In this fantastic talk, architect William McDonough discusses why being less bad is no good, and offers his thoughts on how design can be used to “love all species for all time.” Mr. McDonough explains some of the work he has done, such as re-designing Ford’s Headquarters in Detroit, and how new innovations can enable designers to come up with products that are healthy, equitable and sustainable.

Michele Finnel, Marie-Laure Couet (a fellow grad student at Brown), and I worked together to produce this submission to Current TVs ecospot contest. The idea of the contest was to create a 15, 30 or 60 second commercial that either highlights an environmental issue or has a powerful eco-themed message.  The submitted videos will be evaluated by a panel of science, policy and activist experts, who will narrow the field of videos down to the top twenty.  At that point users will be able to vote on the winner.  The top prize is, perhaps ironically, a Toyota Hilander Hybrid SUV.  The voting will take place here.  I will update the results of the contest when they become available.

Our submission makes a connection between the devastation of our forests and the devastation of our urban landscapes, and makes the case that while we may feel overwhelmed by global environmental issues, we can take proactive steps in our own neighborhoods to make tangible improvements to the situation. There is an implied connection between what we can do as individuals in our neighborhoods and cities, and what we can push our business leaders and politicians to do on a regional, national and international scale.  In other words, when we talk about global issues such as climate change, peak oil, and overpopulation, the individual is often made to feel that the problems are beyond the scope of his or her ability to act.  This feeling is, in many ways, justified; after all, while individuals can take small steps to mitigate their carbon emissions or change their patterns of consumption, their capacity for action is far smaller than that of governments to set smart policies and businesses to capitalize on those policies.  Are we saying that individuals are impotent in the face of global problems?  Not in the least.  (continue reading)

What we are saying, however, is that we shouldn’t confuse what we can do with what we cannot do on an individual, local level.  The action taken in the video is powerful and empowering, and the idea is that while we do what we can on a local, individual level, we should push for change in the areas beyond our immediate control.  That is to say, we should do all we can as individuals, be that making smart consumer decisions, planting gardens, composting or installing energy-efficient windows.  But we should not confuse that with solving the global problems we face, because that requires much more: a restructuring of the economy, governmental policy, business practices and how we value, use and recycle materials.  Clearly, such a restructuring is well beyond the grasp of the individual.

Therefore, our video attempts to capture the idea that local action can provide the template for, the consciousness of and the energy to bring about large-scale change.  We recognize that “change starts here” is a cliche, but we believe the more subtle ideas expressed previously present a much more nuanced and accurate picture of the reality of the situation.  We further recognize that by itself the commercial does not express all the ideas previously explained, but we hope that the commercial, together with this explanation, will precipitate a change in how we frame environmental problems.  We are troubled by the fact that, at the moment, climate change is seen as an ethical problem with actions that are labeled as clearly either “good” or “bad.” However, the whole notion that a person is evil for purchasing an SUV and saintly for purchasing a Prius is, in our view, rather misguided. After all, the only difference is that the Prius is “less bad” than the SUV.  It is very difficult to make environmentally superior purchases in a world awash in oil, coal and natural gas.  Thus our ultimate goal in making this commercial is to seed the idea that individuals have the power to push for policy changes and ask for products that satisfy their desire for quality products that are environmentally superior, but that individuals do not have the power to solve a global problem merely by purchasing a certain type of car or turning off their lights more frequently.  We therefore hope to re-frame environmental issues in terms of the opportunities they create for better jobs and products.

Enjoy!

I submitted this silly little video to the Discovery Channel as part of its open casting call for a show to be called “Do you have what it takes?”. I was required to submit a 1-3 minute video showing my passion for cycling and explaining why I have what it takes.  The idea of the show was that the winner would be flown to Spain to meet the Discovery Channel Cycling team, learn how to train for the Tour de France, and then would be flown to France to be filmed riding the routes of the race.  I didn’t end up winning, but Michele and I did have a lot of fun filming and editing the video.  We think you’ll find this video especially entertaining!

This video was filmed on location in Cairo, Egypt, by Andy Posner and Michele Finnel, while we were visiting T.H. and Sybille Culhane of Solar Cities, a “not-for-profit edutainment organization dedicated to making Utopian ideals and ideas manifest in the near-term.” The film takes a look at some of the environmental and social problems facing Cairo, and then shows how Solar Cities is empowering Cairenes to take the lead in solving those problems.  Specifically, they are training local workers to build solar water heaters out of recycled, local materials.  The film also pays a visit to Al-Azhar park, a beautiful park located in historic Cairo on what was once a dirty, smelly and dangerous landfill.  We show how it is a shining example of what is possible when people are empowered to improve their lives.

