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Architecture Building Blocks: Placing 3D Models in Photographs
CategoriesArchitecture

Architecture Building Blocks: Placing 3D Models in Photographs

By Zarkon Group,

ArchiHacks is an online resource for architects dedicated to architecture visualization, portfolio, and design tips and tricks for students and professionals. This article was written by team member Tommy Minh Nguyen.

With the closure of workshops and in-person meetings, physical models became less effective during the pandemic. Nevertheless, there is a sense of completion and achievement that comes out of having physical models occupy real space. Today’s article will walk you through adding a 3D model into a photograph to fabricate a situation where a digital model can occupy “real” space. Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to utilize this tutorial, but it could still offer an alternative to achieving the same goal! Remember, design will always have more than just one solution.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 3D model
  • Rhino + V-ray *You can use any 3D software that supports V-ray
  • Photoshop

Step 1: Align Perspective

This is possibly the most tricky and frustrating part. Import the image into the background, and take your time to adjust the camera focal length to match perspective with the image. You might benefit from the video demonstration on our YouTube channel.

Step 2: Setup Light and Environment

Try to replicate the real-world setup as much as possible, including lighting and other walls in the scene. In our example, we placed a rectangular light to the right side to simulate a diffused light from the window and blinds.

Step 3: Shadow Matte

This is the magic material that will help us with the shadows. Create a generic material and a wrapper material. Use the generic material as the base, and use the following settings. Then you can apply the wrapper to the tabletop surface.

Step 4: Render in High Resolution + Save

Make sure to save it as a .png file to preserve transparency and shadow!

Step 5. Combine Rendering on Top of the Background Image in Photoshop

Place the rendering on top of the base image and make adjustments to help it blend in. In our case, we added a bit of color correction.

That’s all we got for today! Let us know how this came out for you and share it with our Instagram page by tagging @archi.hacks and #archihacks! I hope you found this article helpful, and if you have any tips for future students, please let us know in the comments below. Make sure to follow our YouTube and Instagram for more content!

 Send Us a Rendering. Tell Us a Story. Win $2,500! Architizer’s 3rd Annual One Rendering Challenge is open for entries, with a Late Entry Deadline of March 25th, 2022. Submit a rendering.



Reference

Washing clothes with shower water
CategoriesSustainable News

Washing clothes with shower water

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The average washing machine uses between 50 and 80 litres of water – in a world where over two billion people live in countries where water supply is inadequate.

To tackle this, Lylo Products has developed a device that allows users to wash their laundry using less water than a normal washing machine. Water is collected in a removable water tank that is placed on the floor of a shower like a mat. As the user showers, this tank fills up and is then reattached to the device’s base. The machine then filters the water and uses it to wash dirty clothes.

Lylo co-founder Joanne Powers recently spoke to Springwise. She explains that she was inspired to found the company after learning the shocking statistic that England could run short of water within 25 years.

One of the key benefits of Lylo is as an educational tool. “When people are using a device that collects and reuses water they suddenly start realising that water re-use is a possibility and is actually safe,” Powers explains. In this way the hope is that Lylo will act as a catalyst, inspiring other hardware innovators to explore ways for re-using water.

Affordability is another of the startup’s main aims. Students are a key target market for Lylo, as on-campus launderette facilities are often very expensive for those living on a tight budget. Eventually Powers hopes to develop a product that could be used in student accommodation – putting the responsibility for water saving onto universities rather than individual consumers.

The company’s short-term roadmap is to build a small number of units for pilot testing by the end of 2022. The purpose of this testing will be to check whether a device that involves such a lifestyle change is comfortable for people, and whether any further tweaks are needed before it goes into commercial manufacturing.

Other water-saving innovations recently spotted by Springwise include a recirculating shower, a shower sensor that encourages users to save water, and an eco-friendly fit bit for your water meter.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

24th March 2022

Email: lyloproducts@gmail.com

Website: lyloproducts.co.uk

Reference

7 Restaurants Serving Up an Industrial Aesthetic
CategoriesArchitecture

7 Restaurants Serving Up an Industrial Aesthetic

By Zarkon Group,

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter.    

Unfinished concrete surfaces, metal pipes, visible ducts, high ceilings and exposed structural systems are common sights in old factories and warehouses. However, in recent years, we have seen an increasing demand for this aesthetic in both residential and commercial spaces. Those remodeling old warehouses or pre-war buildings into homes have been choosing to preserve elements of their older structures. Some offices are incorporating similar design elements to make their spaces more trendy, and less clinical or formal.

