For anyone with a taste for motorcycles and retro product design styling, here’s the perfect lighting solution. Recycled from old motorcycle parts (and the occasional household appliance), Lamponi Lamps are designed and constructed by Milan born artist Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi, bringing sleek speedy and recycled design to your tabletop.
How do you make your business card stand out? Make it grow! We’re seeing a lot of clever business cards perfect for your green thumb, and its about time! Jamie Wieck breathes new life into business cards with his Growing Business Card. This little number transforms from a regular business card to miniature house plant, sprouting alfalfa or cress when watered. Who wouldn’t want this on their desk?
LANDSCAPED BUSINESS CARD BY TUR &PARTNERS
With all the business cards we’re being inundated with this week (the downside of trade-shows), its nice to find business cards that stand out from the crowd and add a little greenery to your day. Here’s a clever and useful little business card design that perfectly expresses the mission of the company it represents: landscape architecture firm Tur & Partner. Add a little light and water to this seeded business card and in a couple days, you’ve got yourself a professionally landscaped miniature garden. Seeds embedded into the card sprout right through the holes in the plan printed on the card. This creative card was designed by jung von Matt of Germany.
Next year, eco-luxe travel will get a new destination with the opening of a new five-star resort for Star Island in the Bahamas. In and among diving, playing tennis and drinking a cocktail or two, holidaymakers will discover that the resort is entirely energy self-sufficient, with power coming from solar, wind and micro-hydro generators. And, that the sustainability aspects of the resort’s construction, interior and grounds have also been considered in impressive detail.
Unless guests take an active interest in sustainability issues, they’d never know they were taking a greener holiday. The luxury resort is a 10-minute boat ride from Harbour Island, near Eleuthera, and combines private homes, resort residences and bungalows with leisure facilities like a spa, restaurants, bars, pools and a “no fuel” marina. Guests can get in touch with nature through outdoor activities such as diving, sailing and deep-sea fishing.
Hot on the heels of the resort’s luxury credentials comes its focus on sustainability. Architect David Sklar says the project is an experimental ground for the latest eco-technologies and materials, hoping to set an example for the resort industry. The building’s structure is designed to meet or exceed LEED requirements, through the use of materials such as cold formed steel (CFS), a mostly recycled material which relies on its manufacturing process to give it the same strength as virgin steel. The heat-free manufacturing process also reduces its carbon footprint. Additionally, construction time, shipping demands and waste are reduced through the use of insulated concrete forms – lightweight forms that are filled with concrete on site.
Inside the resort, LED lighting and geothermal HVAC has been employed. Water is provided by the rainwater harvesting system that takes advantage of every surface from roofs to roads, up to 100,000 gallons a day of which is then purified and stored underground. Smaller details have also been considered, meaning guests can enjoy shade-grown organic coffee in the restaurant, relax on fair-trade furniture in the lobby and rest their bones on rapidly renewable-bamboo sheets.
The hotel is located on 35 acres of land, designed to favor native species to minimize irrigation and the need for chemical fertilizers. Plants are largely fed with the compostable waste created by the hotel. Any other waste is recycled or converted to energy and fuel.
Via Jamble Magazine
If you read Inhabitat with any frequency, you know we are always on the lookout for greener gadgets that will reduce the amount of energy and waste associated with wireless mobility. Well, we just spotted some breaking greener gadget news that are sure to get Apple fans excited! Drumroll please..
Apple just filed a patent to infuse their hand-helds and computers with a thin film of solar cells, paving the way for a new generation of gadgets with battery life boosted by the sun. The patent approaches the prospect from every angle, with schematics to stack photovoltaic cells beneath the entire surface of their portables - including the screen!
We’ve covered portable solar solutions in the past, but it’s big news when such a prominent player steps up to the plate - and who wouldn’t love a greener Apple?
The patent states a variety of possible applications: “Solar cells are typically stacked with other layers made of transparent or semi-transparent materials… Some of these layers may be used for display or input purposes, and some layers may be coated with various materials or they may be etched with product logos or other patterns.” It goes on to explain that devices could display the performance of the solar cells on their screens next to the battery bar, or even on top of the cells themselves.
It will be interesting to see if the use of photo-voltaic panels in portable electronics will contradict the current consumer trend towards smaller and smaller gadgets, since a large, flat surface is required for solar to have any degree of efficiency. I’m also curious to see how they plan to deal with heat issues inherent in leaving pricey electronics out in the sun. Either way, this will be one to watch.
We’ve long been fans of Apple’s meticulous product design, and long lamented the companies slow steps towards sustainability, so this announcement makes us very excited. We can’t wait to see what Apple is planning to do with this patent.
Via Forbes.com
Lunar cabinet glows in the dark with eco-paint
by Cate Trotter
We are captivated by the lunar visions created in this glowing ‘Fullmoon’ credenza. Designed by Sotirios Papadopoulos for ENNEZERO, this intriguing piece brings a realistic recreation of the moon’s surface to light with a luminescent paint. Despite looking very chemical-intensive and unsustainable, the glow-in-the-dark paint is actually an ‘ecological powder’ that’s been modified into a substance called ELI, or ‘Ecolightinside.’
