THE EARTHLAB

Three architects are developing a project promoting large-scale urban sustainability. Follow its genesis.

[theearthlab]

In the tough construction environment of New York City, nARCHITECTS found the wiggle room to realize a micro-unit housing project in Manhattan. Just completed. Looks great.

[theearthlab]

Excellent precedent for an intervention in Brooklyn neighborhoods. Mid-density environmental learning center, dedicated to community outreach, free and open to the public, that meets the requirements of the Living Building Challenge.

[theearthlab]

Cool medium-density housing in Korea. Check out how the final building still sort of looks like its massing diagram. Good integration of mixed use spaces.

[theearthlab]

Model exports. Central spine shaping up, and buildings are satisfactorily developed.

[theearthlab]

Updated views from the 3d model.

3 Intervening buildings visible, each functioning triply as a processing plant for clean energy, a community space, and as a gateway to the courtyard in the center of the block.

Central spine will be collect rainwater and waste, generate solar energy, and will create a controlled environment below for growing plants.

Each block will have its own unique curvaceous paths within the courtyard to accommodate various activities and functions.

[theearthlab]

NY Microgrids and Distributed Energy

New York wants test projects of microgrids and distributed energy ready to go when it launches its new Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV policy.

[theearthlab]

-White & gray = fully public spaces

-Green = unified courtyards

-Blue-green = undeveloped lots, for architectural interventions (facilities, gateways, community centers)

[theearthlab]

Oakland's take on privately sponsored public openspace     Location: Oakland, California Design Team: Justin Viglianti, Andrea Gaffney,

[theearthlab]

The concept of values is frequently brought up in relation to environmental issues, and discussions about urban nature are no exception. In particular, values are frequently at the heart of dialogue about urban ecosystem services, especially in relation to economics and monetary valuation.

[theearthlab]

On Tuesday, April 8th, Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc) and the Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design (CUISD) will host an opening for The Model Block: an exhibit. The Model Block represents the culmination of a multi-year project which focused on the East 4th Street Cultural District (between 2nd Ave & Bowery) as a testing ground for new and innovative solutions to the complexities of urban sustainability at the block scale.

[theearthlab]

Adhering to the new building guidelines for Hong Kong, the project deals with energy efficiency by means of a solar photovoltaic façade system. The panels, which are incorporated into the flexi-material encasing the south façade of the housing unit, expand using oxygen in correlation to the amount of sunlight they receive. The expansion of the façade ensures that surface area is increased in order for the building to absorb as much sunlight as possible, to be able to feed back into the buildings’ lighting system at night..

Excellent idea for a facade system providing shading and power to housing behind it.

[theearthlab]

More trash reports!

Looking at the graph, if a development could internally handle most of the organic waste (maybe even recyclables) coming from that block, it would drastically improve garbage collection efficiency on the part of the Department of Sanitation of NY (DSNY).

[theearthlab]

[theearthlab]

Noah @ the site, December 2011, early stages of Phase I.

[theearthlab]

Early diagrammatic sketches / parti diagrams for Phase I: Plug-In Shell and Earthlab.

[theearthlab]

Development sketches, beginning of Phase II, as the project expanded to include the entire block bounded by Tompkins, Willoughby, Hart, and Throop.

[theearthlab]

ENVAC: Pneumatic Waste Disposal

Here is an infrastructure investment America should consider: an Envac waste disposal system. Instead of filling our streets with garbage bags and waiting for trucks to pick them up, many European cities (they invest in infrastructure that isn't for cars there) are trying out these clever underground vacuum systems. Garbage is separated into "fractions"- paper, organics, or other garbage, deposited in chutes where it is held until a computer opens the gate at the bottom of the tube and sucks a particular fraction down the pipe to a processing center.

The lifeblood of the 169 Tompkins development. Such a system implemented at the scale of a single NYC block can be done quickly and cheaply. It will curtail transportation costs and boost efficiency, allowing municipal garbage waste trucks to collect an entire block's waste load from a single location. Truck routes will accelerate, and physically disposing of waste will become a swift and easy procedure for residents. Additionally, once that waste is pooled, it may be then recycled not just for the city, but more ideally for reuse in the block's own community-run renewable energy systems.