The old Union Hall of San Diego’s Textile Manufacturing Business got a new lease of life thanks to the innovative design of architect and developer Jonathan Segal. The architect decided to revamp and reuse the old structure in tatters, instead of demolishing and building a new one, which not only saved time, but also building material. His sustainable design now includes a total of 13 new residential lofts. Some of these are available at the market rate while others are affordable despite the array of ergonomic features they incorporate. The innovative homes are powered by solar power for 50% of their energy needs and also are lit up by great natural ventilation. - via JetsonGreen

SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology) latest technological innovation, the GROW panel, trumps both conventional solar panels and wind turbines in harnessing natural energy. Combining the best of green tech and ecology, GROW draws inspiration from ivy growing on the side of a building - resulting in a hybrid energy delivery device of flexible, ivy-like fluttering solar leaves that provide power via both sun and wind. Using a series of flexible solar cells as leaves, GROW takes the shape of ivy growing on a building- the leaves are solar cells while the wind that causes them to flutter is harvested as viable energy using a series of piezoelectric generators on the underside of each leaf. The GROW leaves are made from 100% recyclable polyethylene covered with thin film photovoltaic modules encapsulated in Tefzel.

The solar leaves need to be wired together in order to collect the energy they produce, but the system is extremely flexible allowing it to be installed on a building no matter what shape it is. It’s also extremely easy to maintain since replacing a single leaf when it fails doesn’t require you to take down the entire installation. - Via - Inhabitat