We haven’t been able to get the whole sustainable scoop on the science behind the “eco paint”, but if it’s as environmentally friendly as the designer claims then we’re all for it. We’re starstruck by the ‘Fullmoon,’ and also impressed with the multi-disciplinary approach that Papadopoulos takes in his work. Not only did he design the cabinet, he also invented the “eco paint” that gives it its unique look, and curated the ‘dEMOsign’ exhibition that features the cabinet. The exhibition was hosted by the SOHO gallery as part of this year’s Milan Furniture Fair.
The ‘Fullmoon’ sideboard will go into production, however, the novelty status of the design is being pushed to the max with only twenty-four pieces being made in a strictly limited-edition run.
Wild promises abound, but can the simplest element in the universe really power our homes, fuel our cars and reduce our contribution to global warming? PM crunches the numbers on the real hydrogen economy.
Published in the November 2006 issue.
And the inevitable answer from the front seat: No. Promises of a thriving hydrogen economy — one that supports not only cars and trucks, but cellphones, computers, homes and whole neighborhoods — date back long before this presidency, and the road to fulfilling them stretches far beyond its horizon.
The Department of Energy projects the nation's consumption of fossil fuels will continue to rise — increasing 34 percent by 2030. When burned, these carbon-based fuels release millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, where the gas traps heat and is believed to contribute to global warming.
At first glance, hydrogen would seem an ideal substitute for these problematic fuels. Pound for pound, hydrogen contains almost three times as much energy as natural gas, and when consumed its only emission is pure, plain water. But unlike oil and gas, hydrogen is not a fuel. It is a way of storing or transporting energy. You have to make it before you can use it — generally by extracting hydrogen from fossil fuels, or by using electricity to split it from water.
And while oil and gas are easy to transport in pipelines and fuel tanks — they pack a lot of energy into a dense, stable form — hydrogen presents a host of technical and economic challenges. The lightest gas in the universe isn't easy to corral. Skeptics say that hydrogen promises to be a needlessly expensive solution for applications for which simpler, cheaper and cleaner alternatives already exist. "You have to step back and ask, 'What is the point?'" says Joseph Romm, executive director of the Center for Energy & Climate Solutions.
Though advocates promote hydrogen as a panacea for energy needs ranging from consumer electronics to home power, its real impact will likely occur on the nation's highways. After all, transportation represents two-thirds of U.S. oil consumption. "We're working on biofuels, ethanol, biodiesel and other technologies," says David Garmin, assistant secretary of energy, "but it's only hydrogen, ultimately, over the long term, that can delink light-duty transportation from petroleum entirely."
The Big Three U.S. automakers, as well as Toyota, Honda, BMW and Nissan, have all been preparing for that day. Fuel cell vehicles can now travel 300 miles on 17.6 pounds of hydrogen and achieve speeds of up to 132 mph. But without critical infrastructure, there will be no hydrogen economy. And the practical employment of hydrogen power involves major hurdles at every step — production, storage, distribution and use. Here's how those challenges stack up.
HURDLE 1: Production
The United States already uses some 10 million tons of hydrogen each year for industrial purposes, such as making fertilizer and refining petroleum. If hydrogen-powered vehicles are to become the norm, we'll need at least 10 times more. The challenge will be to produce it in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.
FOSSIL FUELS: At present, 95 percent of America's hydrogen is produced from natural gas. Through a process called steam methane reformation, high temperature and pressure break the hydrocarbon into hydrogen and carbon oxides — including carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Over the next 10 or 20 years, fossil fuels most likely will continue to be the main feedstock for the hydrogen economy. And there's the rub: Using dirty energy to make clean energy doesn't solve the pollution problem-it just moves it around. "As a CO2 reducer, hydrogen stinks," Romm says.
Capturing that carbon dioxide and trapping it underground would make the process more environmentally friendly. In July, General Electric and BP Amoco PLC announced plans to develop as many as 15 power plants over the next 10 years that will strip hydrogen from natural gas to generate electricity; the waste carbon dioxide will be pumped into depleted oil and gas fields. And the Department of Energy is largely funding a 10-year, $950 million project to build a coal-fed plant that will produce hydrogen to make electricity, and likewise lock away carbon dioxide to achieve what it bills as "the world's first zero-emissions fossil fuel plant."
Whether carbon dioxide will remain underground in large-scale operations remains to be seen. In addition, natural gas is a limited resource; the cost of hydrogen would be subject to its price fluctuations.
ELECTROLYSIS: Most of the remainder of today's hydrogen is made by electrically splitting water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen. This year, a PM Breakthrough Award went to GE's Richard Bourgeois for designing an electrolyzer that could drastically reduce the cost of that process. But because fossil fuels generate more than 70 percent of the nation's electrical power, hydrogen produced from the grid would still be a significant source of greenhouse gas. If solar, wind or other renewable resources generate the electricity, hydrogen could be produced without any carbon emissions at all.
