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From the monthly archives:

March 2010

Efficient Wall Design – Quality Of Life & Energy Savings

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A wall is one of the most deceptively complex elements of a home. A smart wall system utilizing efficiently designed and produced components will not only reduce energy consumption, it will make living in a home more pleasant. And it will be durable enough to help avoid the hassle of frequent or costly [...]

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Minimalist Functional Design

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Kenya Hara wrote the book “Designing Design“, which is 472 page tribute to “white” not just as color but as a design concept. It contains chapters by like-minded designers such as Jasper Morrison and Naota Fukasawa.
The works of German industrial designer Dieter Rams (Braun), and Apple’s “Snow White” design language are other [...]

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Intelligent Electrical Outlets: Efficient and Safe

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Here’s a short presentation at TED 2010 by inventor John La Grou, where he unveils an invention that would make electrical outlets much smarter. The invention, Safeplug, promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires — and to conserve energy.

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Google Maps – Efficient Commuting With Customized Bicycling Directions

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Biking around town is a great way to cut pollution while getting a little exercise, especially now that springtime weather is upon us. So tune up your bike, buckle your helmet, and find a bike-friendly route with the new “Bicycling” option from Google Maps.

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The Best Bookshelf Speakers

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The best bookshelf speakers provide a full fidelity experience from a small package. These speakers are often used as studio monitors, depending on their build, but they are also at home on a shelf in a home theater setup. They usually are built with high quality tweeters and woofers and provide a decent representation of [...]

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Efficient LED Light Bulbs For The Home

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LED light bulbs have some huge advantages over incandescent and compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. But they perform differently, so here’s your guide to understanding LED bulbs so you can enjoy their benefits and play to their strengths.

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Non-Toxic Indoor/Outdoor Lounge Chairs

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These polymer-based chairs can be used both indoors and outdoors. The Bubble Club Chair by Kartell (shown above), is made of non-toxic materials, and it has all its plastic parts printed with an identification mark to determine the correct recycling classification. It sells for $680. The Heller Mario Bellini MB1 Armchair (below) is constructed of [...]

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Efficient Urban Bikes: Felt X-City 1 & Dahon Jack

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Versatile urban travel: the Felt X-City 1 bike, and the folding Dahon Jack bike for under $600.

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An Efficient Spring 2010 Icebreaker Polo

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How soon the warm weather is here. Icebreaker has released a new line merino clothing for spring. Available from Moosejaw.

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Ultrafine Yak Wool Clothing: Efficient

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Khunu is a start-up company that aims to be the first to bring yak wool clothing to the global market. They offer a range of athletic clothing that is made with 100% Himalayan yak wool. What are the advantages of yak wool? Khunu says that independent lab tests have shown yak wool to be 10-15% [...]

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Three New Electric Bikes For 2010

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Now that the e-bike market is maturing in the U.S., I think we’ll be seeing some sophisticated electric bikes released this year. Here are three intriguing e-bikes that have become available so far:

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Looptworks: Products Made Of 100% “Excess” Material

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I’ve been testing some Looptwork products, and they are amazing. Here’s why: the company makes all their products from 100% industrial “excess” materials. That means every zipper, button and thread used in their designs was about to be thrown out. For example, the Hoptu Laptop Sleeve shown above is made with 100% upcycled nylon neoprene [...]

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Ovopur: The Art Of The Water Filter

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I’ve been testing an Ovopur water filter from Aquaovo, a company based in Montreal. This filter is certainly the most attractive I’ve come across. My eye is often drawn to its porcelain ovoid shape sitting in my ktichen. I’ve come to think of it as a piece of art that also happens to filter water.

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