Announcing the Top 30 Lighten Up! Competition Finalists!

We received nearly 200 amazing entries in our Lighten Up! LED Lighting Design Competition over the last few weeks, and after countless hours of deliberation, we’ve narrowed these entries down to just 30 finalists. Now it’s time for you to have your say! Vote for your favorite designs and decide which of these fantastic commercial and residential lighting projects should be awarded a $1000 prize from Elemental LED. Will it be this fully interactive LED drum wall, this billowing Cosmic Quilt, this gorgeously lit net-zero home in California, or these classrooms inspired by Galileo’s night sky observations? There are no doubt plenty of impressive designs to admire, but ONLY TWO can win. Cast a vote for your favorites, and if you happen to be a finalist, don’t forget to round up your friends and family and get them to vote for your design! Voting closes on Friday, May 10th, 2013.

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITES HERE >

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Remember that part of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where they can't see the interior of a spaceship because it's black on black with black buttons that light up black to let you know when you've done something? If only gray were as sexy. We recently tested the new Honda Accord--the mainstay of fuel-efficient family sedans--and were just bored spitless by its gray on grayness with gray accents. Why should you keep reading about a car this mind-smashingly gray? Despite its spectacular grayness, it's a good car (and you can order it in a color). Honda has been making this $20,000 sedan for decades now, and the company is famous for reliability and fuel efficiency without requiring hybrid tech to achieve it. Read on to learn more about the Accord's Econ mode.

 

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Could your home use a little extra hidden storage? Instead of some boring shelves or a plastic storage bin, why not opt for a fun secret compartment cabinet disguised as a painting? We’re giving one of these away to a very lucky reader as well as a copy of Amy Azzarito’s new DIY book Past and Present, which shows you how to make your own unique, one-of-a-kind furnishings, so enter to win this exciting prize bundle here!

ENTER HERE! >

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In 1980, E. Fay Jones, noted architect and apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright, unveiled the Thorncrown Chapel – a magnificent glass and timber construction located in the middle of a thicket near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The chapel is one of the world’s finest examples of organic architecture and it has become a beloved monument for the people of Eureka and architecture enthusiasts across the globe. Unfortunately, the Southwest Power Company (SWEPCO) recently submitted an application to the Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) to construct a 48-mile-long high voltage transmission line across Northwest Arkansas that will encroach upon the Thorncrown Chapel‘s untouched landscape. While a number of community members have voiced their opposition, much more support is needed – sign this petition to stop SWEPCO from destroying the site of this important work!

SIGN THE PETITION HERE >

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Toyota's latest dealership opening in San Francisco is the company's third LEED Platinum-certified dealership in the US and the first ever for California, and since we ended up not being able to cover the event live, we celebrated by taking a spin in the new California-exclusive 2013 Toyota RAV4 EV at the Ann Arbor-based Toyota Technical Center (which is also LEED certified). The RAV4 EV follows this practical green streak, with (let's admit it) an aerodynamics-over-beauty exterior but lots of electric performance to love. Read on and check out our photo gallery for all the details.

 

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Are you an eco-conscious architect, designer or lighting professional looking to stay up to date on the latest innovations coming off the energy-efficient lighting front? We’ve teamed up with Elemental LED to provide designers with the ultimate resource for all things LED by creating the Elemental LED Design Center, a one-stop destination for green lighting carefully curated by leading industry professionals. Here you can learn about everything from how to choose an LED vendor to retrofitting or creating new constructions with low voltage LED lights and systems. You’ll even find plenty of inventive ideas that showcase new and unexpected ways to use LEDs to interior spaces. Check out the Elemental LED Design Center today and start creating your own new and beautiful LED lighting designs!
 

CHECK OUT THE DESIGN CENTER HERE >

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Ford has been making some pretty great cars lately, and the company's new line of hybrids is no exception. Following our recent C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid test, we borrowed a Ford Fusion Hybrid (non-plugin) for a week-long real-world test of Ford's mileage claims, particularly in the wake of a little controversy over at Consumer Reports, which found that the C-MAX Energi and Fusion hybrids were not living up to promised fuel economy of 47 mpg. Read on and check out our gallery of detail shots to get the full scoop on how this new entry to the green market stacks up.

 

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We think we can pretty much crown whomever purchases this amazing NYC townhouse with its very own treehouse as the most spoiled person ever. Jealousy aside, it’s a lot of fun to take a little photo tour through the home (which is listed at just under $6 million) and just daydream. Maybe we could afford just the treehouse by itself?

