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FUTURE, from page 5

“These facilities are being incorporated into our designs to provide groundwater recharge and water quality treatment, simultaneously with flow reduction, as a more sustainable way to manage stormwater,” she says. “And, with land at a premium, bio-retention facilities that can meet all of the stormwater management requirements all in one feature, without having many separate systems, are a perfect solu- tion.” Linda B. Gumeny, director of design for Great Ecology (New York, NY), an 18-person integrated science and design firm, believes that green infrastructure will be incorporated in all new projects – rain gardens, constructed wetlands, storm- water detention facilities, and permeable pavements. “I hope cisterns (above and below ground) become ubiqui- tous particularly in arid and drought stricken areas, but also in our more temperate climate. I think for them to become more acceptable, they need to be multi-functional and at- tractively designed. I hope to see a continuing awareness of ecological functionality as a driver in site development, in concert with aesthetic considerations, to make the best use of our limited land,” she says. She also hopes to see: Urban water collection. High volumes and velocities that can be captured and slowed down with many small facilities, some along the streetscape. These can also combat heat island effect in combination with street trees. “I think parks are a great place for the larger, end-of-the-line stormwater facilities, which would also be a park amenity,” she says. Rehabilitating outdated and non- or low-functioning storm- water facilities for bioremediation and/or reductions in veloc- ity and volumes. This can be done in suburban communities and commercial/industrial properties. These properties can also include smaller stormwater facilities (as with the urban stormwater collection) along the line of the system (i.e. rain- gardens on individual residential properties). 147,000 units were sold to communities lacking access to electricity. Their goal was to raise about $56,000. They ended up raising more than $260,000. Smog Free Tower: Designed by Dutch artist Daan Roose- gaarde and described by the project team as being the largest air-purifier in the world, the small structure resembles a me- chanical ventilation shaft clad in thin metal louvers. It uses the same ionic purification technology found in healthcare and portable home devices to remove ultra-fine smog par- ticles from the air. The tower creates zones of purified atmo- sphere in outdoor public spaces, so that citizens of chronically polluted cities like Beijing can experience clean air. The cam- paign raised about $170,000. Steam Generator: Bjarke Ingels and Jakob Lange of Den- mark-based architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group launched a crowdfunding campaign for what they’re calling the world’s first steam-ring generator, a reinterpretation of the industrial smokestack for the eco-conscious city of Copenhagen, Den- mark. The tower is intended to emit steam rings with every ton of carbon dioxide released from the facility. Given the challenge of achieving a smoke-ring phenomenon on an ur- ban scale, the designers have employed combustion engineers and rocket scientists to work on the project. A successful crowdfunding effort enabled the design and construction of a few working prototypes. The campaign raised about $26,000.

buildings in more than 30 major U.S. cities, it will be easier to see how buildings are actually performing and what technologies are making the greatest impact. “I am hopeful that as the conveyance of this data be- comes more standardized, that more building owners will understand the benefit of releasing this perfor- mance information to the design and construction in- dustries and will start to provide the data on a voluntary basis, regardless of building type,” she says. 2)Green conversion of existing buildings. Performance data and case studies of conversions are now readily available and have gained the attention of even some of the biggest doubters. For example, it’s now relatively easy to provide calculations to prove to owners and us- ers how their buildings can perform more efficiently as well as to provide study findings of healthy building en- vironments and how that increases work performance. 3)Growth of solar power technologies. This particular area is on the verge of having a profound impact on how solar energies are thoughtfully integrated into building design. With the emergence of transparent solar cells, although not affordable for most projects, the ability to convert standard windows into solar concentrators while having no visible impact on the building is a game changer. When these will be affordable in the market- place has yet to be seen, but fingers are crossed for 2016. STORMWATER SOLUTIONS. Julia Algeo, senior principal and proj- ect manager with Maser Consulting P.A. (Red Bank, NJ), a 600-person multidiscipline firm, says that one sustainable design process that is becoming the designmethod of choice in the field of stormwater management are bio-retention fa- cilities.

CROWDFUNDING, from page 7

Of course, not every idea comes to light. In fact, only 40 per- cent of the projects that make a run on Kickstarter succeed. But this, too, says Best, is a kind of success. “Frankly, for the 60 percent that fail, what an incredible op- portunity,” he says. “As much as the little guy seeks big money, big money seeks the inventive little guy before he gets too expensive.” ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS ALSO BENEFIT. The following three proj- ects are examples of recent crowdfunding successes: Little Sun Charge: A combination solar phone charger and light designed by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson in collaboration with engineer Frederik Ottesen. The slender, square device, faced with a photovoltaic surface on one side and a luminaire on the other, can fully charge a mobile phone in five hours. Based on the premise that affordable light sources beyond daylight should be available to the masses, Eliasson and Ottesen envision supplying off-grid communi- ties with Little Sun Chargers. This effort builds on the pair’s initial project, the Little Sun solar-powered lamp, of which

THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 11, 2016, ISSUE 1134

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