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I’ve always had a soft spot for people choosing to set up shop in shipping containers.  This flickr set shows the cream of the crop in New Zealand.  I’ll have to dig up some pictures we took while visiting the land of the flightless kiwi.  Incredible modern architects abound.

found via treehugger.

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Old Richard Buckminster Fuller would be proud to have this lad lecturing in his buckyball. Earth Day weekend lectures in the Biosphere by:

Emmanuel Cosgrove, Director of Écohabitation.com
Peter Kettenbeil, Environmental Technologies Expert

Spotted on the Maison Coop Verte blog.
April 19th and 20th at 15:00.

For once I commend Hydro Quebéc and it’s initiative on their Recyc-Frigo program. With over 2400 pickups to date they are embarking on a path that must be traveled. Ideally, appliance manufacturers would be held responsible for the end of life recycling of their product, but until our Houses of Parliament take a […]

In the end, 99% of developers just want to build and sell homes and attain maximum profit.  After all, it wouldn’t be a capitalist society if that weren’t the case.  This usually manifests in cookie cutter developments based on for the most part poorly designed model homes built quickly and cheaply.
But what if they could […]

Quick read on a new ‘heat map’ that UQAM’s department of geography has produced showing localized hot spots around the city. (I need to find the actual map, sorry  - update below)
Take one large highway (HWY13) add two adjacent massive shopping mall parking lots and you get a micro climate of 42C in the […]

Speaking of green reno, here’s a great little post with some pertinent comments comparing the carbon foot print of renovating an existing home versus building a completely new one.

Obviously there are numerous variables they didn’t take into account, like the quality and commitment of the renovator, the choice of materials and technology as well as […]

Since I’m going to be rebuilding my mom’s cabano/shed this summer (shhh I haven’t told her yet) I’ve been searching for inspiration on green roofs, water catchment etc.  Here is a little inspirational couple in Chicago demonstrating that it’s not always about the payback period, sometimes you just make choices because that’s the way you […]

Here are some ‘local’ bright spots in the green flooring ring.
Logs End recovers lost timbers from rivers, lakes and streams that were roadways during the logging era. Not only have we adopted a “zero waste” policy for the lumber we harvest, but we are truly committed to the “environmentally sound” retrieval of submerged logs […]

Every basement I’ve had the pleasure of working on has presented its fair share of buried treasure. The latest 80 year old NDG abode didn’t kill my winning streak. Although I would hardly call finding the skeleton of a dead cat in a 100+ year old plateau house a win, but that’s another story. A […]