Tentative is a smart compact post disaster shelter. Due its compact size – 30 cm when closed – it is possible to transport 24 units in a single semi-trailer truck to the disaster zone. Designed by Hakan Gürsu of Designnobis, Tentative was honored in A’ Design Award 2014-2015 with Silver Award in Social Design category and it is also a nominee […]

Empa, ETH Zürich and Bucher Municipal have developed a hybrid-electric powertrain for road sweepers that’s said to consume half the energy of diesel-hydraulic vehicles and reduce emissions by more than 60 percent. The design replaces conventional hydraulic power distribution with a more efficient electric drive system. A small natural gas engine with a power generator acts as the drive source. […]

It was then that the idea for ‘The Shoe That Grows’ began to form. “I thought, wouldn’t it be nice for them to have shoes that could adjust and expand?” Lee told Christian Today. “That was the spark.” A few years later, in 2006, Lee and a team of friends founded Because International, a non-profit organisation dedicated to “working with and […]

France just passed a trailblazing new law that requires that all new buildings constructed in commercial areas to be partially-covered by either solar panels or green roofs. Not only will this bring dramatic changes to the nation’s skylines and bolster the efficiency of all new commercial construction, but the law will help France pick up the pace the solar adoption—which […]

More than 1 billion people globally lack access to safe drinking water. Parabosol is a portable solar powered water treatment system for use in remote areas. The system purifies water by using parabolic mirror that boils water at a temperature up to 400 Celcius degrees. Additional filtration is done by sand filter and by carbon filter. First sand filter catches […]

The German company EMAMIDESIGN has developed an innovative way to harness the power of wind. Interlocking, compact windmills combine to make the Windflock energy system capable of powering devices and buildings large and small. The three dimensional system can be modified to accommodate all sorts of differing shapes and volumes required by users. Assembly is described to be as simple […]

A neighborhood association, Interessengemeinschaft St. Pauli e.V., put “Don’t pee here” signs all along the Reeperbahn. Now the people who choose to ignore the message will be punished without further notice. The walls were recently covered with a water-repellent paint that splashes the urine back at the feet of the culprit. Residents of Hamburg’s Reeperbahn in the nightclub district of St. Pauli […]

In a remote rural village in Kenya or Malawi, you won’t find a toy store, but you’ll probably find a shop selling soda. That fact inspired an idea: What if old soda bottles and other packaging could be transformed into toys that children can use for learning? A new series of designs that turn old packages into simple educational tools […]

Re-Nuble has developed an innovative process that transforms food waste into high-performing, low-cost nutrients, not only keeping waste out of the landfill but also providing organic fertilizer alternatives for hydroponic growers. More affordable, healthier inputs means more affordable, healthier outputs – good food available locally year-round in communities everywhere.

Not only is this prototype an ingenious way of providing electricity by using a set of microbial fuel cell (MFC) convertor stacks powered by urine, but it may also help to harness and reduce the vast amounts of waste liquid generated in refugee camps that often house many tens of thousands of people. This could help in reducing pollution and […]