I am thrilled to announce that Koerner Design has won a prestigious design competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy hosted a Manufacturing Innovator Challenge focused on the Sustainable … Continue reading koerner design wins US DOE sustainable luminaire design competition
Jiva Materials is a London-based startup and project spin-out from RCA that has developed a non-toxic, biodegradable, flax-based circuit board substrate branded Soluboard. The circuit board peels apart and sheds its electronic traces after being soaked in hot water. Continue reading jiva materials
It is so nice to see Philips Lighting finally package together a series of internal sustainability programs and initiatives into one comprehensive presentation to the public. Called “Bright Lives, Better World“, the program addresses a range of issues, such as … Continue reading philips lighting: bright lives, better world program
Another superb presentation on green building strategies from Owen Zachariasse. I encourage all of my friends in design, architecture and construction to find an hour and listen to Delta Development’s philosophy and amazing success. You can find my older posts … Continue reading owen zachariasse at light + building
I was in the cool Local Goods Market store in De Hallen in Amsterdam this weekend and saw this amazingly simple fixture by local Amsterdam design shop Waarmakers (who I posted about previously here). Talk about circular economy design at its finest!!! Why are … Continue reading waarmakers cardboard LED lamp
According The Verge, Apple recovered $40m in gold and $6m in copper from its recycling program. How much value is out there from dead light fixtures??? The circular economy can generate incredible value if implemented correctly. Continue reading apple recovered $40m in gold
At the latest Apple media event, the company presented a robotic rig named “Liam” that they’ve developed for tearing apart iPhones at EOL for recycling. It’s definitely a step in the right direction towards a circular economy (and terrific to see … Continue reading apple’s recycling robot
When you are either specifying or engineering a light fixture, I implore you to think about the broader issues of sustainability and the lighting industry’s impact on our tiny planet. There are many sustainability certification programs out there and frankly, I … Continue reading beautiful factories
An awesome presentation from Dutch real estate developer Coert Zachariasse, CEO of Delta Development, from the Circular Economy 100 Annual Summit 2014. Zachariasse’s presentation (and demonstrated business success) is a hugely refreshing breath of fresh air and is an outstanding … Continue reading coert zachariasse: a vision for the built environment
Introduction – The Next Evolution Part I – Connected Lighting Part II – Embedded Lighting Part III – Sustainable Lighting Circular Economy — What goes around comes around. The “circular economy” is a movement to stop the industrialized world’s bad habit of … Continue reading the next evolution of lighting: sustainable lighting
The Next Evolution of Light: Introduction A View from the Year 2020 Let’s take a trip in our time machine 5-years ahead to the year 2020 and check out the evolution of the lighting industry. The lighting industry continues to face … Continue reading the next evolution of light: introduction
A few interesting pieces relating to developing a Circular Economy: Philips hosted a expert panel debate in Brussels: In the past century, the developed world has followed a linear model of production and consumption. Goods were manufactured, sold, used and disposed. It has created immense wealth, but this model is starting to reach its limits. The circular economy aims to decouple economy growth from the use of natural resources by using resources more effectively and repeatedly, thus eliminating waste. It provides multiple benefits, including: innovation, new business models, creation of more value, reduce waste landfill and emissions, and better quality … Continue reading circular economy update
Nice article in Fast Company introducing the principles of Circular Economy strategies, mostly taken from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. A circular economy is one where goods are restored and regenerated more widely, moving from a system of virgin inputs and piles of waste to one that returns used products to a useful state. It is also an economy that minimizes resource use by moving away from individual ownership towards more leasing, renting, and sharing. The aim is to cut environmental damage and allow companies to keep control of the value in their products. Continue reading how to build a circular economy
The United Nations has a very interesting program in place to tackle the global problem of electronic waste, called “StEP: Solving the E-waste Problem.” A great site, I’ve barely scratched the surface of the content and countless projects identified here. … Continue reading united nation’s StEP initiative
Updated: Here is the link to the online article. LEDs Magazine has just published an opinion piece I authored urging the U.S. DOE and other groups to invest in R+D focused on Circular Economy strategies for the lighting industry. Follow … Continue reading LEDs Magazine: OP-ED regarding investment in sustainability
Wonder what’s going to happen to your LED fixtures in about 10 years? Check out this collection of YouTube videos from a company called Sims Recycling Solutions, which shows how they manually tear down products, shred the components and automatically … Continue reading sims recycling solutions
Here’s a fantastic presentation on Greenbiz.com from Coert Zachariasse of Delta Development Group. Coert discusses some of the economic drivers for including Cradle-to-Cradle thinking in building projects. Everyone in the lighting industry should take note…how will you accommodate these changing demands from the building development community? I couldn’t embed directly, but here is the direct link: http://play.vidyard.com/zbbXF9C8Zjh52aCFyb7Upg Continue reading buildings as nutrient banks
I’m very pleased to see the recent push from Philips to highlight the importance of implementing a “Circular Economy.” I’m particularly thrilled with the comments coming directly from the top, Philips’ CEO Frans van Houten: “For a sustainable world, the … Continue reading philips endorses circular economy
