Skip to main content

Living Technologies

Ok, so of course coming fresh off the plane from the Living Future Conference in Seattle has really got me excited about the best and brightest in green building.

I will be sharing lessons learned , case studies, and knowledge nuggets in several posts. And sorry for falling off the map for so long to all my readers- life happens, eh?

So one of the most interesting innovations I learned about at the conference is the BIQ house in Hamburg, Germany. This is a multi-story apartment building that is completely powered by algae!

Algae sits inbetween panes of glass, eats carbon dioxide and sunlight, and produces oily algae that are digested by the building to create power. Neat huh? This building is a pilot/prototype but just opened several weeks ago.

This building brings up a lot of interest in algae for it's many uses. i've seen explorations in bioluminescent algae for street lighting, algae grown for biofuel for transportation, algae for wastewater treatment, and now to power an entire building. Besides sequestering carbon, different kinds of algae have different oil contents and can be utilized in different ways.

Isn't it incredible to think that during this building's lifetime, it will not only produce zero carbon emissions, but will actually absorb emissions in the city to feed itself and provide shelter for humans as well? Why didn't we think of this sooner??

If Germany can make this technology work, certainly our equally sunshine-short New Jersey and New York areas can find strength in these new technologies. Running on algae power would make this a truly living building!

For more information on the BIQ house, check out their website at: 
This Link here

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 20, 2013 at 2:47 PM

    Could you explain "Digested by the building"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Casey Cullen-WoodsMay 22, 2013 at 9:17 AM

      The building website can better describe their particular system. But along the same lines of anaerobic digester, methane digesters, etc. They combust material and make power.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's a Silly Time to learn to swim when you start to Drown

It's a silly time to learn to swim on the way down Well why am I quoting this fabulous Tegan and Sarah song? It came on during my morning commute and it had me thinking- yeah! I bet a lot of society feels the same way about climate change. It is beyond me how people can deny that climate change exists- or say they 'don't believe in it'. It's not a religion, cult movement, theoretical ideal or ideas spun by your average street-corner crazy. It is a scientifically documented, million researcher strong, thousands of pages-per-volume fact. But- it would be so much easier to get by day to day if you didn't feel like the world around you was closing in and smothering you. We don't know how to swim through all this information- and with the policy makers in their later years, they have some trouble understanding what to do and think if they just ignore it, deny it, or drag their feet they can just tread water instead of swimming forward. I totally see how that gets...
1 comment
Read more

Celebrating National Bike to Work Day, May 16th 2014

BIKE TO WORK DAY MAY 16, 2014 Bicycle Safety (now you know!) Bicycles on the roadway are, by law, vehicles with the same rights, and responsibilities as motorized vehicles. Bicyclists should travel with traffic, in the shoulder or as far over as is safely possible. In NJ, helmets are required for anyone under 18- however if you are biking in location where there is automobile traffic, it is highly recommended to take the extra step. When riding in groups, never ride more than 2 across. On narrow roads with no shoulder or bike lane, ride single file.  Use hand signals to notify motorists and other riders when you are turning or stopping "More than half of the U.S. population lives within five miles of their workplace, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work. With increased interest in healthy, sustainable and economic transportation options, it’s not surprising that, from 2000 to 2011, the number of bicycle commuters in the U.S. grew by more tha...
Post a Comment
Read more