This 42-story apartment tower, under construction at Elephant and Castle in London, will feature a roof with an array of integrated wind turbines. The three turbines are each nine meters in diameter and are design to provide power the building’s lighting systems.

The tower itself will be a green building, and the residents will save about 40% in energy costs, and the building is expect to receive an “excellent” rating from the EcoHomes certification system. The Castle House will have 310 apartments and retail units at the ground level.

Via Jetson Green and World Architecture News

This condo complex, called the Grandia Solare, is said to be the first of its kind in Japan. Each apartment gets 1530 watts of solar power from the building’s roof. Apparently the solar cells are owned by a third-party, so the upfront cost of the panels was not passed on to the condo’s residents. The condo also has a number of other green features, but my Japanese is little rusty, so I will not attempt a translation. Here is the condo web site in Japanese only: Grandia Solare.

Via: TreeHugger

Folding beds have been around at least since the 1920s. The original Murphy Bed Company still exists and is selling beds today. Other companies making contemporary folding beds are: Modern Wall Beds, whose birch bed is pictured here (prices start at $1795). Bonbon in the U.K. makes elegant folding beds, but they are pricey. Others companies offering folding beds are: Regin Sleep System and Rocker Woodworking and Hardware. A long discussion of folding beds can be found on Apartment Therapy. One reader posted a good overview of designer folding beds. She says:

My spouse and I are murphy bed converts. We were both really skeptical at first, & afraid of breaking our bed, but now we wouldn’t go back even if we had the extra space. We love the open space feel & she uses the extra room for yoga, stretching & playtime with our dog.

Plus our dog isn’t able to lay on the bed all day when we are away. The apartment feels a lot fresher too since you can clean “under the bed” with the regular weekly cleaning. In a studio apartment, a murphy can be a relationship saver– it feels like you are getting an extra room because the space the bed normally takes up isn’t wasted during the day. Plus, you can have parties in a studio apartment & feel like you have space for your guests. I like the idea of making a bed into an entertaining space, but not all apartments really work for this space-wise.

For modern design buffs, you can buy the Clei beds mentioned above at Design & Comfort here in New York City- -440 Park Avenue South at the corner of 30th & Park Avenue South. The London-based Clei will be making a queen size wall bed for export to the U.S. in April. We are ordering one for our new place. These really are the most attractive modern-style Murphy beds on the market & they will take a normal real bed mattress. They aren’t the cheapest, however.

Our former Murphy bed was gorgeous with a mirror on the front– it was regularly mistaken for an armoire. We love it, but it is too classic looking for the style of our new place. The worst part of Murphy beds is how ugly they can be in announcing themselves. No one ever knew our Murphy was there, it felt really organic to the space. These folks offer some alternatives & can accommodate an extra deep mattress to make up for not having a box spring: Bedder Way.

Bedder Way use to deliver & do free installation, but have temporary stopped driving to NYC. (FYI- they plan to start again next year). For those who can’t wait, good news is they ship anywhere in the U.S. for $150! These are quality real wood beds from a company in Indiana. You won’t find stuff like this in NYC, most everything is wood veneer that will warp. Plus, they are way, way cheaper than most anything here in the City.

Japanese soaking baths are built small but deep.

These compact “ofuro” will fit in just about anywhere — even the smallest apartment.

Diamond Spa makes the baths pictured here. We’ve no idea on the price, but the concept is good. If anyone knows where to get this style of tub at a reasonable price please let us know.

I’m not sure if I’d want to live here, but interesting nonetheless — an apartment lit solely by LEDs. The light is supplied by 120 color-changing RGB LED fittings, using 360W of power total.

A customized Lutron system control system changes intensity and hue of the light in various room and can be used to create static or changing moods.

The bathroom features an LED-illuminated spa bath and a side illuminated shower screen made from Litelogic panels.

LED fixtures such as these could also be used to generate an appealing warm white or yellow glow too.

Home Page: Vos Solutions

Thanks to GRN8 for the lead.

These rugs are 95% virgin wool (a renewable resource), and reportedly very durable and colorfast. They are handwoven using flat braids by Capel in North Carolina. The cost is $80 to $570. They are available in nine colors and seven different sizes.

Capel also makes other carpets woven from renewable material.

Available from: L.L. Bean

Lead from: Apartment Therapy