NUCLEAR POWER: Next-generation nuclear power plants will reach temperatures high enough to produce hydrogen as well as electricity, either by adding steam and heat to the electrolysis process, or by adding heat to a series of chemical reactions that split the hydrogen from water. Though promising in the lab, this technology won't be proved until the first Generation IV plants come on line — around 2020.
LIQUEFACTION: Chilled to near absolute zero, hydrogen gas turns into a liquid containing one-quarter the energy in an equivalent volume of gasoline. The technology is well-proven: For decades, NASA has used liquid hydrogen to power vehicles such as the space shuttle. The cooling process requires a lot of energy, though-roughly a third of the amount held in the hydrogen. Storage tanks are bulky, heavy and expensive.
COMPRESSION: Some hydrogen-powered vehicles use tanks of room-temperature hydrogen compressed to an astounding 10,000 psi. The Sequel, which GM unveiled in January 2005, carries 8 kilograms of compressed hydrogen this way-enough to power the vehicle for 300 miles. Refueling with compressed hydrogen is relatively fast and simple. But even compressed, hydrogen requires large- volume tanks. They take up four to five times as much space as a gas tank with an equivalent mileage range. Then again, fuel cell cars can accommodate bigger tanks because they contain fewer mechanical parts.
SOLID-STATE: Certain compounds can trap hydrogen molecules at room temperature and pressure, then release them upon demand. So far, the most promising research has been conducted with a class of materials called metal hydrides. These materials are stable, but heavy: A 700-pound tank might hold a few hours' fuel. However, exotic compounds now being studied could provide a breakthrough to make hydrogen storage truly practical. "High-pressure tanks are a stopgap until we can develop materials that will allow us to do solid-state storage efficiently," says Dan O'Connell, a director of GM's hydrogen vehicle program.
HURDLE 3: Distribution
Even in portable form, hydrogen is a tough substance to move from place to place. It can embrittle steel and other metals, weakening them to the point of fracture.
 CLEAN FUEL: This fueling station in Burlington, Vt., uses electricity to convert water into hydrogen for powering fuel cell cars. It is part of a Department of Energy program for testing alternative fuels in colder climates. |
PIPELINES: One way to avoid this endless back-and-forth would be to send the hydrogen through a pipeline. About 700 miles of hydrogen pipelines now operate in the States, generally near large users such as oil refineries. The longest in the world is a 250-mile line between Belgium and France. Treating pipelines to protect them from embrittlement and high pressure makes them expensive up front-about $1 million per mile. But once built, they are the cheapest way to deliver high volumes of hydrogen.
LOCAL PRODUCTION: Given the difficulty of transporting hydrogen, why not just make it where you need it? That's what's done at roughly half the 36 hydrogen fueling stations currently operating in the U.S. Four rely on natural gas; the rest use electrolysis. In 2003, Honda introduced a Home Energy Station that performs steam reformation right in the owner's garage-but because natural gas is the feedstock, it still releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
A greenhouse gas-free approach would use on-site wind or solar power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis. Honda also designed a solar-powered hydrogen refueling station, which has been operating at the company's California lab since 2001. If the national power supply becomes more eco-friendly, clean electrolysis could run off the grid.
ON-BOARD PRODUCTION: Several prototype vehicles make their own hydrogen from stored hydrocarbons, eliminating the question of distribution altogether. The DaimlerChrysler NECAR 3, for example, produces hydrogen from methanol. Researchers are also experimenting with more futuristic on-board production technologies, which combine ordinary water with reagents like boron or aluminum to produce hydrogen, oxygen and a metal oxide residue. These, however, are still a long way off.
HURDLE 4: Use
Once hydrogen reaches consumers, is there anything they can do with it except drive vehicles? Home energy generation is one other option. The question is whether hydrogen would be more practical than current methods. Hydrogen produced by steam reformation or by electrolysis loses energy when it is converted into electricity. The resulting efficiency is roughly equal to that of today's power plants — which pay a lot less for raw materials. Direct generation of electricity through wind and solar power will also be more efficient for most stationary applications. That leaves transportation as the most promising use for hydrogen.
INTERNAL COMBUSTION: The most straight-forward approach is to burn hydrogen in an adapted model of your garden-variety internal-combustion engine (ICE). Since little modification is required, these engines are relatively cheap, and 25 percent more efficient than gasoline-powered engines. BMW built its first hydrogen ICE back in the 1970s, and the concept still has legs: Ford began production of a hydrogen ICE shuttle bus last July.
 GREEN BEER: The four 250-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cells at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, Calif., run on a combination of natural gas and methane. They generate enough electricity to power the entire production plant. |
Once the technical hurdles are crossed, hydrogen's huge price tag may still make the technology prohibitive. A recent analysis by the Department of Energy projected that a supply network adequate for even 40 percent of the light-duty fleet could cost more than $500 billion. And that leads to a classic chicken-and-egg problem: How do you get millions of Americans to buy hydrogen-powered vehicles before there's an infrastructure in place to refuel them? And how do you get energy companies to build that infrastructure before there's a potential customer base?
