Sustainable Materials

 

Body panels from a synthetic resin made up of 85 percent post-consumer waste, soy-based seat foam, and “reconstituted” oak veneer used trim. More updates from Detroit in this new car review.

Look down. Go ahead, look. What do you see?

Thought of by many as a “new” technology, green roofs have actually existed for hundreds of years, yet are now making a significant impact on the building industry worldwide. In its simplest form, a “green roof” is a roof structure supports and allows for the growth of flora, or plant life, within itself. Green roofs originated in Iceland, where buildings were created with sod roofs as a result of the lack of natural building materials found there. Green Roofs are typically divided into two categories - intensive and extensive.

Lately we’ve been talking about a lot of different “green” materials. From composting toilets to denim insulation and even Low-E windows, material advances are taking green buildings to a new level. Today we wanted to take you on a tour of some of the most well designed, most efficient, and even “greenest” buildings out there to show how these new materials are applied to actual construction...

For many of us, the only rubber-made products we own are the tires on our cars. When the tires wear down, we take our Tires cars to the shop, buy a new pair of tires, and let the shop owner deal with the old ones. Those who ask themselves where their old tires go realize that for a long time, they sat in stockpiles (much like shipping containers) untouched. That is, until recently...