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The Brewers Association just released its annual list of Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewing Companies of 2012 based on sales volume. A craft brewery is defined as a small, independent brewery that produces less than 6 million US beer barrels. From this list, we culled through the breweries to find which ones had the strongest sustainability programs in place. We understand that this could be a contentious list, and that there are many breweries that didn't make the cut that do incorporate eco-friendly practices into their business operations. Your favorite brewery is much like your favorite sports team and loyalties run high, so if you disagree with our selections, by all means, please let us know in the comments!

 

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We have holidays dedicated to everything from flags to consumption (ahem Black Friday), so it only seems right that Planet Earth should get one too. On Earth Day, cities, businesses, and individuals all roll out the green carpet. No doubt you've seen lots of famous brands touting Earth Day initiatives or heard about eco-friendly events being planned in your own community. Unfortunately, most of these events have changed from "do something nice for the Earth" events to "buy this thing that is maybe a little greener than the alternative but mostly just something you need to BUY" events. But that doesn't mean you should hide indoors feeling guilty on April 22nd. On the contrary, there are lots of easy and fun ways to celebrate Earth Day that can actually make a difference all year long. We've listed a few below, and we'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

 

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‘It’s easy being green’.

‘Green is the new black’.

Are you tired of simplistic eco slogans and soundbites yet? This may come as a bit of a surprise — but I’m really starting to hate Earth Day. One might think that the editor of environmental-leaning publication like Inhabitat would live for Earth Day, but the opposite is true for me. I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Earth Day is just a shallow marketing opportunity for companies to jump on the green bandwagon and try to make some extra cash using eco-cachĂ©. Having one single day designated as Earth Day gives people and corporations an excuse to pay less attention to the environment the other 364 days of the year. The greenest and most innovative companies are not the ones running Earth Day marketing campaigns and giving out eco totes on April 22nd. In fact, you wouldn’t believe some of the ridiculous green-themed press releases I received over the past few weeks leading up to Earth Day. Read on for five of the most egregious examples of greenwashed Earth Day marketing gimmicks I’ve seen, and chime in with the most ridiculous gimmicks that you’ve run across in the comments – we’ll be collecting your submissions and adding them to our post!

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In light Earth Day and Earth Week, I wanted to share what “Earth” means in the Feng Shui world. When people ask me to describe Feng Shui, I tell them that it’s about much more than moving furniture around. Feng Shui is the original “green design,” and it is about creating harmony with Mother Earth by unifying our inner and outer environments. The inner and outer are not separate, because everything that we do to our earth – positive and negative – affects our daily experience. In Feng Shui we believe that everything is alive, including the earth. Read on to learn more!

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Earth Day is tomorrow – and our inboxes are already filled to the brim with marketing gimmicks and greenwashed products. In a sad turn of affairs, the environmental message behind Earth Day has been drowned out by marketing bravado and buried beneath mountains of “eco” tote bags and redundant reusable bottles. We’ve shared what we think are the 5 dumbest Earth Day gimmicks – and now we want to see the worst examples of Earth Day greenwashing that YOU have ever run across. Leave a comment below with the most audacious Earth Day greenwashing gimmicks you’ve seen and we’ll publish the most deplorable!

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Hey Inhabitat readers! In case you missed it, we just wrapped up our broadcast of the Design with a Conscience conference in San Francisco, CA! We teamed up with Ford Motor Company and the American Institute for Architects (AIA) San Francisco to deliver you a peek at a thought-provoking event, which brought together visionary California architects and automotive designers eager to talk about the intersection of car and building design and how conscious design can spur innovation in both industries. This year’s star panel included: Allison Williams, principal architect at AW ink; Anne Fougeron, Founder of Fougeron Architecture; Ann Hand, CEO of Project Frog; and Freeman Thomas, Director of Strategic Design at Ford Motor Company. Though the event is over, you can read a few highlights from the panel after the break. We’ll also be posting a video recording of the conference very soon, so check back for it if you missed the live event.

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At first glance, HGTV's Smart Home 2013 is not what one might expect from a newly constructed, LEED Gold-seeking home that boasts some fairly cool energy-saving technologies. Designed in the coastal vernacular by Mike Stauffer, the home sits a few blocks away from the ocean, and it looks at ease alongside nearby historic properties in the laid-back beach town of Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Building upon a base of good design that allows for natural daylighting and ventilation, the home is fitted with a number of systems that help to reduce energy usage and overall environmental impact—systems which can be installed in many existing properties. We recently got to take a tour through this energy-efficient and, frankly, gorgeous new residence. Click through our gallery to see everything the home has to offer, and don't forget to enter HGTV's sweepstakes for one person to win not only the house, but other prizes - including $100,000 in cash!

 

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