"Companies are not willing to invest if they don't think there's going to be a market," says Daniel Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. "The government has to be behind it. There has to be leadership."
There's reason to hope the technology will advance even without much government involvement. Hydrogen fuel cells already replace batteries in niche equipment, such as TV cameras and forklifts, and provide power at remote locations, such as at cellphone towers. They even power the police station in New York's Central Park. As these applications continue to develop, they will force advances in technology that will make hydrogen vehicles more feasible. Even then, hydrogen might make the most sense for fleet vehicles that don't require widespread infrastructure for service and refueling.
Ultimately, hydrogen may be just one part of a whole suite of energy alternatives. Any one of them will involve investing heavily in new infrastructure. Though the price tag will be steep, we can't afford oil's environmental, economic and political drawbacks any longer.
| NATURAL GAS | NUCLEAR | SOLAR | WIND | BIOMASS | COAL | |
| Gas station-size facilities using steam reformation | Very High Temperature Reactors providing heat for electrolysis or for thermochemical cycles | Photovoltaic systems providing electricity for electrolysis with 10% efficiency | Turbines producing electricity for electrolysis, assuming they operate at 30% capacity | Gasification plants using steam reformation | FutureGen plants using coal gasification then steam reformation | |
| Raw Materials Required | 15.9 million cu. ft. of natural gas — only a fraction of current U.S. annual consumption | 240,000 tons of unenriched uranium, five times today's global production | 2500 kilowatt-hours of sun per square meter per year, found in the Southwestern states of the Sun Belt | 7 meters per second average wind speed, typically found in many parts of the country | 1.5 billion tons of dry biomass (initially byproducts such as peanut shells, then concentrated crops) | 1 billion tons of coal — which would require doubling current U.S. domestic production |
| Infrastructure | 777,000 facilities; though a more likely scenario would include a mix of larger central production plants | 2000 600-megawatt next-generation nuclear power plants; only 103 nuclear power plants operate in the States today | 113 million 40-kilowatt systems, covering 50% of more than 300 million acres — an area three size the size of Nevada | 1 million 2-megawatt wind turbines, covering 5% of 120 million acres, or an area larger than California | 3300 gasification plants, and up to 113.4 million acres — or 11% of U.S. farmland — dedicated to growing the biomass | 1000 275-megawatt plants; only 12 sites were proposed for a DOE demonstration plant — not all met the requirements |
| Total Cost | $1 trillion | $840 billion | $22 trillion | $3 trillion | $565 billion | $500 billion |
| Price Per GGE (Gallon of Gas Equivalent) | $3.00 | $2.50 | $9.50 | $3.00 | $1.90 | $1 |
| CO2 Emissions measured in tons | 300 million | 0 | 0 | 0 | 600 million* | 600 million** |
| *Zero net emissions because crops pull CO2 from the air. **90% will be captured and stored underground. | ||||||
| Time Frame | There are four fueling stations that now produce hydrogen from natural gas. | The first Very High Temperature Reactor in the U.S. will be built at Idaho National Laboratory in 2021. | Honda built an experimental solar-powered hydrogen refueling station at its lab in California in 2001. | A 100-kilowatt turbine is now being built at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado. | Government funded bio-mass research will be transferred to private industry in 2015. | By 2012, the first FutureGen demonstration plant should be running at 50% capacity. |
Green House in Melbourne by Zen Architects
It’s easy to see how this very centered home got the nickname “Zen House.” Officially known as the North Carlton Green House, the design offers an oasis of green living in the urban desert of Melbourne, Australia. The owners’ desire to connect to nature through landscaping, architectural form and sustainable design practices has created a beautiful abode. Easily flowing between the boundaries of built and natural environments, indoors and outside, the Zen House stays perfectly balanced with a tiny ecological footprint.
Zen Architects designed this sustainable home, and integrated vegetation and light to create a lush environment for the clients. Many sustainable elements went into the design, like passive heating through north oriented windows and a courtyard. Before you get all up in arms, let’s remember this house is in Australia, where they direct their houses to the north. Just a reminder for any aspiring architects from the Northern Hemisphere - if you intend to design for anything south of the equator, orient towards the north.
Deciduous plants were used for shading in the summer, and passive cooling was accomplished by cross ventilation and a “thermal chimney” through a two story void. A solar hot water system and hydronic heating system provide internal heating, coupled with high performance insulation and double glazed windows.
Rainwater is collected from the roof and put into storage tanks. Both rainwater and grey water are used in the 35 square meter (375 sq.ft.) garden. An additional rooftop garden provides even more outdoor space and insulation for the home. The garden even has a high tech automated irrigation system that waters the subsurface to minimize water lost through evaporation.
