Water

Hydro Wall by Virginia San Fratello

Shipbuilding Technology Brings Hydro Wall Out of the Computer

By Daniela Morell

When Virginia San Fratello won the 2006 Next Generation® Design Competition for her Hydro Wall, she told us that the biggest challenge to realizing the project would be getting it out of the computer. The complex rolling forms of the wall needed to be high functioning—harvesting rainwater to insulate the building and provide useful gray water—and they needed to look gorgeous.

Last week the first Hydro Wall panel emerged from the electronic box into the material world. At 42-inches tall this prototype is one third the scale of the final building. The mold, created in foam through the precision of rhino CAD and CNC milling, makes a finished piece that is a pristine, fiberglass object that requires no hardware or assembly.

More at: http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=3027

Photo: Virginia San Fratello

By now we all have practical, water-saving shower heads installed in our bathrooms, right? But those of us who consider our bathing rituals to be one of the great pleasures of the day might want to take it one step further. Kevin's outdoor shower is a fun feature that sees daily use by humans and canines returning from walks on the beach. You can get a simple, attractive portable model at Target, for $89, and if you want an outdoor shower that heats itself for free, you can have one for about $10, though it won't win any beauty contests.

But for pure aesthetic appeal, it's hard to beat the Dream Light showerhead from Jaclo, pictured, which The Hardware Aisle dubs "the Xanax of Showerheads." Programmed LEDs provide a chromatherapeutic light show while you bathe. A boon for the coming Seasonal Affective Disorder months.

You can find out more about showers in Episode Nine, which is all about water, and check out new video all this week.

One Monday. Cyber-Rain announced their new wireless sprinkler control system for your present and future yard...and, just because it says “wireless”, doesn’t mean it’s only for techies.

This $299 sprinkler control system can save consumers 30-70% on watering bills says the company. While most sprinkler control systems on the market today rely on timers to regulate watering schedules, the Cyber-Rain system automatically adjusts watering levels based on YOUR local weather forecast, saving money, water and reducing pollution-causing runoff by stopping sprinkler systems on rainy days, automatically decreasing the watering schedule on cold or humid days, and increasing it on hot and dry days!

Question: How does the Cyber-Rain XCI do this?
Answer: Via your family PC!

The Cyber-Rain sprinkler control system and your computer speak directly to each other wirelessly, and Cyber-Rain talks to the Internet via your computer to get the weather forecast. You don’t need to have wireless in your home, and there is no complicated...Read the complete story at www.GetWithGreen.com

Having recently passed the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, now is a good time to look at what kinds of creative, sustainable solutions we've come up with for flood-prone areas.

Both EcoGeek and Inhabitat have recently featured an awesome development in the Netherlands (the 'Nawlins of Europe, so to speak) consisting of homes that stay firmly planted on the ground, yet float free during times of flooding. Their foundatins are made of hollow, water-tight concrete, and all plumbing and electrical services are flexible to allow for movement. This seems like a great solution for low-lying environments that may turn liquid with nary a moment's notice.

Of course, there's a long tradition in flood prone areas of building houses on stilts, too, like this home featured on HGTV's Extreme Homes.

Nowhere will you find more varied and creative approaches to disaster relief than at the Open Architecture Network, where you can see such whimsical wonders as the Dymaxion Tree Fort and pages of projects aimed at flood mitigation.

Yesterday, we met with Maverick, a guy who builds solar powered "everything" and does it as a hobby! He even has a solar powered lawn mower, and we couldn't help but ask what his house must look like :-). Anyway, we were at the Alternative Energy Meetup to learn about solar water heating, and though it was just us three, it was a greet meeting with lots of free information. The guy is an engineer who likes to build solar power projects, and the topic for the day was solar water heating.... READ MORE

Kevin,

Watched your show on PBS for the first time last night. Very interesting show, I plan to continue watching until the straw bale home is completed. I have one question regarding green building designs, does it incorporate gray water utilization? I watched the episoed about capturing rainwater, but nothing was mentioned about recycled water. Is it feasible, or more important is it allowed by municipalities?

Rocky,

We do indeed recycle our gray water, and we will cover that topic in episode 12, which focuses on landscaping. For an excellent primer on gray water recycling, Art Ludwig at Oasis Design in Santa Barbara has a wealth of information online.

Kevin