Design4D Blog

Nik Hilton  //  www.design4d.co.uk
Young Architect of the Year Nominee 2009, 2010, 2011
Finalist in the British Homes Awards 2009
Finalist in the Design awards 2009

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solar power

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Feb 2 / 6:27pm

Green, red, yellow, pink roofs

Solar panels and green roofs are definitely going to become more common in urban architecture. Green roofs will reduce rainwater run-off and provide a building's thermal mass whilst still enabling the use of fast lightweight construction techniques. As the insulation of walls improve so solar panels will begin to meet more of our energy needs.

Initially we will see a mass of green sedum roofs but hopefully over time the roofs will be planted to respond more sensitively to the location and biodiversity. This will result in a 'landscape' of different colours and textures right in the heart of our cities. This article shows a whole range of colours used on the roofs of the Augustenborg botanical gardens: http://bit.ly/eyW4fb

Image002

The fifth elevation

Filed under  //  Architecture   Green roofs   Sustainability   solar power  
 
Nov 23 / 7:29pm

Kinetic facades

I wrote a few weeks ago about what we could do with the excess power generated by solar power and that maybe buildings would begin to respond dynamically to their environments. Thermal shutters are one idea...

INHABITAT | 23 NOVEMBER 2010
http://pulsene.ws/mzIZ 

 

Kiefer Technic Showroom's "Dancing" Facade

Filed under  //  Architecture   kinetic   solar power  
 
Nov 15 / 1:09pm

Decentralisation is the answer to sustainability?

Attending a Climate Change Conference last week made me realise that although a lot is spoken about aspects of sustainability little is said about the big picture of how we become a more sustainable society. For me the word that seems to be missing is 'Decentralisation'. I raised this with Herbert Girardet one of the great thinkers and early advocates for sustainability who agreed with my point.

The last century has seen the growth of centralisation in order to enhance efficiencies and I believe this is the main reason our lives have become so unsustainable. By centralising systems we have intensified toxic by-products and have then pushed these problems out of sight and out of mind. Without the problems on our doorstep we have then blindly gone on to exaggerate these toxic problems to a completely unsustainable scale.

As the human population continues to explode it is inevitable that cities will expand. I believe to create more sustainable cities we must find ways to decentralise our power generation, waste treatment and even politics and integrate these systems locally into the urban realm. This means designing buildings that generate their own energy and don't block off their neighbour's access to the sun. It means integrating Living Machine wastewater treatment systems into parks and it means reducing big government and providing support to local councils who better understand the needs of their area.

The image below suggests that maybe there is a more sophisticated model to be considered, 'the distributed network' but I shall save that for another blog entry!

Image003

Filed under  //  Architecture   Sustainability   decentralisation   solar power   urban realm  
 
Oct 12 / 1:27pm

Mimicking nature, water-based 'artificial leaf' produces electricity

I believe solar power is the answer to our energy needs as this is the way the rest of the natural world works. Biomimicry is about learning from Nature and this article talks about how developments in solar cells, which are going to be a lot more prominent in our built environment, will make the technology more natural and a closer reflection of the way leafs work.

BIOMIMICRY NEWS AND RESEARCH | 27 SEPTEMBER 2010
http://pulsene.ws/8Hkb

Filed under  //  Architecture   Sustainability   biomimicry   solar power  
 
Sep 21 / 1:04pm

How sustainable is sustainable design?

This video at BDOnline raises the valid point that architects must consider the whole life-cycle of the materials we specify. It is no good choosing to use lamb's wool insulation if that product has then travelled around the world for processing before being installed.

With regard Fairley's comments on solar power I believe efficiency improvements will make this technology the most logical choice for localised energy generation as humans begin to harness the sun's power in the same way the rest of the natural world functions!

http://t.co/da3BYGN

Filed under  //  Architecture   Sustainability   solar power