BMW’s Hydrogen Car Cleans The Air as You Drive
What if your car consumed carbon monoxide instead of spewing it out? Just such a vehicle was unveiled at last month’s SAE Congress in Detroit, which showcased some exciting green trends in the automotive industry. BMW stole the spotlight with its hydrogen-powered 7-series sedan that emits less carbon monoxide than is present in its environment. The car’s engine breaks down and converts carbon monoxide, essentially cleaning the air as it is driven.
BMW’s carbon cutting sedan features a six-liter hydrogen combustion engine that delivers performance on par with its gas-guzzling counterpart. The vehicle takes a step beyond BMW’s efforts to create a hydrogen/gasoline hybrid with astonishing results: tests conducted by Argonne Laboratories show that the car’s emissions are so low that they are undetectable by standard emissions tests.
It’s certainly true that Hydrogen fueled cars have some critical hurdles to overcome, but developments like this infuse the industry with an uplifting breath of fresh air. BMW currently has no plans for production, but the sedan marks sure signs of future-forward thinking.
2. Thousands of volunteers rushed to the calamity area, led by taxi drivers who, upon their will, can choose to ignore their people and continue to make a living for their own family. Never mind the opportunity to earn money, they did not think twice about helping their people.
4. An owner of a big construction company sent its people along with construction equipments and machineries only a few hours after the incident. Again, never mind its own interests, never mind the profit those several days of stoppage of operations could have brought in.
9. Parents used their own bodies to shield their kids from falling buildings and collapsing walls. Most of them did not make it, but their kids will live on knowing that they were saved by the love and life of their parents. Brothers and sisters carried their siblings on their back, walked endlessly and aimlessly, with the hope of getting as far as possible from the disaster area.
I salute these heroes. I bow to you and look up to you. May every nation have the same love and concern for its own people, enough to extend a helping hand, regardless of distance, regardless of the risk of getting their own hands wounded. So go on, click on the google advertisement at the left. You know you want to.
If only plants could speak, it would be so much easier to take care of them. That's why our faces lit up when we spotted this awesome Digital Pot by Junyi Heo. Designed to relay the needs of individual plants through an interactive display of simulated plant ‘facial expressions’, this idea just might make green thumbs out of the most challenged window gardeners. Trying to make plants speak might be a bit challenging, but with such a cute face on this design, we couldn’t resist learning more.
The Digital Pot can only be described as the next evolution in potted plant technology. The vessel is filled with moisture, temperature and soil sensors that can determine whether or not the plant’s basic need are being properly met. While a simple red light could’ve done the trick, Junyi went a step further and added an LCD screen to the side of the pot than lets the plant’s status be told by different facial expressions.
We can’t help but think that if all plants came in a pot like this taking care of them would be much easier. This would be a perfect addition to every green geek’s home. Now, if we could only get our hands on one.
I had a possessed old wall clock. It would function normally but whence came midnight, it would stop. All I had to do was push the pendulum to swing and it would work again - until come midnight, of course.
At first I thought it could be the positions of the hands at midnight that
could be brushing on each other, causing friction, hence the jam. But then, at midday when the mechanism worked exactly like it would at midnight, the clock never stopped.
I was puzzled so I decided to send the clock to my friend, Mohammed, who is a very skillful watch repairman. After a day, Mohammed rang me up and advised me to take the clock back. "A strange thing happened," he said. "The clock, upon midnight, started to 'ding-dong non stop'". Those were his exact words. He had to manually stop the pendulum from swinging, to stop the clanging. Obviously, I was tickled.
At the shop, Mohammed was looking tired and a little spooked. He said in Malay, "Jam kau masuk hantu, lah" - (Your clock is possessed by an evil spirit) He told me to throw it away but I couldn't, it was my late father's favourite clock. I remember the day my father brought this clock home. He was so proud of it. He hung it on the wall and dusted it everyday. He would wind it every month without fail. He never let the clock stop, not even once.
Once, when he was sick and lying in bed, he made my mother take care of the clock as if it were a living thing. We, my family, found it peculiar that he was totally devoted to the clock.
Although tickled, I felt uneasy after what Mohammed told me about the clock being possessed that I left it unused for a couple of days. During those couple of days, I couldn't sleep very well. I kept dreaming of a giant with a huge club pounding on an enormous gong which gave me terrible headaches.
I decided, then, to take the clock to a "bomoh" (physic). I knew my dreams were related to the clock for obvious reasons – the gong.
The physic was a very old and frail woman – somehow, they always are – who possessed powerful spiritual magic. She handled the clock carefully, then mumbled some unintelligible verses. She looked at me and said indeed the clock was possessed and the spirit, a Jinn, that was trapped inside was very angry.
I asked her how the spirit got inside in the first place. She replied that it was put in there by my late father to grant him special favours. And, in return, the spirit must be fed, and the clock, cleaned. My father did all that as a ritual but when he died, we, didn't carry on the care. The Jinn was neglected and was hungry and angry.
In retrospect, I do remember good things started to happen after the clock was bought. My father got a raise, my sister who was unable to bear children, gave birth to a baby girl - everyone was surprised, even the doctors. Yes, it's true, many good things did happen until my father died 5 years ago.
