In our class, we were introduced to a relatively new material from the Portuguese company Amorim Isolamentos, rigid expanded corkboard insulation. http://www.amorim.com/en/cor_neg_isolamentos.php Their website claims that the expanded corkboards are 100% natural, renewable raw material with "unlimited durability with no loss of its characteristics". I am naturally skeptical. However, the recyclability of the product may make up for my skepticism. Cork has been known for years in the wine industry, and this company has been creating wine corks for years. The technical specifications of the insulation product are on the surface impressive, with apparent dimensional stability. However, the website does not offer how the product was tested or even case study examples of where the product has been used. From what I can tell, the cork itself is not glued together like in traditional cork floors, but is subjected to steam that expands it. I found another resource on BG about the same material. http://www2.buildinggreen.com/blogs/expanded-cork-greenest-insulation-material. This blogger had much more information regarding the technical specifics about the process and even the fire rating (in Europe only) of the material. It looks like the product was highlighted in a few recent trade shows (Metamorphosis 11/8-12/1/2013 and Concreta 10/22/2013). I look forward to reading more about it and seeing it in use.

Renewable can be defined as "able to be restored by nature". The concept of renewable energy is one that seems common sense on the surface, but then it seems like some industries are touting their sources as renewable. We have to question whether or not they truly are renewable. Wind is one resource that seems like an obvious choice for some locations. It is completely generated by nature. Some places on the planet are located where wind is in abundance. For those communities, harnessing the power of wind to create electricity to power the town is a great opportunity. I reviewed the write-up on www.buildinggreen.com regarding the case study the rebuilding of Greensburg, Kansas' as a community powered by wind. The community was decimated by a tornado in 2007 and within 3 years rebuilt as a town powered by the Greensburg Wind Farm (created by John Deere Renewables). I also looked at the town's website: http://www.greensburggreentown.org/ for more information. The town worked together from the initial outset of rebuilding with a sustainable vision.

An energy-efficient building envelope, or skin, could just be one of the holy grails of sustainability. In a ground-up building, the exterior surfaces provide opportunity for both success and failure in energy-efficiency. One element of the envelope that is especially susceptible to issues is the window. I reviewed one of the articles on www.buildinggreen.com for smart windows. The article focused primarily on electrochromic (responsive to electrical current) windows and also added some notes regarding a newer technology of thermochromic (responsive to heat) windows. The electrochromic windows offer controllability for the occupant by tinting themselves when a switch is flipped. This tinting can assist with daylight and passive solar issues. However, they are also subject to users leaving them in the on position and therefore may use more energy than intended. The thermochromic windows have the potential to be a more automatic solution by tinting themselves when the window is subjected to a certain amount of heat gain. However, these may restrict daylight and views. The technology of smart windows will be interesting to view in the years to come.

Since the majority of my architectural work is within the interior environment, the idea of studying the solar path for a project is intriguing. I remember using the Solar Pathfinder in school with layers of mylar, measuring and tracing the horizon. However, now there is a device that simplifies the process and makes it accessible. I reviewed the write-up on www.buildinggreen.com for the Solmetric SunEye. This device not only takes a photo of the horizon so you don't have to measure or trace it, but it also has an interface that assists with the calculations to determine solar access for the specific site. This SF Bay Area company is responding to the need for this digital version of the old manual Solar Pathfinder. Since we used a similar model in our site exercise, I cannot imaging locating a building on a site any other way now. I look forward to using the device again and perhaps even studying the effects on the interior environments of existing buildings through the calculations it can provide.