Office Building Lit With 100% LED Light

Paris Office Lit With LEDs

Last year, we featured a nightclub lit entirely by LEDs, but here's an office building that is said to be the first to be lit by 100% LED light. The lighting was provided by the Netherlands-headquartered Royal Philips Electronics. To showcase the … [Continue Reading]

The Best Toaster Ovens

The Krups FBC2 Convection Toaster Oven

The Best Toaster OvensWhat are the best toaster ovens? Toaster ovens are efficient devices for cooking small meals. They typically use two 750 watts heating elements and draw a total 1500 watts, whereas electric ranges draw about 3000 watts (and thus … [Continue Reading]

75% More Efficient: Blue Ridge Parkway Destintation Center

blue-ridge-parkway-destination-center

The new Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center has just been completed in North Carolina. It's a beautifully designed building that is also highly efficient -- it will use 75% less energy than a comparable conventional building. The building has … [Continue Reading]

The Strida: An Efficient Short-Trip Bike

strida-folding-bike

Several readers have noted that we neglected to mention the Strida folding bike in our folding bike round-up. The Strida is a unique bike designed to take a commuter a few miles to the train or bus. It has an extremely quick folding action: it takes … [Continue Reading]

Energy Efficient iPod Speakers: The Vers 2X

Wooden iPod Speakers and Dock: Vers 2

I've been testing the Vers 2x iPod speaker system. This system is one of the most energy efficient and sustainable products I've come across. The casing is crafted out of wood (either cherry, bamboo or walnut). The wood comes only from plantation … [Continue Reading]

Windows That Double As Solar Panels

A Solar Glass Dye by MIT

MIT researchers have announced that they have created "organic solar concentrators" that could make windows become powerful solar panels in as little as three years. The concentrator is mixture of two or more dyes painted onto a pane of glass or … [Continue Reading]

High School Captures 280,000 Gallons Of Water Per Year

Cistern On The Side of Langston Brown Community Center

Our buildings and homes could capture all water we need on a daily basis. A great example of rainwater harvesting can be found at the Langston Brown Community Center and High School in Arlington, Virginia. The community center has two 24-foot-tall … [Continue Reading]

The Best Pressure Cookers Of 2010

presto-pressure-cooker2

Pressure cookers are efficient cooking devices --  they are up to 70% more efficient than conventional pots. The lids of pressure cookers are built to completely seal the pot so that the contents can boil easily inside the pot. Food cooks faster … [Continue Reading]

Hand-Crafted Recreational Vehicles

Hand-crafted Wooden RVs

Tonke Campers are hand-built RVs that are now being sold in the Netherlands. The Campers are a distinct contrast to the mass-produced plastic RVs that are so common in this country (although the market for these RVs is actually plummeting). Tonke … [Continue Reading]

Best Battery Chargers (For D and C Size Batteries)

Energizer Universal Battery Charger

We briefly reviewed battery chargers in a previous post "The Best Rechargeable Batteries of 2012". But let's take a look at the best "Universal Battery Chargers". These are chargers that can handle AAA, AA, C, D sized cells, and well as 9V cells. … [Continue Reading]