Monday, February 23, 2009

Ulrich Franzen's 1969 film (From Urban Omnibus)


http://urbanomnibus.net/2009/02/ulrich-franzens-street/

Saturday, February 21, 2009

After the Fall

No Downtime (or downturn) for Design
The current economic crisis, combined with environmental issues poses threats as well as challenges for designers. . Tied to the question is is the issue of consumption. Faced with new realities and knowledge of the consequences of ignorance call for us to redefine or reinstate the role of design. Design as a response to necessity vs luxury, or both, prompts us to look at use-patterns in a much wider context than what the 20th century consumerism did. There is a paradigm shift..... We as a consumer society have understood how to share our resources and exploit them selfishly. Time has come to also share our risks; design must play a significant and responsible role for the collective good.

On the other hand, recession should not mean regression.... progressive ideas come from the need to be frugal and inventive at the same time; to do more with less, is the challenge 21st century designers must embrace.
-Viren
I.D. - After the Fall

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Energy Information

Data Sources

Our estimate of the impact of real-time energy feedback on carbon emissions is based on the following sources:

  • Home electricity use: The U. S. Energy Information Administration estimated in 2001 that there were 107 million households in the United States using a total of 1140 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year. That gives an average of 10.6 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year per household.
  • Carbon emissions from residential electricity: According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Average Emissions Rate for 2005 was 712 g CO2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
  • Electricity saved with real-time feedback: There have been several studies of feedback's effects on energy use. Sarah Darby's review of the literature, The Effectiveness of Feedback on Energy Consumption (pdf) , estimates savings between 5 and 15% from direct feedback.
  • Carbon emissions from cars: Again according to the EPA, a typical car is driven 12,000 miles per year, the average fuel economy of a passenger car is 23.9 miles per gallon, and a gallon of gasoline produces 8.8 kg of CO2.

Based on these figures, we get an average of 7.5 tonnes of CO2 emitted per year per household, and 4.5 tonnes of CO2 emitted per year per conventional car. So, 10% energy savings for 6 households would reduce carbon emissions by about the same amount as taking one conventional car off the road.

Google PowerMeter

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Slumdog Prince....

For once, I seem to agree with the prince. Cities are our hope - for better or worse - from the environmental sustainability point of view and to further our goals to nurture, maintain and sustain local economies and their interdependence with the formal sector. To minimize the impact of urbanization, we must focus on cities to maximize our use of urban land, efficient use of existing or new resources, reduce proliferation and land-banking - to protect what otherwise would be engulfed by the cities of dispersal and urban greed.
-Viren
Dharavi slum in Mumbai

Dwellers go about their daily routine in the Dharavi slum in Mumbai. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Monday, February 9, 2009

Jeremy Rifkin Lecture

Buildings capable of generating clean energy and of sharing the production surplus through an exchange network with the neighbours: architecture is at the core of the Third industrial revolution theorized by da Jeremy Rifkin.



cc: Carbon Cities

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