Design Challenge for Sustainable Back Yard Cottages: Call for submissions

Method Homes and Infiniti RED are joining forces to promote public awareness of Backyard Cottages in Seattle with the Design Challenge for Sustainable Back Yard Cottages.

Call for Submissions!

Architects and designers! Method Homes, a Seattle-based custom prefab manufacturer, is looking for innovative backyard cottage designs to offer their growing client base. Design challenge participant’s entries will be unveiled at a public event in May, and top winners will be displayed at the Method Homes/Infiniti RED booth at the Seattle Green Festival in June, showcased on Method Home’s website, and included in all design challenge promotional materials.

To submit an entry:

* RSVP to brian@methodhomes.com by April 17th
* Submit all drawings on a presentation board by May 15th
* Winners will be announced publicly the week of May 24th

Full detail available at: http://infinitiredblog.wordpress.com/

Design Green Now panel discussions at Western Washington University

April 1st, 2008

Design Green Now is a series of FREE panel discussions exploring the integration of innovative tools in the greening of consumer products. These sessions will inspire and empower emerging designers to build a sustainable future NOW!

Panelists include rock star designers from top consultancies like Frog, Smart Design and Fuse Project along side leading green producers like the sportswear company Nau. They will share their current green projects, the challenges they face and the tools they use for successful sustainable design. The discussions will highlight sustainable materials, product life cycles and social impact.

Design Green Now: http://www.designgreennow.com/

Focus Green 2008: Call for Entries

This government award is given to manufacturers and designers for forward-looking, professional and excellent design work. The “Focus in Gold” and “Focus in Silver” design awards are highly sought after as guarantees of the highest design quality. With the "Focus” topic changing each year, the competition presents a special challenge for entrants. The competition shows who has the best-designed solutions for current trends and for the topics that are of particular interest for experts and the general public. This renowned competition can look back on a long tradition and enjoys an excellent reputation both in Germany and abroad.

Focus Green – the topic
Today, sustainable development, climate protection and the conservation of our natural resources are being discussed more and more in public debate, and are playing a crucial role in political and economic decisions. In addition, environmentally friendly ways of life are finding more and more advocates, and national and international markets are reacting to meet this demand. Moreover, as raw materials become scarcer and more expensive worldwide, energy and resource-saving measures are pivotal to companies’ economic success. This is why there is a need for design and development that illustrate and implement creative solutions and innovations for more environmentally friendly products.

For more information:
www.design-center.de

Deadline: March, 20, 2008

Ann Thorpe at the UW Kane Hall 1/15/08

Ann Thorpe on The Central Debates of Sustainable Design.
1/15/08: University of Washington, Kane Hall – room 210.
Talk and Q&A at 7:00 – 8:15 pm Reception to follow until 9:00.

Ms Thorpe is pursuing research on cultural aspects of sustainable design, underpinned by theories of human needs, sustainable consumption and design process and practice. Her work grows out of research she conducted for her book The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability (Island Press) and embraces economic and cultural elements of sustainability, along with ecological ones. She is particularly interested in the role of digital economies and information networks in sustainable design.