August 06 2008 / by wowshucks Category: Transportation Year: General Rating: 5 Hot New
With staggering gas prices and highway congestion, more and more people are looking for alternatives not just to make their cars more efficient, but to ditch their cars entirely. Dense, walkable communities with rail links to urban centers are becoming more recognized solutions.
An idea pushed by urban designers for years, it seems that transit oriented development is an idea whose time has come. America, and the livelihood of its people, are being choked by the most poorly planned out infrastucture in the developed world. We owe our energy consumption to suburban sprawl more than for any other reason. This settlement pattern, without question, is unsustainable, and is the main cause of both our economic and environmental misfortune.
A confluence of federal policy, think tanks, urban planners, and developers are now working on projects that will represent the future of American towns and cities. According to a new Congress for New Urbanism study, the suburban image of the American dream is being abandoned to a larger degree than most people realize. Housing prices in areas with poor transportation linkage are dropping precipitously. Because of sharp increases in gasoline prices, living closer to work has become an even more important consideration in the location decisions of homebuyers. In other words anyone interested in preserving the value of their home in the future should avoid suburbs like the plague.
August 01 2008 / by wowshucks Category: Energy Year: 2012 Rating: 6 Hot New
On July 30, 2008 Pacific Gas and Electric annnounced a plan to deploy smart meters and an enhanced electric grid by 2012. What does this mean for the future of power?
For over half a century our electricity usage has been accounted for in the most basic way. We flip on a switch, and our electric meter starts turning. Each time we use our electricity, we really have no idea how much electricity we are using at any given time. The wheel turns, and no one is home.
Suddenly there has been a convergence of technology and resources around that little round meter that you never really look at. Utilities want to know more about your power usage, and when you use it the most. They also want to inform you of the same information, so you can reduce your energy usage during times of peak energy demand. New forms of rate pricing will replace the dumb system we have now. Use less energy when those power companies are scambling to meet demand and you may be rewarded. Three advanced residential rate options on your bill will include hourly pricing, critical peak pricing and critical peak rebates, according to www.Metering.com. Basically you will be rewarded for how well you govern your consumption.
Realizing that it is difficult to watch your energy usage without the proper tools, technology companies such as Comverge are figuring out ways for you to remotely control the thermostat in your house. Other companies are working on technology that can inform you of a good time to do your laundry, such as off peak hours when it will be cheaper.
July 27 2008 / by wowshucks Category: The Home Year: General Rating: 6 Hot
James Law Cybertecture International has just debuted its design
of the so called Intelligent Egg, a building that represents an
unprecedented combination of architecture and technology.
The intelligent environments created in the design offer a
glimpse into what we might see in homes and buildings in the next
ten years. Intelligent environments (also called ambient
intelligence) offer the opportunity to drastically change our
quality of life, our level of interaction with our surroundings,
and our ability to choose our surroundings. They represent a
plausible evolution that brings aspects of the virtual world into
our built environment.
Intelligent systems and design are incredibly ambitious in the
so called “Egg” project. Looking at the occupant as a user systems
are designed around very personal and customizable need. Bathrooms
are designed to monitor a “users” health and alert a doctor if
needed. So called users can also change their view, choosing from
real time scenery from around the world.
So called cybertecture is a form of design that integrates
multimedia, intelligent systems, technology, and interactivity to
create customizable living and working spaces focused on
experiences, health, and productivity. coined by James Law in 2001,
IT aims to create environments of the future with a focus on
technology and lifestyle. Interaction with ones environment through
the use of this technology is a key design philosophy. In
Cybertecture the hardware (buildings, interiors, materials) are
intertwined with software (the use of technology) creating a
balance design view whereby both have equal prominence.
Cybertecture has begun to focus much more on the residential
market. Recently it was announced that a company in Dubai has
commissioned James Law to construct a large residential tower for
young professionals below the age of thirty.