The central theme and message of the video is that we should not look at “poor people” as those that are in desperate need of our help because they are weak and ineffectual; indeed, that is an erroneous and, in some ways, dangerous viewpoint.  (continue reading)

We must realize that underpriveliged people have to be extremely talented and creative in order to survive, and what they need is neither our pity nor our charity, but rather our access to raw materials and design plans.  For example, once Solar Cities showed local welders, plumbers and carpenters the basic idea behind a solar water heater, they took it from there, improving on the design, sourcing better and cheaper materials, and in general taking charge of the project. (This is all seen in the video) Not only does this kind of work allow the local people access to hot water (essential for sanitation), but it also saves them money for heating the water, puts them out of harms way (every year, several people die while heating their water on dangerous hot plates), and gives them a sense of pride about having taking charge of their own lives.  Beyond that, if implemented on a large scale, solar water heaters can reduce pollution and strain on the energy grid.  They also provide a way for poorer people in Cairo to have water even when the water is turned off (which happens often) because a series of recycled plastic barrels serve as storage tanks for the hot and cold water, and can be used even if there is no municipal water for a given period of time.  And lastly, placing this renewable technology on the roof of homes all over Cairo serves to plant the seed of a renewable, clean future, and it is a great way to educate people while at the same time providing a practical solution to an important need: heating water.

Solar Cities has managed to secure a $25,000 loan from USAID to build 1,000 “Solar Roofs” in two of the poorer neighbourhoods of Cairo.  From there the hope is that the idea will mushroom into a movement.  It is important to keep in mind that in Jerusalem, for instance, over half the homes are heated with the sun, so it is not like this is a fringe, up-and-coming technology.  In fact, of all the renewable technologies, this is the only one that you can build with your own two hands.  A solar water heater is remarkably simple in theory and rather easy to build: it consists of a series of tubes set under glass, and several tanks to hold the hot and cold water.  When the sun beats down on the glass, the water gets hot and begins to rise.  As the water rises, cold water enters the bottom of the pipes from the cold water tank, and the hot water enters the hot water tank.  When built properly, this system will circulate water without any mechanical energy (this phenomenon is called Thermal Syphoning) It is an elegant, beautiful solution.  The water heater can also be made out of PVC pipe, steel pipe, or even plastic bottles.  The tanks can be made from recycled plastic, steel, wood, or anything else that is handy and cheap.  The video shows that the most expensive part of the system is the plumbing. 

For more information about Solar Water Heaters, see the U.S. Department of Energy’s Consumer Guide to Renewable Energy.

More on T.H. Culhane
Solar Cities Blog

This is a video about a 1 megawatt Fuel Cell Power Plant at California State University, Northridge, in Los Angeles, CA. The power plant has a reformer that separates hydrogen from natural gas and then feeds the hydrogen into a fuel cell, generating electricity. The plant also recovers the heat generated and uses it for domestic heating on campus. In the future, some of the carbon emitted will be sequestered in a sub-tropical rainforest that is under construction.

While at present this power plant still uses fossil fuels, it does not actually burn them (the natural gas is needed in order to extract the hydrogen from it), and in the future the hydrogen will be generated either from landfill gas, or it will be electrolyzed using wind, solar, geothermal, wave or hydroelectric energy. What is most important and exciting about this plant is the fact that it is using fuel cells--touted to be the future of electricity generation--today, and they are working seamlessly on a large scale. (continue reading)

The power plant was manufactured by Fuel Cell Energy, Inc.  Yet another of its benefits is that it is made in the USA and uses domestic resources.  Compared to a coal-fired power plant, the fuel cell system is more efficient (43% compared to 33% on the electrical side, and 80% compared to 30% when the heat recovery is taken into account.  What heat recovery does is it uses the heat generated from the fuel cell to heat water for the campus, thereby eliminating the need to use more energy to head that water).  Also, the exhaust is almost entirely CO2 and water, whereas burning coal releases other harmful pollutants that are mentioned in the movie.  But most importantly, this has the potential to be an entirely fossil-fuel-free technology.

Watch Bill Sullivan, Energy Manager at California State University at Northridge, explain how the power plant works and why its so much better than a normal power plant!

More On Fuel Cells and Hydrogen