LCC can help builders and homeowners quantitatively measure the benefits and advantages of green products, says Jeffrey Dinkle, president of Atlanta-based Eco Custom Homes. “LCC allows me to compare different products in order to determine which one will be the most cost-effective option over the life of a home,” Dinkle says. “It is a valuable tool in custom home building. It emphasizes sophisticated design and helps build a better product at the most economical price.”
‘small type’ is a modular kitchen created by german designers kristin laass and norman ebelt.
it is intended to fit into the small spaces and accommodate the diverse habits of its users.
the focus of the protoype is to provide a smooth work cycle and intuitive operation to those
using the kitchen. at only 1m² when closed, ‘small type’ serves as a dining table. when the
table is rolled away, the full capability of the kitchen unit is revealed with a refrigerator,
induction cooktop, oven, and storage space.
A rarity in the South. 204House, in Lafayette, Louisiana, was designed and built by architect Cory Saft to earn both Passivhaus and LEED Platinum certifications.
Although sustainable materials and energy efficient design have found their way into some post-Katrina residential rebuilds on the Gulf Coast, Louisiana isn’t otherwise known for leading the charge to greener home construction. And that puts the house built by architect Corey Saft at the forefront of green housing in the state.
All images via www.methodlaundry.co.uk Along with the great news that Method Laundry Detergent has just recently been launched in the UK (yes our clothes are already cleaner) we hear that Method’s innovative pump action laundry detergent bottle has won the International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for its behaviour changing design.
The indium/galluim puzzle has long been confusing scientists and researchers trying to make solar cells more efficient. The numbers say that the ratio of indium to gallium in thin film solar cells should be optimized at 30:70 but in practice the optimal ratio happens to be the exact opposite of that; 70 to 30. Researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany have just discovered the answer to the puzzle: at low temperatures, the indium and gallium are unable to disperse equally and unequal dispersion causes lower efficiency
To understand moisture removal, it’s important to brush up on a bit of physics. Air is able to hold only a finite amount of water vapor, and that amount is governed by the temperature of the air.
Warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. This is why water droplets appear on that cold glass of iced tea: the outer surface of the glass is cold so the air close to the glass cools off and the amount of moisture it can hold drops. When that air temperature cools to the “dew point,” it means that 100% “relative humidity” is reached; as it cools further, water vapor in that air “condenses” out as liquid water. (Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor in air, expressed as a percentage of the total amount of water vapor that air could hold at that temperature.)