July 22 2008 / by wowshucks Category: Economics Year: General Rating: 7 Hot
The recent announcement of a joint venture between GE and Abu
Dhabi to finance and build advanced water and energy infrastructure
highlights where American investment needs to be, and why we are
falling behind.
An analysis of todays announcement of a massive joint venture
between GE and Abu Dhabi offers the most relevant roadmap to date
for the future of high tech infrastructure, specifically the
development of clean technologies. This global movement offers an
amazing view into the future, as the most progressive companies and
goverments in the world hash out collaborative plans to deploy the
latest and best solutions for the global technology elite.
Throughout history the areas of the world with the best
infrastructure have been the dominant forces in global trade and
innovation. In the past it meant the best roads, ports, schools,
etc. GE and Abu Dhabi show us that it is now a cross pollination of
public and private partnership, facilitated by investment
authorities and Fortune 500 companies. As we break down this
strategic partnership piece by piece, we get a glimpse at the
mechanisms in place that are creating the homes, towns, and cities
of the future, and how their interplay effects a larger ecosystem
of innovation. No one can dismiss this as central planning, rather
it is an attempt by government to become more innovative and
responsive to the needs of tomorrow. (cont.)
July 20 2008 / by wowshucks Category: The Home Year: General Rating: 7 Hot
Events of the last five years have shown us that living on the
grid, dependent on large utility companies, has been anything but
stable. Large electric companies, still reliant on fossil fuel to
generate power, have been forced to raise prices dramatically. An
antiquated series of electrical lines, transformers, and switches
have produced devastating blackouts that have cost our economy
billions. With global demand for energy expected to rise, and the
cost of upgrading infrastructure approaching hundreds of billions,
living off the grid may become a highly plausible and desirable
future for many people.
In order to live off the grid you need to tie production and
consumption together, creating small scale systems for water and
power that require no outside support. It also requires a heavy
dose of conservation and efficiency, utilizing a system that
operates within the constraints of a limited source. Living off the
grid requires a large up front investment in equipment and
expertise, and a pioneering spirit. Costs for solar and wind
generation systems routinely cost tens of thousands of dollars,
yielding a cost per kilowatt hour that exceeds that of the grid.
Nonetheless it is becoming an option many people are beginning to
consider as the marketplace changes. More and more people are
looking to raw materials for energy that are free, inexhaustible,
and clean.
As innovation and subsidies collide in the market to create
critical mass for residential solar and wind systems, it is
reasonable to expect demand for these technologies to grow.
According to Solar Buzz, a San Francisco-based industry research
company, demand for solar power has grown 20-25% a year for the
last twenty years. Many of these applications of solar power come
in the form of on the grid solutions, however many of these are
distributed at the point of use. It is however the biggest choice
for off the grid applications. Demand has grown so fast that more
silicon now goes into photovoltaics than computer chips.
(cont.)
July 17 2008 / by wowshucks Category: The Home Year: 2008 Month: Jul Rating: 9 Hot
The Metropolitan Museum of Art unveils an exhibition that shows
the technological innovation behind the pre-fabricated home. These
made to order homes may represent the homes of the future.
Highlighting the growing innovation in pre-fab homes, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled an exhibit highlighting the
technological innovation behind the pre-fab home and how designers
are responding to global trends.
Unveiled at the show will be a full scale prototype of the
System 3, a design by Architects Oskar Kaufman and Albert Ruf.
After years of pursuing the optimum in high quality low cost
design, the System 3 is the pinnacle of austere elegance. Looking
like a direct cousin of a shipping container the System 3 abandones
traditional notions of architectural design. The truly intersting
aspect of it’s design however is it’s ability to be “stacked”,
taking multiple units and creating anything from hotels to office
towers and luxury villas. (cont.)