The industry that has seen a massive adoption of this trend is the hospitality sector, especially in the past two decades. Restaurants and bars across the world are taking cues from old factories and playing with unfinished surfaces, metallic accents, industrial lights and heavy-duty hardware to create an atmosphere that is both nostalgic and modern. Designers have found several ways to soften these harsh materials and craft spaces that are welcoming. Below are just a few examples.

Images by Mikael Axelsson

USINE by Studio Richard Lindvall, Stockholm, Sweden

It is hard to tell that this restaurant and meeting area was once a sausage factory. The remodeled space combines Scandinavian minimalism with a more industrial aesthetic, while also referencing hotels in Shanghai, New York and Amsterdam. Materials like concrete, galvanized steel and black cast iron are softened with cognac leather and maple wood. All the ventilation systems are left exposed and painted in white. Light fixtures with bold black details are juxtaposed against this lighter canvas to strengthen the aesthetic.

Spokane Steam Plant by HDG Architecture, Spokane, Washington

This restaurant design is conscious of the century-long history of the steam plant in Spokane. The metal columns and beams are not only left exposed but also painted in black to have them blend ini. These structural details are joined by black-tinted furniture, mesh-covered concrete walls, metal-backed chairs and dramatic pendant lights. Furthermore, the studio also used copper-toned pipes to create a drink dispenser at the bar.

Bicycle Thieves by Pierce Widera, Northcote, Australia

Named after the best-known film of Italian neorealism, this eatery is a lighter and fresher take on the traditional industrial style.  It references the late 1940s (when the film was released) with the use of mid-century modern materials and details. Suspended lighting acts as dividers, breaking up the open plan into smaller seating areas. Linear pendant lights are used above the bar, Globe lights over the communal tables and track lights around the periphery where the smaller tables are placed. Exposed concrete and cement finishes cove the walls, columns, floors as well as the ceiling.

Images by Dirk Weiblen

Tribeca by Linehouse, Shanghai, China

The New York-style gastropub evokes images of drinks with friends, city streets and late-night food cravings. The ceiling drops down in different parts to separate spaces. White false ceilings form the periphery whereas a suspended shelf canopy hangs over the bar. Mirror bulbs frame the entire space to infuse old-world glamour.

Restaurant & Bar Nazdrowje by Studio Richard Lindvall, Stockholm, Sweden

Minimal, raw and timeless: these words encapsulate the essence of Nazdrowje. The restaurant was initially a parking lot and the studio decided to use the natural atmosphere of the space as inspiration for the final design. Concrete is the predominant material in the space. The light grey concrete seats were cast and mounted directly into the walls, tying them with the concrete floors. The space also includes a large copper fireplace and visible copper pipes throughout.

Images by Andres Martellini

Victoria Brown Bar & Restaurant by Hitzig Militello arquitectos, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The bar has the mysteriousness of a speakeasy and the flash and flair of a private social club from the 19th century. Staying true to the theme, it also features a secret entrance through a coffee shop in the front. The space evokes nostalgia with a combination of elements like aging barrels, uneven brick walls, rich leather, vintage seating and suspended light bulbs. In one room, scissor screens break up the larger area into intimate pockets for small groups.

Industrial Brewery Pub in Saigon by T3 Architects, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The studio wanted to adopt the industrial aesthetic from 20th century Europe given that the brewery serves Belgian beers and food. Traditional European elements have been given a tropical twist by using local ventilation mechanisms and ceiling fans. The design also uses second-hand bricks sourced locally to reduce the carbon footprint. Pops of green, black and white posters and photographs, hanging backpacks and a suspended motorcycle also bring in the humorous side of the Belgian culture.

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter.    

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AI optimises supply chains and personalises retail offers
CategoriesSustainable News

AI optimises supply chains and personalises retail offers

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Recent years have witnessed two key retail trends: the move towards more personalised, curated customer offers, and pressure from stakeholders to tackle waste in the industry. UK-based Dressipi is working to tackle both issues with machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s co-founders were inspired by their own first-hand experience struggling to find the products they wanted to buy.

