Ecoscraps

Kansas City MO architect Bob Berkebile is one of the key figures in establishing the importance of green building in this country.  Berkebile was instrumental in the founding of both the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as well as the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment (COTE).

Those once-radical ideas have started to go mainstream. In 1993, Berkebile helped create a new group that wasn’t confined to architects: the U.S. Green Building Council. The inaugural meeting of the council fit into a conference room at AIA headquarters. Last November, more than 22,000 green-building advocates and entrepreneurs traveled to Chicago for the council’s annual conference.

Read a profile of Berkebile via: The Pitch

All new homes built in Hawaii will be required to install solar hot water heaters beginning in 2010, cutting energy costs by 30%.  The state of Hawaii has a goal of at least 70 percent renewable energy use by 2030. “Achieving this goal is nearly impossible without widespread use of solar water heaters,” Hawaii Sierra Club director Jeff Mikulina says. “The solar roofs bill is smart policy, sensibly crafted to smooth a transition toward zero-energy homes of the future.”

Via:  Sierra Club 

Image:  This Old House

Watch out Swiss Family Robinson, this treehouse in Northumberland County, UK is 6000 square feet! Who knew that McMansions would appear in the trees?

Via: Fun Shotgun

They’re probably drinking a lot of beer in Quqiao village, in Shaanxi Province, China.

Ma Yanjun, a carpenter, said he wanted his mother to be able to enjoy a comfortable shower anytime, and since a solar water heating system was too expensive, he devised a way to make one of his own.

Using only water-filled beer bottles and connecting hoses, Ma’s mother now has hot water on demand, and so do more than 20 other families in the village whom Ma has helped build their own system.

He wants to build a public bathroom for the village using the same process, but he needs enough money to buy the beers. He probably has plenty of volunteers to empty them.

Image and source.

Aussie Klara Marosszek has developed a commercially viable hemp building material. Fire and pest resistant hemp concrete is made by mixing hemp hurds (the pithy core of the stem), lime-based binder, water and a little sand. This is not a new technique, as century old bridges in France were made from hemp concrete.

Via: Treehugger

Related posts on hemp and marijuana:

• 5 Pounds of Pot Recycled in San Jose

• Pasties, G-String and Skirt, All Made from Hemp: Meet The “Pastie Lady”

• Audio: Rep. Ron Paul on Medical Marijuana Legislation, in His Own Words

These homes in the ancient city of Maymand, Shahr-e Babak, Kerman-Iran were carved into living rocks 12,000 years ago, representing the peaceful coexistence of man and nature.  The underground homes protect inhabitants from extreme cold or heat in the desert.

See more photos:  Fars News Agency 

As part of their Earth Day coverage, NPR’s All Things Considered  took a look at a LEED Platinum home renovation in Washington DC.  Peter Yost from the green building resource BuildingGreen helped to explain some of the possibly unfamiliar green building terms and explained how the elements of this renovation contributed to its being one of the greenest homes in the country.

While building tours on the radio can’t show pictures, the NPR website has several accompanying pictures along with the story and an interactive kitchen tour with more information about the project.

image: NPR 

The world’s largest solar kitchen serves up to 38,500 meals per day in Taleti, India. The solar kitchen is a special demonstration project of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India.
Source:  Inhabitat 

In London, a house has been made of newsprint in reaction to the amount of litter caused by free newspapers distributed in the city.  I don’t think this house will pass building codes; however, it was constructed in five days from donated newspapers, wood, and not so eco-friendly plastic zip ties.

Source:  Treehugger 

In 1963, the Heineken World Bottle, the“brick that holds beer”, was created after Mr. Heineken visited the Caribbean.  He saw two problems: beaches littered with bottles and a lack of affordable building materials.  The solution:  beer bottle bricks!

Source:  Frost Fire Zoo

Check out the Thai Buddhist temple made from one million recycled beer bottles!