Maybe the Jinn's resentment had something to do with my wife's miscarriage 4 months ago. I don't want to find out.
I left the clock with the "bomoh". I didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore. The memory of my father will come from my head and not from the clock.
Below is a video of Mr Osman playing with clocks.
UK Eco-house Sold for world record £7.2m!
It’s not all doom and gloom for the UK property market: in the face of the country’s slowing or depreciating prices, Sarah Featherstone’s cutting-edge green home has sold for a record-breaking £7.2million, or $14.2million USD! The building, known as Orchid House, is one of the key homes on Lower Mill Estate, a project to turn a disused gravel pit into a beautiful 450-acre nature reserve.
Possibly to subsidize the £3,000 per square foot cost of the property, the building aims to generate more energy than it consumes, making use of geothermal heating. The house can be adapted to any occasion, be it a family holiday or a large reception, due to its flexible living spaces. Inhabitants and visitors to the property can be entertained by the glass-sided badger set installed in the garden.
The inspiration for the form comes from the flora and fauna on the estate, with living and dining areas appearing to fan out from the building’s core. The form is created using laminated veneer lumber – not great for the planet, as it consists of layers of wood held together with adhesives – but it does stay beautiful longer than conventional timber. This lumber is then clad with timber shingles with a camouflage pattern burnt into them. The main living spaces join the home’s pontoon to float over the lake.
The buyer chose to remain anonymous, but rumor has it they work in the entertainment industry – and may well be a household name, going by the celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Kylie Minogue who’ve expressed an interest so far. We may have to wait until 2011 to find out though – this is when the house will be completed and become home to the mystery buyer.
There are two things racing drivers do that you can copy, only you're after economy rather than speed. Take the shortest line through corners so you don't have to slow down as much, and drive more smoothly. The smoothest racing drivers are often the quickest (providing they're in the right car).
Down hills, leave it in gear and take your foot off the throttle. The injectors turn off, so you're not burning a drop of fuel. Coasting in neutral is less economical because the ECU thinks you're stationary and so fuels the engine to idle. On a hill the engine is being driven by the wheels.
Tricky, of course, but the canny driver anticipates by selecting the right gear to maintain a constant speed up hills. Bogging down in third and having to move to second needs more revs and so burns more fuel. Remember: momentum management.
Hills need forward planning
Sharp steering movements create heat in the tyres and you literally scrub off speed. Heat is bad. It means all that precious petrol energy is being wasted. Same goes for braking. Heat in the pads is energy you paid for.
Those hard-to-achieve fuel consumption figures are carried out over a gentle town route, followed by an equally sedate country jaunt (although they never leave the lab). Manufacturers know this and tune their cars to perform frugally over this period. Rev hard and you're out of that economy zone.
How To Drive Green - Maintenance: VideoJug shows you some simple car maintenance that will help you drive green. With these simple steps of car maintenance, your car, your money, and this little planet you're driving on, will last a lot longer. Drive green with VideoJug's help!
With so much health lore lurking on the Internet and other mass media, it's often hard to separate fact from fiction. Mind Your Body finds out what water beliefs are water-tight and what should be sunk.
1 Does drinking cold water burn more calories but affect your womb?
Dr Stanley Liew, consultant endocrinologist at Raffles Hospital, said: 'Drinking cold water may burn some calories but this is usually not significant enough to have any effect on body weight. Drinking cold water should not affect the womb unless one drinks a huge amount of cold water causing hypothermia or water intoxication, which is harmful to your body as a whole and not specifically the womb.'
2 Is it true that drinking mineral water exclusively will help one attain good skin?
Ms Jaclyn Reutens, a dietitian at Aptima Nutrition and Sports Consultants, said: 'No, it's not true. Good skin is attained through a healthy diet, exercise and adequate hydration. Drinking enough fluids helps to improve blood circulation and in the effective removal of toxins. The best beverages that meet hydration needs are water, milk, 100 per cent fruit juices and caffeine-free tea or coffee.'
3 Is one large glass of water first thing in the morning recommended?
Dr Lew Kian Hwa, registrar at Alexandra Hospital's Health For Life Centre, said: 'You can do that although most doctors would not recommend it. It is more of a lifestyle preference. It sort of jump starts your body by helping to flush your kidneys and rid your body of toxic substances.'
4 Is it good to drink water immediately after exercise?
Ms Png Weileen, head of sports nutrition at the Singapore Sports Council, said: 'It is important to replenish lost body fluid immediately after exercise to prevent progressive dehydration..
'For a short duration, low intensity exercise like a half-hour walk, drinking water is sufficient to replenish lost fluids. But if you are engaging in a long duration, high-intensity workout like wakeboarding or swimming for more than an hour, sports drinks would be a better choice. Ideally, fluids taken after exercise should not contain caffeine and alcohol as they exert a diuretic effect on the body, thus increasing urine production.'
SINGAPORE: Ask the question 'How much water should I drink?' and the typical answer is eight glasses daily.
But now, it seems this 'gold standard', that we've all grown up with, is without scientific proof.
