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Why are people drawn to design inspired by nature?

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I received an email from a Design student at Kingston University (London) writing a dissertation on "why people are drawn to design inspired by nature." Three questions were sent; I went overboard answering the first one, and basically wussed out on the second two. I'd be interested in your takes on this highly subjective stuff, and will be sure to let our dissertation author in on the discussion.

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Heat Pump Water Heaters

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The North Road Technologies Geyser heat pump water heater..

There's a revolution underway with electric water heating. It could be just as significant as the shift from top-loaders to horizontal-axis front-loaders that we've seen in the laundry appliance industry.

Green Synagogue

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We've received some comments about the recent decision to highlight the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation case study in our email bulletin. As the BuildingGreen case study manager, I chose to highlight this case study for one reason: many people have recently spent time in a synagogue for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Efficiency First

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Alex and others from GreenBuildingAdvisor.com recently attended the West Coast Green conference in San Francisco -- the nation's largest green building conference and trade show focused exclusively on residential applications.

I'm writing this from San Francisco, where I've been at the West Coast Green Conference. This is the fourth year of the event--the nation's largest green building conference and trade show focused exclusively on residential applications.

BuildingGreen Bulletin: Building for People — October EBN

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Twice each month, BuildingGreen publishes an email news bulletin with current news and product information briefs.

Time to Tune Up Your Heating System

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When inspecting your heating system, recognize that some things you can do yourself, and others are best done by a professional.

Mechanical systems need to be tuned up periodically to keep them operating smoothly and efficiently. That's true with our cars, and it's true with our heating systems. If you haven't done so already, now is the time to get your heating system inspected, cleaned, and tuned.

Some of this annual maintenance can be done by homeowners, but most of it should be done by a heating system technician.

Here are some things you can do yourself:

BuildingGreen on Campus

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View BuildingGreen.com Campuses in a larger map Would you go to a liberal arts program that doesn't subscribe to JSTOR? No?

Fixing LEED Online – "All Hands on Deck"

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If you've been working with LEED Online in the last, um, ever, you've probably noticed that it can be slow and buggy. And as the portal for certifying your LEED project, that can be a little frustrating. Then along came LEED 2009, part of the LEED v3 update that was supposed to include a new and improved LEED Online. Well, it turns out reality has not been so kind.

Buildings For the People

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Social justice--it's a topic of conversation throughout the green building industry, but what does it mean, exactly?

Making Lime Mortars DVD

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Over at The Last Straw blog, Jeff Ruppert has posted a review of Making Lime Mortars, the first of a four-disc tutorial offered by St. Astier Natural Limes. Perhaps the thing I like best about the review is that it doesn't get into the whole "Why use lime" conversation... it respectfully assumes that you already know. But in case you don't know, here's most of the product description for St.

Stimulus-Funded Green Jobs = Left-Wing Conspiracy

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Over at GreenBuildingAdvisor, veteran journalist Richard Defendorf combined his abiding interests in green building and politics by taking a look at a Fox News Forum opinion piece from the policy director the conservative advocacy group (natch) Americans for Prosperity.

"The drama of a 2x4 shot from an air cannon at glass windows"

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Architectural testing concern HTL will be at GlassBuild America shooting missiles at windows again. The demonstration/demolition follows the Miami-Dade large missile protocol by shooting 2x4s at impact-resistant and non-impact-resistant windows.

Avoid Unvented Gas Heaters

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Strong influence by the unvented appliance industry has made it more difficult for states and provinces to prohibit these products. Today, only California has a ban on unvented appliances.

Let me get right to the point: unvented gas (and kerosene) space heaters and fireplaces are a bad idea. Don't install one.

BuildingGreen Bulletin: Efficient HVAC Options — September GreenSpec

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Twice each month, BuildingGreen publishes an email news bulletin with current news and product information briefs.

Combined Heat and Power in Sweden

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Lars Ehrlén, manager of heat and power for Växjö Energi AB, standing in front of the 38 MW steam turbine at the Sandvik CHP plant

Last week I described some observations about transportation from a trip I took to Sweden two years ago. While there, I toured two state-of-the-art, wood-chip-fired, combined heat and power (CHP) plants, one in Kristianstad and one in Växjö.