Two family houses owned by Guinnard family at Les Paccots in Switzerland belong to new generation of ecological projects with Minergie-P-Eco certification. Acquiring this certification is very demanding, and there were less than 350 objects in Switzerland that got this certificate until 2012. Unlike Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects standards, Minergie-P-Eco requires 40 percent… »
Nestled in the hillside of Virginia mountains, the Earthship Farmstead house received Passive House Certification in February 2013 and it is on track for LEED Platinum certification for homes. While it doesn’t represent a typical example of an earthship house, where people tend to use scrap material to build them, it is built on similar… »
Sunflower seed and oil sector is the one the main industries in Turkey, so it is not surprising that a team of researchers at the Namik Kemal University in Turkey decided to devise ways to use sunflower seed husks – a huge byproduct of the vegetable oil and food industry. They found ways to turn… »
While seaweed has many uses, ranging from direct use in dishes or as food supplements, fertilizer or biodiesel resource, most of us find washed-up seaweed nothing more than nuisance on the beach. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute found a way to utilize specie of seaweed common in the Mediterranean Sea by using it as insulation… »
Ever since we published the article about the lightest microlatice structure last year, I wanted to cover another interesting and light material which was created back in 1930s, and perfected in last 30 years. Aerogels (also known as solid smoke) are currently the world’s lightest solid material with astonishing insulating properties that could find their… »
We are starting one of the new series of articles which will feature stories about small ecological houses from all over the world. In most cases, the projects we’re going to write about are used as weekend cabins planned on passive and combined with active architectural principals. The hut described in this article is situated… »
At present, insulation panels that are both thin and effective are expensive high-end products that are built into energy-saving refrigerators. In order to enable better and cost-effective insulation used in building construction, Fraunhofer researchers are developing vacuum isolation panels (VIPs) – short films for a material that will insulate homes without the need for significant… »
