“Create a great library from architectural, environmental, and technological perspectives”
Curated by
Alexandra Brooks Robinson
Architects and designers may be on track to meet 2030 carbon goals, says Ed Mazria's Architecture 2030. 
Smart windows have a lot of energy-saving potential, but can they really pass the test in the marketplace? 
Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana is in the process of installing the largest ground-source heat pump system in the country. It is not supplying just a single building, however. 
Twin Creeks Technologies has announced a new method to make less expensive solar cells. While we see many new ways of making cheap solar panels, most of these methods focus on producing panels with alternative materials rather than silicon. 
The U.S. Virgin Islands has worked with NREL to come up with a strategic plan to reduce fossil fuel use by 60 percent by 2025. 
A low-cost, low-power, credit-card sized computer developed by a charitable foundation set up by some computer science instructors from Cambridge University. 
A pilot project in Germany is collecting food waste from wholesale fruit and vegetable markets and cafeterias to ferment and make methane, which will then be used to power vehicles that have been converted to run on natural gas. Lots of manufacturers call their products "green," but are they? Here's our guide to the high-performance attributes that matter. 
Building science is an integrated discipline that stands many conventional design and construction ideas on their heads. 
Have you ever publicly stated or even thought that part of what we should try to accomplish in our libraries is to exceed the expectations of community members? I know I have. 
A process called "Black Silicon Nanocatalytic Wet-Chemical Etch" is allowing increased solar panel efficiency by reducing the light that reflects off of the panels instead of being absorbed. |
Ductal is an ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) that is thin, lightweight, and made to last 1,000 years without traditional steel reinforcement. 
Scientists at the University of Cambridge (England) have developed a method using lasers to remove the toner from a laser printed page, which would allow the paper to be reused. With the "unprinter," a green laser is flashed at the page. One thing we’ve got plenty of in our libraries is shelves. We use them to store our books and any other materials you might fit on them. When we refer to getting something off the shelf, it is really all about discovery. 
Thirty years ago, the only person in a library looking for an electrical outlet was a blue-smocked cleaning person who had to plug in a vacuum cleaner with a very long cord. 
The built environment is responsible for childhood obesity, but designers are trying to change that. |
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