Simply Sma è un supermercato situato vicino a Brescia e il primo in Italia in cui  tutto, ma proprio tutto, è stato progettato in un’ottica di sosteniblità. In questi giorni a Brescia città ne verrà inaugurato un altro.

Carrelli e cestini realizzati con plastica riciclata dai tappi delle bottiglie (4.500 tappi circa per un carrello e circa 1.200 tappi per i cestini), banchi del pane e della gastronomia in legno riciclato, piastrelle rivestite da vetro ricavato da neon esausti, shopper biodegradabili, tetto dotato di impianto fotovoltaico, impianti di refrigerazione avanzati i cui divisori sono realizzati con plastica totalmente riciclata al 100%, vasche per la raccolta di acqua piovana per irrigare il verde circostante, prodotti sfusi e a “KM zero”. Un insieme di soluzioni che garantiscono un risparmio energetico totale di oltre 220.000 KWH (Kilowatt/ora).

Waterfront Toronto, the innovative and ambitious plan to revitalize Toronto’s old harbour, has led to the development of Sherbourne Park, a new $28 million storm water treatment facility that will also function as an accessible public park. It’s a prime example of green infrastructure in action. The Star writes: “The idea that everything we build in a city should do double- (even triple-) duty is one whose time has come.”

Arizona State University (ASU) and the New America Foundation hosted a panel on U.S. energy independence at the National Press Club. Michael Crow, President of ASU, said while there’s been a lot of discussion on the idea of energy independence, the goal was to outline the “revolutionary steps” needed to actually achieve energy independence.

ASLA created a new online resource guide on using low-impact materials in sustainable residential landscape architecture. The guide contains lists of organizations, research, concepts and projects related to plants and sustainable landscape architecture, and includes sections on: permeable materials, certified woods, reclaimed and recycled local materials, recycled content, reflective materials, and adhesives, paints, coatings and sealants. Developed for students and professionals, the resource guide contains recent reports and projects from leading U.S. and international organizations, academics, and design firms.

This sustainable residential design resource guide is the third in a new four part series. See earlier guides in the sustainable residential design series: increasing energy efficiency,  improving water efficiency and maximizing the benefits of plants. 

The guide is separated into five sections:

• Permeable Materials
• Certified Woods
• Reclaimed and Recycled Local Materials
• Recycled Content
• Reflective Materials
• Adhesives, Paints, Coatings and Sealants

As an example, the section on “permeable materials” includes Chicago’s Green Alley handbook, as well as studies from the U.S. EPA and city of Portland on using permeable pavements to manage stormwater. There are also links to projects that have successfully incorporated these concepts in a residential context.

Metropolis magazine wrote about the Omega Institute of Sustainable Living in Rhinebeck, New York, one of the world’s greenest buildings. According to Metropolis, the institute creates its own energy through on-site geothermal and solar systems, and uses local, non-toxic materials – “there’s virtually no PVC, lead, or mercury to speak of.” The building was created using the International Living Building Institute’s living building standard. Certified living buildings must consume zero energy and water, consist of non-toxic materials, restore habitat, and produce food (all of these are actually required). 

One of the more interesting features is the building’s “eco machine,” a system that clearly demonstrates for visitors how plants and fish remove human waste from water. The system was described as “a self-contained sewage system that mimics nature’s self-corrective principles by freeing plants, bacteria, micro-organisms, algae, and fish to feast on human waste, thus purify-ing it, much as a stream cleanses its own ecosystem.”

The National Building Museum’s well-known “For the Greener Good” series featured a panel on urban agriculture, including Josh Viertel, President, Slow Food USA, Liz Falk, Director and co-Founder, Washington D.C.-based Common Good City Farm, and Steve Cohen, food policy and programs, City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. The panel was moderated by Allison Arieff, Food and Shelter Ambassador, GOOD and “By Design” columnist, The New York Times.  

Chase Rynd, Executive Director, National Building Museum, framed the discussion by saying how and where we produce food has an enormous ecological impact. ”How we produce, transport, and store food has a huge impact. Food is directly related to the built environment.” Because of industrial food systems, people are losing their connection with nature. Bringing vegetable gardens back to communities, shortening food transportation times (and lowering the environmental costs of food transportation), can help improve the urban environment and make communities more engaging and “aesthetically pleasing.”

Iconeye magazine wrote about Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza’s plant robot, a roving art installation. Called “Nomadic Plant,” the robot is part of an exhibition organized by LABoral Gallery in Asturias, Spain. Iconeye says the project is inspired by ”natural processes whereby plants adapt to hostile environments and colonise new territories.” The nomadic plant is autonomous and leads an ”unthreatening existence,” living off industrial waste.