July 15 2008 / by wowshucks Category: The Home Year: General Rating: 14 Hot
With all the media attention focused on the financial chaos of
the housing industry, technology is emerging as an even more
powerful force of change. More and more home buyers are placing
emphasis on technology, or lack thereof, in the process of buying
their new home. This is causing a surge in demand for technologies
that are changing the way we have looked at homes for generations,
all driven by an increasingly educated home buyer that’s
looking toward the future for efficient new products and
solutions.
Industry experts, corporations, and consumers are all pointing
to the same trend within the housing industry: the home is no
longer looked at as mere bricks and mortar, but rather as a
technological platform with the capability to adapt. Technology is
seen as a means to carry the concept of an affordable and liveable
private home into the 21st century, a concept now under attack.
Homes, followed by cars, represent the single biggest investment
for the average American. They also consume the most resources,
causing the biggest pain to our wallets. They are also a place
where we spend a significant amount of time, perhaps our most
important resource of all. There is no doubt that the home
represents a major part of our lives, both economically and in
terms of quality of life.
Despite some advances the home has been slow to change hundreds
of years. Studies have shown that the housing industry has been the
least innovative of our major industries despite its size. Most
people realize this is unsustainable, given the problems facing the
world today. In response consumers are creating an insatiable
demand for technology within the home. (cont.)
April 14 2008 / by wowshucks Category: Business & Work Year: General Rating: 3 Hot
Nicholas Negroponte foreshadows the future i n this 1984
discussion on what we can expect in the coming decades. His ability
to hit the mark on everything from CD-roms to products like the
iPhone show that we can reasonably predict at least the next score
of human years. Speaking at the first TED
Conference in 1984, Negroponte waxes prophetic on the convergence
of technology, entertainment and design:
Years before anyone was using the word “convergence,” Negroponte
was thinking about TV screens as the “electronic books of the
future” and computers as the future of education. In excerpts from
his 2-hour talk (this was before TED’s
18-minute time limit), he foreshadowed web interfaces, service
kiosks, the touchscreens for mobile devices like the iPhone, and
his own One Laptop per Child project. Oh, and there’s also a
fascinating project called Lip Service, which, well, let’s just say
it’s still ahead of us …
April 13 2008 / by wowshucks Category: Environment Year: General Rating: 6 Hot
This is a great 30 minute video featuring Sir Norman Foster, one
of the preeminent architects of our age, that brings us up to speed
on many of the intertwining issues within the ecological agenda,
the defining issue of our generation. From the perspective of the
design process, Foster discusses how green design is producing the
iconic products of our age. He takes it a step further by
discussing the interconnection of buildings, cities, and
sustainability.
It nicely summarizes the problems we face today coupled with
potential solutions, by one of the greatest designers of our time.
Showing how technology and computers can assist in green design,
Foster describes how we must look to technology to move forward the
most important work of our age. (cont.)
April 03 2008 / by wowshucks Category: Economics Year: General Rating: 2
Fostering the development of leading edge innovations is
becoming harder than ever. Paradigms such as Moore’s Law, the law
that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles
every two years, have become increasingly harder to achieve.
Even the greatest tech giants such as Intel and IBM have found that there resources are tapped, and
that r&d efforts are becoming increasingly difficult to carry
out alone. This presented a problem for corporations engaged in
tech innovation, since collaboration involves sharing knowledge and
even valuable trade secrets. Companies such as IBM took the plunge however, joining with other
companies and universities in an effort to enhance their r&d
capabilities. Did companies such as IBM
lose their competitive advantage through collaboration? In fact
what they found was that it was greatly increased. (IBM now turns
out more patents a day than any other corporation on the
planet.)
Collaboration centers, syndicates that bring together a wide
variety of public and private institutions under one roof, have
become the platforms for the type of innovation described above.
Often located in and around universities, these centers are growing
at an astounding rate, and attracting billions of dollars in
investment.
On July 30, 2008 Pacific Gas and Electric annnounced a plan to deploy smart meters and an enhanced electric grid by 2012. What does this mean for the future of power?
driven by an increasingly educated home buyer that’s
looking toward the future for efficient new products and
solutions.