Earlier this month, two scientists at the University of Pennsylvania found no evidence that downing eight glasses of water a day is good for our health.
Dr Dan Negoianu and Dr Stanley Goldfarb reviewed medical literature dating back to the early 1970s and found that there were no scientifically proven health benefits to gulping so much water a day.
Apart from athletes and people living in hot, dry climates, the average healthy person does not need to drink eight glasses of water daily, they said.
Their findings, published in the Journal Of The American Society Of Nephrology on April 2, got the nod from some dietitians and doctors here.
Dr Stanley Liew, consultant endocrinologist at Raffles Hospital, said: 'Our bodies can adapt to our environment and water availability. We can rely on our thirst sensation to guide us in our water consumption. There is no need to force ourselves to drink eight glasses of water daily.'
Changi General Hospital's senior consultant sports physician and head of Changi Sports Medicine Centre Dr Ben Tan said: 'In practice, the amount depends on how much water we lose through expired air and sweat. As long as we produce relatively clear urine a few times a day, we should be fine.'
But others, like nutritionist Benjamin Lee from the Health Promotion Board, maintain that you should consume between six and eight glasses of fluid daily, including soup or porridge broth.
The body uses between one and 11/2 litres of water every day on average and more in high temperatures or when you are exercising. That's why you need water.
The human body is 70 per cent water and there is water in its circulatory system, interstitial space - spaces between the cells - and within the cells, said Dr Tan.
The electrolytes and enzymes that are in solution in the body need to be kept within a tight concentration range in order for it to function properly, he added.
Water is a major component of blood, which is in charge of supplying oxygen and nutrients to the organs. Water also assists daily bodily functions like regulating body temperature and lubricating joints for ease of movement.
Dr Liew added: 'Our kidneys rely on huge amounts of water being filtered daily to excrete toxic substances from our bodies. Deprived of water, we can survive only for days.'
A person can generally survive without water for a period of between two and seven days.
But while drinking too little water will cause dehydration, resulting in conditions like a dry mouth and darkening of urine, drinking too much can also damage one's internal system.
Water intoxication, or hyponatremia, occurs when too much water is drunk within a short space of time. This situation can cause an imbalance of the body's electrolytes, disrupting normal brain function, which can lead to swelling in the brain and death.
In contrast, severe dehydration means that the body does not have enough water to carry out its normal functions and this can cause kidney failure and even death.
Moderation is the key. After all, the more water you drink, the more is passed out as urine.
Dr Lew Kian Hwa, registrar at Alexandra Hospital's Health For Life Centre, said: 'The normal amount of urine one generates is between 800 and 2,200ml per day. It varies with your intake of water and the normal frequency of urinating which is about six to eight times per day.'
While the experts are divided over how much water one should drink, they all dismiss the notion that bottled water is healthier than tap water.
Last year, Singapore imported 154.5 million bottles of drinking water, 32 million more than in 2006. According to the Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore requires 300 million gallons of water a day.
Mrs Magdalin Cheong, chief dietitian and senior manager at Changi General Hospital's dietetic and food services, said: 'Water is water, tap or otherwise. As for the added nutrients in bottled water, do we need them? One's intake of vitamins and minerals should be from one's diet, not just from drinking water.'
Ms Jaclyn Reutens, a dietitian at Aptima Nutrition and Sports Consultants, said: 'The amount of minerals or fruit added in bottled water is not a significant source of nutrients.'
A PUB spokesman said that more than 80,000 tests on water quality are conducted on Singapore's water every month and Singapore's tap water exceeds the requirement of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Drinking Water Guidelines.
Dr Tan summed up the argument for sensible drinking: 'Common sense should prevail.'
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S premier is clinging to power after disastrous polls, but disarray in the ruling party, a strong opposition and deep subsidy cuts make his future highly uncertain, analysts say.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been beset by calls to resign since general elections in March when he was punished by voters, largely over rising prices of food and fuel.
In the transformed political landscape, opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim says he could seize power as soon as September with the help of defectors from government ranks in Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo island.
And now Mr Abdullah has made the extremely unpopular decision to dismantle fuel subsidies, sending pump prices up 40 per cent from Thursday in a move applauded by economists but condemned by the public.
'God willing I hope Malaysians will not demonstrate over this,' Mr Abdullah said Wednesday after announcing the price hike, and warning it could suppress economic growth and drive inflation as high as 5.0 per cent this year.
'It is not an attempt to be popular, we have to think in the best interests of the people,' he said, sending countless motorists rushing to fill their tanks on the last of the heavily subsidised fuel.
The three-party opposition alliance seized control of five states and a third of parliamentary seats in the March 8 elections, in the worst ever result for the multi-racial coalition that has dominated Malaysia for half a century.
Mr Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who spent six years in jail on sex and corruption charges, needs to swing just 30 government lawmakers in order to seize power.
In a move to shore up his shaky support base, Mr Abdullah recently promised RM1 billion ringgit (S$423 million) for rural development in Sabah, plus RM1 million in constituency funds for each federal lawmaker.