Esparza told Iconeye: ”Nowadays robots are a waste of energy: they dance and they move all the time.” To make his plant robot self-sufficient but also productive, he designed it so it runs on bacteria found in waste. “When these microorganisms need nourishment the machine seeks out dirty water, which is then decomposed to create energy; any surplus is used to emit a noise and sustain plants carried on its back. The machine and plants becomes co-dependent.”

Iconeye says Esparza has long explored the relationship between organisms and systems. “In a previous project, Urban Parasites, creatures made from recycled electronic goods infested urban environments, feeding of a city’s electricity and telephone wires.”

Paper or Plastic? That’ll be five cents please.

Beginning in January, DC businesses that sell food or alcohol will be charging customers five cents for every paper or plastic bag. Proceeds will go to the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Fund.

Every year, over 20,000 tons of trash enters the Anacostia River and plastic bags are a major part of that trash.

On January 1st, a new fee was imposed on bags in the District of Columbia. Since then, pretty much anyone who shops or eats in the Nation’s capital has had to ask themselves if they really need a bag (or 5). The Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act charges five cents for each paper or plastic bag given out by businesses selling food or alcohol. The business gets to keep a penny (or two if they offer a discount to those who bring their own bag). The monetary motivation is fairly negligable — even someone as poor as I can afford to drop a nickel here and there. But when the cashier at the grocery store asks if you want a bag and explains why you may want to reconsider, it forces you to actually consider whether or not the bag is necessary.

As a waiter in a DC restaurant, sometimes I box-up leftovers for customers. “Would you like a bag?” I inquire, as I give them the box. Yesterday, the two ladies at the table said yes, but reconsidered after I mentioned the five cent fee. They left the restaurant — box in hand. 

On January 1st, a new fee was imposed on bags in the District of Columbia. Since then, pretty much anyone who shops or eats in the Nation’s capital has had to ask themselves if they really need a bag (or 5). The Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act charges five cents for each paper or plastic bag given out by businesses selling food or alcohol. The business gets to keep a penny (or two if they offer a discount to those who bring their own bag). The monetary motivation is fairly negligable — even someone as poor as I can afford to drop a nickel here and there. But when the cashier at the grocery store asks if you want a bag and explains why you may want to reconsider, it forces you to actually consider whether or not the bag is necessary.

As a waiter in a DC restaurant, sometimes I box-up leftovers for customers. “Would you like a bag?” I inquire, as I give them the box. Yesterday, the two ladies at the table said yes, but reconsidered after I mentioned the five cent fee. They left the restaurant — box in hand.

In the ‘Story of the Three Little Pigs,’ the first house that the wolf blew down by huffing and puffing was one made of straw, but if Oryzatech has its way, not only will straw houses withstand wolves, they’ll withstand earthquakes, cold, and fire with the Stak Block.

Oryzatech has patents granted and pending on a manufacturing process that renders rice straw waste into sturdy, stackable construction blocks. Each ‘Stak Block’ can be locally-produced of 96% recycled carbon-sequestering content, making them LEED credit worthy when used in construction.

The company has entered prototype production and is seeking investors in order to make Stak Blocks available for general construction applications.

Common structural materials like wood, steel and concrete require huge amounts of energy to manufacture and distribute, while all the common insulating materials are themselves oil based products.  Oryzatech’s STAK BLOCK will be the first truly resource-efficient structural/insulating wall system available for builders.  The blocks will by definition be manufactured where food is grown, utilizing the annually renewable supply of waste straw that is currently burned 

In the ‘Story of the Three Little Pigs,’ the first house that the wolf blew down by huffing and puffing was one made of straw, but if Oryzatech has its way, not only will straw houses withstand wolves, they’ll withstand earthquakes, cold, and fire with the Stak Block.

Oryzatech has patents granted and pending on a manufacturing process that renders rice straw waste into sturdy, stackable construction blocks. Each ‘Stak Block’ can be locally-produced of 96% recycled carbon-sequestering content, making them LEED credit worthy when used in construction.

The company has entered prototype production and is seeking investors in order to make Stak Blocks available for general construction applications.

Common structural materials like wood, steel and concrete require huge amounts of energy to manufacture and distribute, while all the common insulating materials are themselves oil based products.  Oryzatech’s STAK BLOCK will be the first truly resource-efficient structural/insulating wall system available for builders.  The blocks will by definition be manufactured where food is grown, utilizing the annually renewable supply of waste straw that is currently burned