build

It's a water-based molecule that repels water.

That's Hycrete's business in a nutshell, according to CEO David Rosenberg. The company has a molecule--which consists of a water molecule with a long hydrocarbon attached--that links up to metallic ions in whatever it's mixed into. In the right circumstances, the molecule behaves like an oil and pushes water away.

The company currently sells its material to concrete manufacturers and contractors who use it to replace the bound-to-fail plastic membranes employed to keep water out of building foundations and freeway pilings. With Hycrete's molecules mixed into the cement, … Read more

When most people think of green buildings, they imagine slick corporate headquarters or millionaires' trophy homes.

But a lot of the technologies and practices used in expensive green buildings are becoming more accessible.

Over the past several months, I've visited a number of commercial certified green buildings (like the Genyzme Center in Cambridge, Mass.) and I just returned from the Solar Decathlon, a competition to build the best home powered only by the sun. Of course, I've researched improvements on my own humble abode outside Boston.

So let's talk green. I'm hosting an Ask the Editors … Read more

Lumeta on Tuesday announced a manufacturing deal with Chinese solar panel producer Suntech for Lumeta's solar roof tiles.

Under the deal, Suntech will supply solar modules for Lumeta's building-integrated photovoltaic roof tiles.

Lumeta's Solar S Tile, launched earlier this year, looks just like terracotta concrete roof tiles but are covered with a solar cell that generates electricity. Lumeta, a subsidiary of DRI Companies, announced the supply deal at the Solar World 2007 industry conference.

The solar industry is pursuing building-integrated photovoltaics as a way to reduce the cost of solar electric installations.

One advantage of solar roof … Read more

Forget biodiesel. To put a dent in global warming, we are going to have to stop using coal, said Ed Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030 at the West Coast Green conference taking place in San Francisco this week.

"The only fossil fuel that can fuel global warming is coal. If you stop coal, you stop global warming. End of story," he said. Architecture 2030 is a non-profit that encourages builders, suppliers and architects to move toward making carbon neutral buildings by 2030.

The problem with coal is two fold: it spews a lot of carbon dioxide, among other … Read more

Remember when you were in junior high and the ultimate way to express yourself was to line the walls of your locker with photos and notes from friends and magazine clippings of every variety? Well, here's the digital-age version. Web page creation veteran Freewebs (more coverage here) has just launched a new site, Pagii (rhymes with "cagey"), which it's calling a "social publishing network." It's a drag-and-drop service that allows you to put photos, text, shapes, videos, and external widgets into a free-form, JavaScript-based page. The end result is something that's essentially … Read more

Serious Materials plans to build a big, multimillion dollar factory that's going to be powered by solar panels.

The company is currently scouting out a site for a factory that will be capable of churning out 400 million square feet of drywall a year, said CEO Kevin Surace. The factory, however, will only require a 100-kilowatt solar system to provide its power. The relatively low power requirements come from how Serious makes drywall.

One hundred kilowatts is enough to power about 33 homes. For industrial manufacturing, that's not a low of power. Google put a solar system in … Read more

A group in Dessau, Germany, has received funds and famed architect Rem Koolhaas as an adviser in its quest to build the world's largest structure.

Dubbed a "monument for all of us" the new "Great Pyramid," which is estimated would take about 30 years to complete, would be about 1,900 feet tall and 10 times larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, according to the Great Pyramid's Web site.

Instead of being a monument to only a few individuals, Germany's Great Pyramid would be a communal tomb open to anyone regardless of … Read more

Green homes come from factories.

It sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't. By building a home in a factory, builders can cut down on the amount of wood that gets thrown out and trips back and forth to the lumberyard. Plus, building in a factory lets the contractors get tighter seals on everything, which leads to better insulation and less chance of mold getting into the walls. (The home also gets done in much less time and costs a little less, if you live in an area where construction costs are high.)

Michelle Kaufmann Designs is currently building … Read more

The traditional housing market bubble may be bursting, but green buildings clearly have plenty of life.

In the past few weeks, we have run a handful of photo galleries and features on green buildings--one old and some not even built yet. Here's a rundown of recent coverage:

Last week, I got a tour of Genzyme Center, an award-winning green building in Cambridge, Mass., from the building's facilities manager. Here is a photo gallery, with views you won't see from most tours of the building, and a separate video.

The builders used a lot of technology to make … Read more