking views of the landscape.

+ La Firme

Via Uncrate

Photography via Ulysse Lemerise

from INHABITAT https://ift.tt/2Nu3w4B
via Inhabitat