Tryk Tapped by Wired

Wired spotted us at a clean technology forum in San Francisco this week. WIRED: dematerialization. TIRED: jokes about virtual shag… And while we're on topic, check out our new Tryk site.

Tricycle, A Stop On Your Green Vacation

Plenty and the CBS Early Show have dubbed Chattanooga one of the world's best "Green Vacation" spots along with the Galapagos Islands. Give us a call if you decide to visit on holiday. Maybe we can do lunch?

Car, Carbon and Care Free

During January's tour of the Middle East President Bush took time to view a model of Masdar, the first carbon neutral city on Earth. The development, located in Abu Dhabi, is being planned by British architecture heavyweights, Foster + Partners. As Bush was wrapping up his visit he called Masdar "an opportunity to see what works and what won't work, and an opportunity to share their technology with others."

Well yeah… it's a giant experiment to sustain 45,000 people by employing the latest advances in solar power, desalination, public transportation and city planning. But with an estimated completion date of 2018 I don't think we'll reap the benefits of discovering "what works" in a timely manner.

Maybe more insightful was another of the President's comments: "Amazing, isn't it? This country has gotten its wealth from the ground and is now reinvesting in alternative forms of energy, sometimes joint venturing with U.S. institutions, like MIT." Bingo. It's called preserving your economy and it's a great business idea to go ahead and develop the next energy source at the headwaters of the "Oil Amazon". However, it would be an even better idea for us to do it ourselves. Of course no President could say that to their Royal Host… but I feel the need to bring up a certain speech at Greenbuild again.

Thanks DM for the tip.

Trash Talk Follow-Up

Last month I posted a link to an Economist article reporting on an imminent global food shortage due to farmland being converted to grow plants for biofuel production. Today Science published a paper that corroborates this theory and provides a convincing model that shows greenhouse gas release will actually be greater if this pursuit continues. It seems the problem lies in clear-cutting and farming new land in order to keep up with demand. But let's not dispair. New advances in Waste-To-Energy (WTE) science are making it easier not only to mine methane from landfills, but actually to create ethanol from the trash. Farming and landfill mining are both attempts to create new fuel from current systems. However, the former wastes food — making us no better off — while the latter turns waste to food.

In September I posted about Frog Design staff carrying their trash with them for a week. CNet has a new photo essay on several folks that have been living with their trash for years! EcoWoman's photo to the right shows her reduction in plastic waste from 2006 to 2007 — very motivating when you literally live with it. It's happened to us on a minor scale in Chattanooga since our Mayor cut the budget of the recycling program. My back deck is covered in bags and boxes!

Tour de Tricycle

Our Interactive Director, Aaron "The Hoff" Hoffman, put together this video for a company meeting. We thought it was cool enough to share. So, if you've ever wondered what the inside of our office looks like, here's a YouTubulous view. Enjoy!

LEED goes to 11…

A very entertaining rant from the discussion blogs at Archinect.