'Abdullah is still reeling from attacks on his leadership and whether his government will collapse internally from defections,' said Mr Ibrahim Suffian from the Merdeka Centre opinion research firm.
'He needs to stabilise his position first by buying the loyalty of lawmakers,' he said.
Former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who handed over to Mr Abdullah in 2003 but quickly fell out with his successor, has added fuel to the fire by campaigning for his resignation.
Mr Mahathir has deployed strategies including resigning from the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and urging disgruntled government lawmakers to declare themselves independents.
For now, Mr Abdullah is being protected by rules introduced under Mr Mahathir which require would-be challengers to have the support of a third of the ruling party's divisions - a formidable barrier.
But political observers say the big test will be at Umno party elections in December when he must win the support of members who have been deeply shaken and disillusioned by the electoral setback.
The premier has repeatedly insisted he has a mandate to rule and that he will only discuss a transition of power to his heir apparent, deputy prime minister Najib Razak, after the party polls.
One factor in Mr Abdullah's favour is the lack of dynamic and popular leadership candidates, in a party which even insiders say is in desperate need of reform to prevent total oblivion in the next elections.
Mr Najib is his heir apparent, but he is seen as an old-guard figure while Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, a respected and rising figure in the party, is another name commonly touted.
In a bid to boost his credentials, Mr Abdullah has appointed critics to his cabinet, announced anti-corruption plans and signed up several disaffected members of Mr Anwar's Keadilan party.
'Abdullah has now gone on the offensive,' said Ms Tricia Yeoh from the Centre for Public Policy Studies.
'Right now no one can predict what the nature of Umno and the country's political make-up will be,' she said. 'But as we get nearer the party elections, we will be able to see how far Abdullah is willing to go to continue ruling this country.' -- AFP
（布城）首相拿督斯里阿都拉今日（週三，4日）下午5时宣佈调整汽油价格的同时，也宣佈从7月1日起提高大马半岛用户的电费。
Ron97汽油每公升起78仙，即从现有的每公升1令吉92仙调高至2令吉70仙。Ron92汽油每公升同样调高78仙至2令吉66仙；而柴油则每公升起1令吉，从1令吉58仙调高至2令吉58仙。
新的油价將从午夜起生效。
电费採取多用多付制
至於电费，国能继续採用多用多付机制，每月消费200千瓦特或43令吉60仙以下电费的用户不受影响，这类用户佔59%。
阿都拉在新闻发布会上披露，根据新的电费结构，家庭和工业用户的电费將提高26%，而用电量低於200千瓦特的小商、家庭工业和小餐饮业者的涨幅则是18%。
更新路税可获回扣
谈到汽油价格时，他说，在减少汽油津贴后，政府將会根据私家车引擎的容积，在车主更新路税时给予现金回扣；1999cc以下的轿车每年可以取回625令吉，而250cc以下电单车的现金回扣是150令吉。
至於250cc以上的电单车，路税减少50令吉。
“至於拥有2000cc以下的私人多用途货卡车（TrakJip）及2500cc以下的私人用途吉普车，每年也將获得625令吉的现金回扣。”
2000cc以上轿车回扣200令吉他说，现金回扣涉及从今年4月1日至明年3月31日更新路税的车子，车主可从今年7月1日起通过邮政匯票领取现金回扣。2000cc以上的轿车的路税將获得200令吉折扣。
至於减低路税的优惠，则从6月1日起生效。
阿都拉也说，政府將向独立发电站和棕油厂分別徵收30%及15%的暴利税。
他指出，政府虽然允许汽油涨价，但家用煤气和德士使用的液化天然气则保持原状，不受影响。
政府预料大马的消费指数將因此提高不超过1%，但政府可因此节省48亿7000万令吉的津贴。
重组汽油津贴架构
●汽油价格將根据市价浮动，不过，政府给予每公升30仙津贴，每月检討。
●週四（6月5日）调整燃油价格，汽油调至2令吉70仙。
●柴油每公升起1令吉，至2令吉58仙。
●继续通过柴油卡津贴公共交通业者及渔民。
●2000cc以下的私家车，2500cc以下的多用途卡车和吉普车，更新路税享现金回扣625令吉，250cc以下电单车的现金回扣是150令吉。回扣由7月1日通过邮政匯票支付。
●2000cc以上的汽油和柴油车，获得200令吉的路税回扣。250cc以上的电单车的路税回扣50令吉，胥视最低2令吉的路税而定。由6月1日生效。
●国家能源公司从7月1日起调高电费。电费將继续採用多用多付机制，每月消费43令吉60仙或200千瓦特以內的用户不受影响。
●家庭和工业用户的电费將涨26%，而用电量少过200千瓦特的小商和小餐饮业者的涨幅则是18%。
●电费调整只涉及马来半岛，东马两州並不受影响。
●向独立发电站和棕油厂商徵收暴利税。
●家用煤气和德士普通使用的液化天然气价格保持不变。
●北马及南马边境油站不准外国汽车添油的禁令已取消。
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