Dressipi has developed a software platform that gives retailers the tools they need to personalise the shopping experience for individual customers. It does this by using a combination of human style expertise and AI to develop high quality product and brand data. Human stylists create a ‘taxonomy’ of fashion attributes that can be applied to each item. AI technologies, such as computer vision and natural language processing, are then used to apply these attributes at scale.

The same predictive models and algorithms that Dressipi uses to develop personalised insights can also be used to forecast buying and merchandising decisions. By better matching supply and demand, retailers can avoid waste in the supply chain, benefitting both their bottom line and the plant.

Dressipi’s technology has three key strengths. First, its algorithms have been developed over years in collaboration with human fashion experts. They are therefore specific to the needs of the fashion industry. Second, Dressipi owns extensive datasets of garment attributes and fashion-specific customer preferences, and the company’s ability to cleanse and parse all this data is the core of its offer. Finally, the company has a proven track record working with some of the industry’s leading names, delivering externally validated results.

Other AI-powered retail innovations spotted by Springwise
include personalised
wine recommendations, predictive
analysis to speed shipping, and computer
vision used for fashion cataloguing.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

23rd March 2022

Website: dressipi.com

Contact: dressipi.com/company/contact/

Reference

Innovation and SDG 6: clean water and sanitation
CategoriesSustainable News

Innovation and SDG 6: clean water and sanitation

By Zarkon Group,

Water is life. Nothing in nature is simpler. The fate not only of humanity, but of all life on earth is bound up with our stewardship of the global water supply. And water courses are also dynamic eco-systems home to innumerable species of plants and animals. But over the past century, human water use has increased at double the rate of population growth. In simple terms, we are using more water than ever.

Recent decades have seen some important advances when it comes to clean water. Notably, between 2000 and 2020, the number of people using safely managed drinking water increased by 2 billion. But we are now facing a new, unprecedented threat to water resources: climate change. Unicef estimates that half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025, and 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030.

Responsible water stewardship requires multi-layered solutions. But innovation will play an important role. From new physical technology—such as improved desalination processes—to the use of data to improve the management of water systems, innovators are working to protect the world’s most valuable asset.

Fresh water production

At the most basic level, humans need to drink water to survive. But today, 26 per cent of the global population lack access to safely managed drinking water. At the same time, unsafe water is responsible for 1.2 million deaths each year. In response, innovators are busy developing novel ways of producing fresh water – sometimes, literally, from thin air.

Desalination—which converts the earth’s abundant resources
of saltwater into fresh water—is well-established but requires access to a
dependable supply of electricity. Many water-stressed regions lack this
security of supply. In response, a team of researchers has come up with a solar-powered
desalination system that is both more efficient and less expensive than
previous methods.

Other than the world’s oceans, the atmosphere is another potential source of water that new technology is looking to tap. Israeli company Watergen has developed a portable atmospheric water generator that pulls water directly from the air. The company is in a race to hit the market with Exaersis Water Innovations, a US company that has also developed a portable device for use by campers and off-grid travellers.

Sanitation and hygiene

People need safe access to water for sanitation and hygiene.
Effective sanitation systems require high levels of urban planning and
maintenance, which can be challenging in some parts of the world. Map Action is
a Mali-based startup that has developed a mapping
app that shows the location of issues such as broken pipes, and
poor-quality wastewater systems.

In other situations, people lack access to even the most
basic facilities like toilets. A Spanish design studio has developed an
upcycled, 3D-printed portaloo designed to provide better facilities for
refugees in camps and disaster recovery zones. 

By contrast in the developed world, hygiene can place major demands on water resources. For example, the average showerhead uses 12 litres of water per minute. Danish company Flow Loop has developed a new recirculating shower that reduces water use by 85 per cent.

Pollution and wastewater treatment

Exacerbating issues of water scarcity is the fact that many human activities contaminate water supplies. According to the UN Environment Programme, 80 per cent of global wastewater goes untreated, containing everything from human waste to highly toxic industrial discharges. To tackle the issue of industrial water pollution, Finnish startup Algonomi is developing a circular system that uses algae to both clean up industrial waste water and produce useful materials.

Restoring water-based eco-systems

The water resources we use come from freshwater eco-systems that are on the decline as a result of human activity. Deforestation may grab the headlines, but between 1970 and 2015 the area covered by inland and coastal wetlands declined at three times the rate of forest loss.

