To Light or Not To Light, That is the Question



While Singapore celebrates (I guess) by lighting up the city, Australia goes ahead and does something just the opposite - switch off their lights. The goals are different, of course, one to "enhance and emphasise Singapore's unique features as a tropical metropolis and garden city", the other to save energy.

The Urban Renewal Authority of Singapore has developed a lighting plan for the city centre in collaboration with LPA (Lighting Planners Associates), covering key city attractions like Orchard, Singapore River, Bras Basah, Bugis, the Central Business District and Marina Bay. According to their blurb, "Good lighting of buildings and public spaces can develop a signature image for the city, create a beautiful nightscape and enliven the visitor’s experience. The signature of a vibrant global city calls for an alluring nightscape that is evocative and leaves a lasting impression."

As part of the Lights Off Australia initiative, Cooltheglobe.com is asking for lights and appliances that aren’t required overnight to be turned off. The event was officially launched on 25th February 2007. “This whole campaign is about cutting down energy wastage. While we’re starting with just one day per month, we genuinely hope this event starts to change people’s habits and it becomes part of everyday life.” said Sunrise Executive Producer Adam Boland. A second event held by the WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald is asking all of Sydney to turn off their lights from 7:30p.m. on the 31st March 2007 as part of Earth Hour. Approximately 11,000 individuals as well as businesses and government offices have joined the effort. Sydneysiders Jo Elvey and Eric Hutchens, who had scheduled their wedding reception on that same day embraced Earth Hour by lighting candles and asking the band to play unplugged.

The deeds speak for themselves, and readers may also judge for themselves.

Sources:
http://www.ura.gov.sg/lightingplan/
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/31/australia-turn-off-your-lights/#more-3397

Smart Architect Builds Dumb Building



It is not a sophisticated building; it is a throwback. It is the first office building in 50 years to be built in Seattle without air conditioning. It will just efficiently and simply use 30% less energy by doing things that architects have known about for hundreds of years.

Got sun in your face? Put on sunglasses on the building to stop it before it gets in. Want fresh air? Open the window. Want light? Make it shallow, only 35 feet from window to courtyard. Other features include waterless urinals, a highly efficient hot-water heating system and perimeter hydronic radiant heating that is individually controlled. The use of stairs will be encouraged by making them visible and accessible while the exposed structure minimizes the use of finish materials.



Thompson of Weber+Thomson, who will be the main tenant, says " Our goal is to construct a place that promotes a healthier environment by using natural resources more efficiently, which, in turn, will reduce our impact on the environment. A sustainable building uses design and technology that works with nature. It promotes a sense of community, a sense of place."

It is not the high tech, sophisticated technology that will lead to sustainability. The way to build is to do the dumb simple things that everybody did before we had cheap power, which makes this just about the smartest building around.

(Resource: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/seattle_office.php)

Jin Yanni

Recycled Wine Bottle Building Wins Energy Grant



An organic winery in Western Australia recently became the recipient of a $20,555 AUD grant from the state’s Sustainable Energy Development Office (SEDO). The money will be used to fund a thermal imaging monitoring program for a cellar-door outlet made from water filled wine bottles. The owner of the winery, Peter Little, a former architecture lecturer and long time passive solar design advocate, noted, "Water is probably, I think one of the miracle building materials of this century which nobody is using. From our point of view it can store more energy, heat or cool than any material we know.” It seems the structure will use about 13,500 wine bottles.

Building with bottles is not new, nor is filling them with water for insulation. There are many eclectic buildings made with bottles. What appears to be worthy of a grant is the thermal imaging monitoring that will occur.
The farmland on which the winery is sited is already the winner of a national recognised Banskia Award in ‘Environmental Leadership in the Rural Sector’.

(Resource: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/recycled_wine_b.php)

Jin Yanni

Seoul—A New City Paradigm




The media criticized. The tenants protested. The whole city was talking about the government’s decision to recover the river and the possible effects that it would bring.

Chunggye River had been an important source of water for the middle and lower class of citizens in Seoul for hundreds of years. However, due to the serious pollution in the 1970s, the river was filled up and an elevated freeway was constructed instead, directly contributing to the rapid development of the whole CBD area.

And now, the resuscitated Chunggye River is celebrating its third year with ever increasing popularity to the citizens. Every day there are tens of thousands of visitors, including many from abroad, come here seeking for a feeling of Nature. According to a recent poll by the government, seven out of ten respondents affirmed the achievement of the reconstruction.

The city administration have been enforcing monitoring to Chunggye since its recover in 2004, and recent research shows that the average temperature of the area is dropped by 10~15%.

For more information on Chunggye River: http://english.seoul.go.kr/cheonggye/
Resource of photographs:
http://photo.media.daum.net/group1/general/200702/19/newsis/v15778201.html

Author: Jin Yanni

Scientists Urge Global Action on Clean Energy



A scientific panel convened at the request of the United Nations called recently for drastic reductions in fossil-fuel emissions around the world and rapid increases in spending on clean-energy research to head off the worst effects of global warming.

In a 166-page report, 18 scientists from 11 nations forecast a turbulent century of rising seas, spreading drought and disease and weather extremes. The group concluded for the first time that global warming was “unequivocal”. If nothing is done, it said, global temperatures could rise 11 degrees by 2100. But it avoided recommending courses of action.

The scientists urged governments to discourage new building on land less than one meter above sea level as well as immediately ban the construction of coal-fired power plants, except for those designed to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground or under water.

(Resource: Article---http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/science/earth/28climate.html?ex=1173675600&en=38e3524e5759c59f&ei=5070
Photograph--- http://cleanairwaterloo.com/waterloo.php)

Author: Jin Yanni

Open Architecture Network Goes Live

Architects are used to selling ideas, often locally. Sharing ideas? To use an old phrase, "Does Macy's tell Gimbels?"

Kate Stohr and Cameron Sinclair, co-founders of Architecture for Humanity, think otherwise. "By the middle of the century, one in three people on the planet will be living in inadequate, often illegal housing," says Cameron Sinclair. Millions of solutions are needed to meet people’s need and they should be shared all across the world, yet the formal architectural profession fails to do so.

The Open Architecture Network is an attempt to bring together architects, designers and builders to share their ideas across borders and continents. All participants in ONA are focused, who are there with the belief that their work serves a social good. The projects uploaded so far are interesting and range from completed projects to innovative competition entries like the system built from FedEx packaging by Takuya Onishi, REDEK Thailand.

The OAN says "We don't need to choose between architecture and revolution. What we need is an architectural revolution." Architecture for Humanity and its partners may have just given us all a tool to start one.



(Resource: http://www.treehugger.com)

Author: Jin Yanni