Sharing the Ascension Experience
Leonard Opel, the founder and one of the owners of Meadowood Industries, has discovered a way to make a beautiful, durable panel out of rye grass straw without using any formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals to bind the straw. In 1976, Leonard and a partner, Dale Rose, began doing some preliminary research and test-ing to … Read more
The PATH Concept Home uses innovative building technologies to enhance a home’s flexibility and make it more efficient to build and maintain. Six principles create the foundation for incorporating innovative systems into the Concept Home. PATH has prepared a series of reports which explore technologies and systems that support each principle. Principle #1: Flexible Floor … Read more
Sustainable affordable housing is also playing a strong role in breathing new life into economically challenged neighborhoods. William Stein, AIA, LEED, principal of New York-based Dattner Architects, presented an affordable housing development located in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., that his firm designed. The benefits that the Atlantic Avenue Apartments (pictured below) … Read more
When Marin Soljacic first presented the principle, it was unproved. All he could show were his calculations. “I expected that some people would think I was a crackpot,” says Soljacic, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “This was pretty far out.”A year and a half later, a bulb lit up in an … Read more
Dr. Amir Sharon of Tel Aviv University has discovered a transgenic fungus strong enough to convert even the most resilient plant parts into bioethanol, a chemical used for biofuel. Strengthened with an anti-death gene, this fungus is resistant to harsh conditions such as heat and toxic substances – both of which are released while converting … Read more
A tremendous knowledge of tree crops has been amassed by many at great cost in time and energy . . . but is virtually unknown or unaccepted by contemporary farmers.There is no better example of this unfortunate situation than exists in a review of the life work of J. Russell Smith, tree-man par excellence. Smith … Read more
In an era of war and global terrorism, Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug sees agriculture as an instrument of peace.Though he’s revered as a peacemaker, this pugnacious 90-year-old is quick to wrestle with procrastinating bureaucrats in third-world countries, and he’s worked tirelessly to convince kings and presidents of the value of his agricultural advancements. These days, … Read more
Changi General Hospital plants vegetables on its rooftop, harvests them and offers them to patients. For its efforts, it has been awarded an Urban Agriculture Achievement Award, given by The Urban Agriculture Network, a regional agriculture group. The vegetable farm is found right on the rooftop of the hospital. Using the hydroponic method, about 10 … Read more
New convention centre to boast a meadow on top — the largest green roof in countryWhen the Vancouver convention centre spreads its sails in 2008 with a $500-million expansion, it will be sporting a 2.4-hectare roof alive with flowers and grasses. Destined to be the largest green roof in Canada, it will cover the equivalent … Read more
Dickson Despommier’s hydroponic metropolis would squeeze sprawling farmland into skyscrapers, feed millions, and cool the Earth. Nearly 41 percent of Earth’s land is now used for agriculture, yet we’re on the brink of vast population growth, from 6.7 billion people today to an estimated 9.2 billion by 2050, with the majority living in cities. The … Read more