Fortunately, innovators are working to mitigate this loss by restoring eco-systems – even within urban contexts. A student design concept aims to improve water circulation in urban rivers by creating a coral-reef-like structure for shrimps, shellfish, and other organisms. Another design for an underwater bicycle garage benefits the aquatic life of the area with porous concrete that helps plants and mussels stick to the walls, while coconut mats help purify the water, and mesh baskets shelter fish. 

Local participation

Target 6B within SDG 6 highlights the
importance of supporting and strengthening the participation of local
communities in improving water and sanitation management. An app that allows community
members in East Africa to maintain
and diagnose their own water systems offers an excellent example of how
technology can be used for community empowerment. The app provides locals with
tools—such as maintenance checklists and diagnostic decision trees—through a
smartphone. This helps them to avoid situations where ​they must wait days or
weeks for repairs to their water systems.

Words: Matthew Hempstead

Know more innovations supporting SDG 6? Spread the word!

Sign up to the Sustainable Source newsletter to
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insights into innovation and the SDGs direct to your inbox.

22nd March 2022

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SOM Builds a Community Hub with Heavy Timber
CategoriesArchitecture

SOM Builds a Community Hub with Heavy Timber

By Zarkon Group,

Judging is now underway for the 10th Annual A+Awards Program! Want to earn global recognition for your projects? Sign up to be notified when the 11th Annual A+Awards program launches.  

As spaces for gathering and discovery, libraries are made for exchange. Breaking away from tradition, the new Billie Jean King Main Library by SOM provides a welcoming and flexible environment for the diverse community of Long Beach, California. Showcasing new approaches to construction with the use of heavy timber, SOM designed the Billie Jean King Main Library to incorporate 80 percent of the natural material throughout. The result is an open, warm and inviting community hub that embraces the public.

The first Long Beach library was founded in 1896 in a room adjoining the City Council office. Three years later the library moved into City Hall next to Pacific Park, and in 1909, a new Carnegie library opened near the location of the present Main Library. In 1915 Pacific Park was renamed Lincoln Park.

For more than six decades, the Main Library in Lincoln Park served the public, but a growing collection combined with a fire in the 70s made the construction of a new library a necessity. In 1976 a new Main Library opened, and on September 21, 2019 the City of Long Beach unveiled the new Billie Jean King Main Library at the corner of Broadway and Pacific. Inside and with abundant natural light, visitors are invited to experience the warmth surrounded by wood.

With its name that pays homage to the famed athlete and Long Beach native, the Billie Jean King Main Library is adjacent to Lincoln Park, a local landmark. The library was imagined as a pavilion within the new park, welcoming people inside from all parts of the city. It was made to serve as a traditional library and a modern, technology-focused hub for the community. SOM outlines that while there was a tight budget, the open interiors incorporate multi-use, flexible spaces that allow visitors of all ages to participate in solo and collaborative activities.

Interior spaces are organized around a central, triple-story atrium for porosity and lightness. The building serves the city’s diverse population with a variety of spaces including group study rooms, independent work areas, and a technology-driven “makerspace” with a learning lab and 3D printers. An independently operated community center with meeting rooms and programs is also available for public use.

The library offers a rich program of activities, in which reading and browsing book stacks are only a part of the experience. For instance, the main level features sizeable open spaces dedicated to children’s literature and activities organized by age. Each space is designed for social interaction, play and learning, while computers, book collections and quiet reading areas are available for use on the second level.

Lounge spaces with views of Lincoln Park and the surrounding neighborhood are dispersed around the floorplate’s exterior perimeter. Beyond the program, the signature element of the library is the heavy timber structural system. Timber was selected for its light weight, architectural warmthand character.

The building is one of the few in Southern California that utilizes a heavy timber structural system, composed of renewable timber reinforced with steel and concrete where needed. Each material is employed in a hybrid system to optimize its respective properties. The library’s superstructure consists of glue-laminated timber girders and joists with plywood decking, highlighting the warmth and character of the building.

American ash, ideal for bending and turning, is used for interior decoration and furniture. It is strong and tough with distinctive grain, character and color. This type of timber is also generally straight-grained with a coarse uniform texture. Working together, Douglas fir was chosen for the superstructure, while the American ash was also used for the bottom layer, such as girders and joists. Not only did the team choose to celebrate the timber structure, but also expose most of the mechanical, electrical and fire safety systems.

