Please check out and support the Carbon Leadership Forum, a group focused on minimizing the overall carbon impacts of construction and the built environment. The Carbon Leadership Forum is accelerating the transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the … Continue reading carbon leadership forum
Some staggering statistics from the UN’s Resource Panel: The use of natural resources has more than tripled since 1970, and continues to grow. From 2000 to 2015, the climate change and health impacts from extraction and production of metals doubled. … Continue reading UN global resources outlook
In searching for biofriendly white surfaces, I found a nice blog post from quite awhile ago that surveys bio-friendly paint options. Since the article is already 14 years old, I will repost below for posterity: Make Safe, Natural Paint Natural … Continue reading natural, safe paints
Thanks to James McHale and the team at Memoori for hosting a great webinar! If you missed it live, listen to it now at your convenience at this link. Really, I should have picked a different title, because the 6 … Continue reading 6 disruptive lighting trends: recorded webinar
Let’s talk about a brighter future: Join my webinar on 18-June as I present my “luminous ’20’s” survey of innovative technology and experiential design trends in retail, hospitality and architectural lighting. Part of the Memoori video Smart Buildings Series. (18-June … Continue reading 6 disruptive lighting trends: memoori smart building webinar
Make sure to check out my new long-form report forecasting six disruptive trends in architectural lighting for the next decade. This is a draft of my forthcoming submission to The IES Visionary Challenge — Beyond 2030: What Do You See? … Continue reading welcome to the luminous ’20s
Taking a moment to reflect on this past year, let me review 3 major topics I put forth attempting to drive innovation in the architectural lighting industry. Ambient Communications At the start of the year I spoke at several conferences … Continue reading closing out a year of innovation
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
