Green Design Institute The Green Design Institute is a major interdisciplinary education and research effort to make an impact on environmental quality by partnering with companies, government agencies and foundations to develop pioneering management, manufacturing, and regulatory processes that can improve environmental quality and product quality while enhancing economic development. Students from many different degree programs at Carnegie Mellon can participate in the Green Design Institute activities. Through the Green Design Institute, we are solving problems and building tools that help businesses accomplish more with less. Our focus is on developing practical pollution prevention technologies and lowering costs, by recycling scarce resources, using fewer raw materials and creating better products. For example, our environmental life cycle assessment tool using an input output model is available on the web at www.eiolca.net. Michael Griffin, Co-Director Chris T.
RSA Arts & Ecology - Home reestore - contemporary eco design 10 Futuristic Materials Lifeboat Foundation Safeguarding Humanity Skip to content Switch to White Special Report 10 Futuristic Materials by Lifeboat Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member Michael Anissimov. 1. Aerogel protecting crayons from a blowtorch. This tiny block of transparent aerogel is supporting a brick weighing 2.5 kg. Aerogel holds 15 entries in the Guinness Book of Records, more than any other material. Carbon nanotubes are long chains of carbon held together by the strongest bond in all chemistry, the sacred sp2 bond, even stronger than the sp3 bonds that hold together diamond. “Metamaterial” refers to any material that gains its properties from structure rather than composition. We’re starting to lay down thick layers of diamond in CVD machines, hinting towards a future of bulk diamond machinery. Diamonds may be strong, but aggregated diamond nanorods (what I call amorphous fullerene) are stronger. Transparent alumina is three times stronger than steel and transparent. inShare11 Materials
green printing October 2011 As part of my research in “sustainable printmaking”, I had a great opportunity to run a green printing activity just right on a beach. Here is how it went. Tutors Jack Blake and Tim Hutchinson, organised a field trip for third year students from LCC’s BA Graphic & Media Design – Typo/Graphics pathway. The uncertainty about the environment has been important to re-think the way we live and how we respond when we are not dealing with familiar and comfortable spaces. Students’ considering attitude toward the environment can be strengthened if it involves a real outdoor event taking place in a delicate ecosystem such as, in this case, a beach. [the solar plates are exposed in the pale sun, while students work on their response to the place] Processing your request, Please wait....
Living Roofs Bikinis Made from 3-D Printers Custom Fit Every Curve Despite being of the male persuasion, even I know that bikini season is no day at the beach. Finding the right fit in a style and cut that threads the needle of decency is enough to make any woman throw up her hands and opt for a one-piece with shorts. Well ladies, Jenna Fizel and Mary Haung of Continuum Fashion have heard your dressing room distress calls. In search of the elusive 'perfect fit,' they've designed the N12 bikini, the world's first 3-D printed two-piece made of small nylon discs held together by thread-like springs. The N12 gets its name from the material it's made of: Nylon 12. "Thousands of circular plates are connected by thin strings, creating a wholly new material that holds its form as well as being flexible," the designers explain. This design means the circular nylon plates can adapt to curved and flat contours or any size. N12.bikini – Intro Video from Continuum Fashion on Vimeo. [Via Gizmodo]
Sustainability and Contemporary Art The Guerrilla Gardening Homepage World First 3D Chocolate Printer | Choc Edge Limited The home of sustainable textile design research « Textiles Environment Design