Babita Sajnani:

EADS VoltAirElectric aircraft concept

The other ZEHST (zero-emission hypersonic airliner) model that was unveiled at the Paris Air Show 2011 was EADS’ VoltAir. VoltAir is an electricity-driven aircraft that could actually rule the skies in the next 25 years. This futuristic and innovative, all-electric airliner will function on two modified lithium air batteries that will have the capacity to power two extremely efficient electric superconducting motors. These motors will then run the two counter-rotating co-axial shrouded propellers located at the rear end of the airliner.

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Balakrishnan Ramachandran:

Solar Heaters1 million solar water heaters by 2015

The South African Utility, Eskom has announced a plan to install 1 million solar water heaters by 2015 in a move that promises to be a major green initiative for the rainbow nation. Water heating accounts for 30 percent to 50 percent of the electricity demand from the household market and the use of solar heaters makes sense in this sunshine abundant nation.

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Ann Maria Cleetus:

BatteryRMIT to develop self-powered battery

What will you do when your clock is dead? You will simply remove the battery, throw it in the dust bin or in your backyard and let it to rust, knowing that it wont decompose. Do you realize the amount of lead and other chemicals, the battery will give out into the earth? There are rechargeable batteries available to solve this problem up to an extent. But, what if these batteries could get recharged on their own (without connecting to an external energy source) and be used repeatedly.

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Sudhir Raikar:

K-Town Experimental Media CenterProposal by Cehei Design

The Koreatown Performance Media Center is truly an architectural wonder housed within a unique mid-sized residential complex. In line with the display and signage systems in vogue, the site uses solar powered LED panels that can be used for two purposes. The first is to create a new transportation resource and the second is to promote the inclusion of the performance-based media center at the sprawling site.

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Ritu Mathur:

Grid Neutral Portable ClassroomDesigned by Green Apple Classrooms

A California-based company, Green Apple Classrooms, has come up with an innovative model of classrooms which are energy neutral and portable. These classrooms are able to generate electricity for themselves and hence are self sufficient. In fact, on an average, the classroom will be able to produce more electricity than required for self consumption. The classrooms are relocatable hence the same classroom can be used for various purposes at different points of time. This will also bring down infrastructure related costs of school.

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Rajkumar Bhattacharya:

Passenger Terminal BuildingDesigned by edit! Architects

The Prague-based EDIT! Architecture has proposed a design for a passenger terminal that would allow both pedestrians and vehicles to cross over from Hong Kong to China with ease. It looks very gracious and Edit Architecture calls it a living link between two great lands – Shenzhen city in China and Hong Kong. It is full of green landscapes along with a green top that add good green looks to it.

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Anupama Tickoo:

GastropolisDesigned by All That Is Solid

The people of this planet are facing the the threat of severe food crisis in the future. With the increase in urban development, the farmlands world over have depleted considerably. Also the rampant rise in population has increased the number of mouths to be fed. This imbalance between the rising world population and amount of food production has given rise to food insecurity.

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DATTATREYA MANDAL:

Echo Spin ConceptConcept cellphone by Jung-woo Choi

Mobile consumers are aware of the fact that dual SIM phones are all the rage in the contemporary market. Korean designer Jung-woo Choi has gone in a different path altogether by conceptualizing the Echo Spin mobile phone concept. Instead of adverting to rampant commercialism, the conception clearly alludes to the sustainable side of affairs by incorporating dual battery modes as an intrinsic part of the whole setup.

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Lakshmi A:

Solar EnergyFull spectrum solar cells

Researchers at the University of Toronto have designed a new solar cell that may prove to be instrumental in creating cost effective thin coatings capable of efficiently converting solar power into electricity. The team of engineers, headed by Ted Sargent, a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, has come up with the first of its kind solar cell that is based on the principle of colloidal quantum dots (CQD). In search for an efficient infrastructure that would harness the potential of the sun’s visible as well as infrared spectrum, the researchers have been successful in designing a device. According to the lead author of the experiment, Dr. Xihua Wang, the cell is a pack of two light-absorbing layers, one for capturing the power of visible rays from the sun and the other layer intended to harvest at least half the power from the sun’s infrared rays.

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Ritu Mathur:

Master Plan Competition for GuangzhouWinning proposal by Goettsch Partners

Pazhou district of the Guangzhou province of China is soon going to be one of the most ultra modern cities of the world. The district is situated on the delta of Pearl River and is the biggest city in the province. A prominent site in the district will soon be reconstructed, giving the city a facelift. For this work, a Chicago based architecture firm Goettsch Partners has been selected. The site is in the form of a triangle and at each corner of the triangle, a set of buildings will be made. A total of seven buildings are planned on this site and it is expected to emerge as an iconic commercial hub in coming times. The site will be developed by Poly Real Estate (Group) Co. Ltd, one of the leading real estate companies of China.

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