Villa Welpeloo in Enschede, the Netherlands, was designed by

Architects Jan Jongert and Jeroen Bergsma. It doesn’t look like a recycled building. The architects reversed the typical order of the design process (first home, then materials) and began scouting the local area for items to recycle. “Reused materials account for 60% of the structure” says Jongert. “And that goes up to as much as 90% when it comes to the interior.”

They created a ‘Harvest Map’ for an inventory of possible materials to use within a 9 mile radius. They even used Google Earth seeking abandoned buildings for telltale signs of defunct industry and possible scrap materials.

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I know that this is a totally lame posting, but in an effort to push something out in a very busy week, I’m posting a YouTube video about Geothermal Heat Pumps.

I will post more on this subject after I’ve had a chance to research this more.

It looks awesome, and I have heard of this in the past. It looks like it could be rather costly, but may have come down in price over the years and there may be tax incentives available! 

Geothermal Heat Pumps:

Park Gate is quite an architectural masterpiece. It has 6 curving towers covered with canopies of solar panels to keep the heat out, let in light and cool the building. It takes advantage of the cool breezes from the ocean. It has hanging gardens that have drought tolerant plants (watered with a gray water mist system); as well as plants that are salt water tolerant. The gardens are in abundance. There are thermal salt water reflecting pools that act as a heat sink during the day, and release the heat at night. All of these measures are thought to reduce temperatures by 10-15 degrees.

Construction for Hoover Dam started in 1931 (some sources say it began in 1930), and was completed in less than 5 years- 2 years ahead of schedule, and well under budget. It is listed as one of the top 10 construction achievements in the 20^th century. A national historic landmark, it stands 725 feet above the Colorado River. With 17 generators it produces 4 billion kilowatts of electricity a year.

It attracts more than a million visitors a year and is located in Black Canyon, 35 miles outside of Las Vegas. They have two tour options that both sound quite interesting. They have some age and mobility restrictions, so it is good to call ahead and make sure which tour will work best for your group.

Due to all of the traffic crossing the current bridge, they are building a new bridge to help alleviate the current bottleneck. The bridge looks quite impressive, and is an amazing construction feat by itself.