Every once in a while someone tells me about a new blog they are working on that lists the “top 50 something green.” Most of the time they are certainly interesting enough but don’t always make it to the blog. Today though, with thoughts of Haiti’s reconstruction, the state of the union, and other built environment tasks on the mind, a new blog (about blogs) is making the cut. 50 Must-Read Green Engineering Blogs is a compilation of resources that focuses on the built environment and the potential for engineering and better design to be the solution, where bad design might have been the problem. That applies to both Haiti’s woes and America’s. The system design is flawed; architecturally, socially, politically.  But that is more than one blog entry worth…

Via Ecosteel.wordpress.com

From the blog about blogs: “In all its varied incarnations – technology, architecture, civil, construction, materials science, transportation, energy, computers, and product design among them – the field of engineering has something to offer mankind’s quest to keep the planet as clean, safe, and sustainable as possible. The following blogs wonderfully illustrate how creative, innovative engineers are synthesizing their studies with the environmentalist movement as a means of bettering Earth for current and future inhabitants.”

After scrolling through their selection, which includes things like WorldChanging, which certainly isn’t solely about engineering, I found one on prefab houses that I thought I would share. Ecosteel. They are a “building system provider specializing in speed, efficiency, and green building. Our system is based on steel frames and insulated panels that feature high recycled content, extreme thermal efficiency, and direct LEED rating benefits.” Their projects look pretty fun, ranging from houses I would certainly be happy to live in to the Cuna De Vida (cradle of life) off grid, farm hosting resort off the Pacific Coast of Panama.

Take a look around. Imagine cities that were all built like this…Then look outside your window and think about what you would change if you had the training. Then, try and make it happen.

Toyota FT - CH via Inhabitat

Many of our readers may not have needed an official report to affirm this, but New York City is ready for electric cars according to the consulting firm, McKinsey.  Green Inc., conveying the report’s findings in advance, says that one fifth of New Yorkers are “early adopters” who are likely to buy an electric car.  This is good (if obvious) news for folks here in the big apple, but the impact on emissions might not be as drastic as we would hope.  Even if 70,000 E.V.’s took to the street in the place of standard gas guzzlers, we would only see a net decrease of 2 percent in carbon output.  One of the major sources of this dismal projection is traced to NYC’s power plants and out of date grid system which would be fueling these new vehicles.  There’s still plenty to be excited and optimistic about, especially if some of the electric cars bound for the streets of NYC are coming from this weeks Detroit Auto show:

The Wheels blog at the NY Times features an amazing piece on the the Show’s “Electric Avenue”–a large space on the convention’s main floor dedicated to small-time electric vehicle producers.  A Korean company called CT&T, for example, is showing off a highway-legal two seater “that will be capable of more than 90 miles per hour and have a 155-mile range.”  They claim their products are headed for the States but it’s not clear when or how.

Meanwhile, the folks over at Grist have a great slideshow of some of the more traditional (but still tiny) cars debuting in Detroit.  Toyota, for example, unveiled the FT – CH (pictured above) as the smaller and sportier predecessor of the Prius.

Finally, looking away from Detroit, having more EV’s on our streets doesn’t have to mean more private owners adding to congestion.  If this electric car-share in Baltimore works out well, maybe Zipcar will take notice and begin to update their fleet?

Yesterday, Earth2Tech delivered some heartening news for folks following the Green Tech industry.  In the first week of 2010 nine firms managed to raise at least $113 million!  Here are some of the details:

Clean Power Finance, which connects residential solar installers and developers online, says it’s raised $6.9 million in a round co-led by Claremont Creek Ventures and Clean Pacific Ventures, and including Sand Hill Angels and investor Gary Kremen. The San Francisco-based company says it will use the funds for more development of its software and to move into other clean power verticals (maybe wind?).

Founded in 2002, Innovalight, a thin-film solar startup developing photovoltaic silicon ink, says it has raised a new round of $18 million from EDB Investments (EDBI) of Singapore, Vertex Venture Holdings, the venture subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, Apax Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Convexa Capital, Harris & Harris Group, Sevin Rosen Funds and Triton Ventures. Whew. That’s a lot of investors and the company has raised a whole lot of money over the past few years, including $5 million in debt financing, $5 million in equipment lease financing, a $28 million Series C round, and $14 million in its Series A and B rounds. Innovalight says the new funding will be used to “expand the company’s proprietary silicon ink production for customers.”

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The beginning of a new year always brings fresh expectations of things come and new visions of what to work toward.  In the realm of sustainability, there seems to be plenty in store for us in 2010.  For this post, I’ve put together an extremely non-comprehensive break down of some of the things that I think we should keep our eyes open for.

Edit Post ‹ CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities — WordPressFirst of all, it sounds like we can expect a surge in offshore wind energy projects.  Green Inc. recently covered the release of a new report from Emerging Energy Research which projected a tripling in this market with growth first happening in Europe and then in the U.S. and China.  New York City might help to push the nation on this issue, however, if we can read anything into Bloomberg’s time spent admiring Danish wind farms while across the pond for Copenhagen.

In other alternative energy news, it sounds like we can expect a continued growth of cutting edge projects.  For example, the UK has plans for a new biomass power plant that looks like a giant green volcano and Sandia National Labs has developed glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that look like snowflakes.

While the effects of Copenhagen will be felt well throughout 2010–we’ll see important lurches forward as well as frustrating stagnation–I predict that the lion’s share of newsworthy progress will not be taking place at the scale of the nation-state but at the level of the city.  San Fran, for example, has launched a crucial sustainable financing program for green renovations and Washington D.C. will be implementing it’s plastic bag tax.

One area of progress that I’m particularly excited about for 2010 is the automobile industry.  Plenty of people have been talking about the opportunities that have opened up with last year’s spectacular collapse and new products are already being pumped out.  Production of the Think City electric car, for example, has been rebooted and the LA Auto Show rolled out with a whole slew of new, green concepts.

Finally, the folks over at Ecouterre have a list of eco-fashion predictions for the new year.  I won’t pretend to know anything about this field but many of their experts see a deepening and sophistification of green fashion, as well as a growing commitment to vegan shoes and clothing.

Here’s to a fresh start!

Today, kind readers, I would like to share two remarkable designs that I came across recently.  The first (pictured above) is a “net-zero neighborhood” just breaking ground in Boulder, CO.  Inhabitat reports that this will be the first development of it’s kind in the U.S.  It utilizes a geothermal heat pump system, large photovoltaic systems, and claims to bring sustainable design to “the masses” by pushing costs way down.  The price of construction per square foot is certainly low ($200) but I’d be interested to learn what the price tag will look like for home buyers when it comes time to populate the development.

The second design (pictured below) comes from a very different project–Rural Studio, a key component Auburn University’s Architecture Program.  The project has been running since 1993 and is “conceived as a strategy to improve the living conditions in rural Alabama while imparting practical experience to architecture students.”  While there is not a clearly stated mission of sustainability, a great deal of their projects do amazing things with recycled materials and energy efficient designs.  Spend some time navigating their website and checking out each year’s projects.  These homes are being built exclusively in rural areas, but the program and the structures could provide an excellent model increasing affordable, green housing in urban contexts as well.  There’s no doubt here that the final products are being geared toward “the masses.”