About Social Media Today
Alternative Energy
New Solar Structure Cools Buildings in Full Sunlight
A team of researchers at Stanford has designed an entirely new form of cooling structure that cools even when the sun is shining. Beyond the commercial implications, the researchers foresee a broad potential social impact.[read more]
How Biomimicry is Shaping the Nature of our Buildings
When you think of nature as it applies to building design, however, there is a new “nature” within a building. It is a concept termed biomimicry, which literally means to mimic life.[read more]
Making Our Communities More Liveable: Examples from Germany and Scandinavia
Hamburg, Germany
An increasing number of community policy makers, planners and residents around the world want their communities —neighborhoods, villages, towns and cities— to be more liveable.[read more]
Is Houston Solar Energy Ready?
solar energy
“Is Houston Solar Ready?” is a four-page collaborative review that presents a review of the technological implementations in Houston homes, schools and commercial buildings.[read more]
Your Tax Dollars At Work: Invisible Solar Cells That Look Like Glass
building with solar cells
See-through glass solar cells would provide a pathway for transforming the nation’s stock of older, inefficient buildings from an energy-sucking liability into a major source of clean, renewable energy.[read more]
Mapping an Alternative Energy Future for New York
clean urban energy
A new study finds that it is technically and economically feasible to convert New York’s all-purpose energy infrastructure to one powered by wind, water and sunlight (WWS).[read more]
Financing a Residential Solar Energy System
residential solar energy
Until recently, few businesses or homeowners were able to enjoy the convenience of financing when it came to solar energy. Their only option was a large initial outlay of capital.[read more]
Pay as You Go Solar: Model for Developing World Electricity? [VIDEO]
pay-as-you-go solar power
Quetsol is a Guatemala-based renewable energy company that thinks it has a solution: pay as you go solar power. No need for lots of cash (or a bank loan) up front.[read more]
Advancing Sustainability with Inspiring Visions of the Future
Imagine a world cruise not on the ocean, but in a giant, zeppelin-like hotel in the sky, from which you have time to marvel at natural or manmade wonders. Your trip to New York or Dubai would take a couple of days, during which you’re enjoying the absolute freedom of flight.[read more]
5 Surprising Facts about Wind Energy in Texas
As the environmental harm caused by the use of coal as the main source of electricity production becomes more and more evident, Texans turn to wind energy as a more sustainable resource for meeting their energy needs.[read more]
In Michigan, One Step Closer to Commuter Rail
The list of public transit options promised to residents of Southeastern Michigan has grown considerably over the past year.[read more]
Sustainability in Inner City London
Hackney, just one of 32 boroughs in London, offers a valuable snapshot of urban sustainability at a more local level.[read more]
Sustainable Cities Collective
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“I agree I think that the nature of human interaction and involvement depends on the nature of the actual facility itself. Getting people in and around fossil fuel burning power plants is seen as a security risk, but that still leaves many components of our infrastructure that could benefit from being noticed (and that citizens could benefit from noticing). I think of examples like John ...”
“I thinks it's provocative. In Florida, we were given tours of muncipal water treatment facilities as children, less so access to energy facilities. There is a cogeneration facility at MIT that sits comfortably in the urban context, as thousands pass by daily. But I'm always concerned that critical systems and humans should not mix for the most part. Educational programs may make the same point ...”