By using timber, a lightweight material, the library could be built atop the existing structure of an underground concrete parking garage. Saving most of the extant concrete structure also allowed the design team to significantly cut down on material waste; the design reduces embodied carbon by 61 percent, compared with erecting a new parking garage and a conventional concrete building. “Our goal was to leverage the power of clear ideas, natural materials, and Southern California sunlight to create a bright, beautiful, and beloved new place for the people of Long Beach” noted Paul Danna, Design Partner.

After its completion, the Billie Jean King Main Library received LEED Platinum certification. The Library also won the Gold Award for the Best Social Infrastructure Project in 2016 and the Excellent Structural Engineering Excellence Award from the Southern California Structural Engineers Association in 2020.

The 93,500-square-foot library is part of the Long Beach Civic Center Master Plan, along with a new City Hall and Port of Long Beach Headquarters. SOM also designed the master plan to revitalize 22 acres of downtown Long Beach by creating a vibrant, mixed-use district and reactivating Lincoln Park. Today, the two-story timber building opens to visitors and the community while offering numerous activities that foster connection, learning, and collaboration.

Judging is now underway for the 10th Annual A+Awards Program! Want to earn global recognition for your projects? Sign up to be notified when the 11th Annual A+Awards program launches.  

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Ground-breaking new batteries for remote communities
CategoriesSustainable News

Ground-breaking new batteries for remote communities

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: UK-based renewable energy and battery specialist AceOn has teamed up with battery pioneer AMTE Power to use next generation solar-powered energy storage units to bring electricity to remote sub-Saharan African communities. AceOn has developed the AceOnPES (portable energy storage) power unit which will run on sodium-ion battery cells produced by AMTE. 

While conventional lithium-ion batteries use raw materials—such as lithium and cobalt—that are in finite supply, sodium-based cells use sodium instead. This offers huge potential advantages, as sodium is plentiful almost everywhere and can be extracted using minimal energy. This could allow wider and cheaper battery manufacture.

Because they lack heavy metals, sodium batteries are also much easier to recycle, and their use would eliminate much of the risk of pollution from both mining and battery disposal. The two companies point out that sodium-ion batteries have huge potential for application in energy storage – where there is a need to vastly scale-up production of safe, stable battery technology to support the growth of renewable energy.

Mark Thompson, managing director of Telford-based AceOn, explains that the new battery chemistry can make global electrification more sustainable. “We’ve been championing sodium-based technology for years as a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion, and thanks to our partnership with AMTE, we can finally use it in our product… These batteries are the future.” 

Efficient and sustainable energy storage is vital for the large-scale use of renewable energy. At Springwise, we have recently covered innovations in this area such as a technology that yields almost pure graphite from used lithium-ion batteries, and an energy storage system located at the bottom of the sea. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

21st March 2022

Website: amtepower.com

Contact: amtepower.com/contact

Reference

CategoriesArchitecture

Tantalizing Techno: Berghain’s Mysterious Architecture Is Essential to Its Unwavering Allure

By Zarkon Group,

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.

The famed techno club Berghain is known for its intense electric tunes, adult sights and promise of boundless freedom. Since its opening in 2004, this Berlin club has received immense global recognition and is regarded as an institution of techno and culture. Reminiscent of Studio 54’s notorious entry policy, Berghain’s entry policy is heavily subjective. However once past the bouncers, patrons are welcomed into a sensational, no-judgment zone — one where decadence, hedonism and free rein prevail.

Despite its libertinism and untamed image, the club keeps a low profile in the press and on social media. Berghain’s exclusive entrance policy makes it quite challenging to experience the club for oneself. The bouncers allow entry to those they feel fit the ‘vibe,’ and as a result, many don’t make it past the door. While the determined head to the back of the line, hoping their second time around will get them the go-ahead. Berghain’s exclusive ethos is furthered by its strict no-photo policy. Once patrons enter the venue, a sticker is placed on every mobile, ensuring that no photos of the inside circulate on the outside. In this sense, while gatekeeping is clearly recognized as an important part of the club’s allure, less often remarked upon is the role played by architecture in constructing the club’s exclusive ethos. 

As a young person currently living through my twenties, I find myself quite intrigued with the idea of this club, despite never attending. And this intrigue is not uniquely mine: many see Berghain as a rite of passage, once you’ve made it in, you’ve accomplished all there is to accomplish when it comes to the European club scene. There is something quite enthralling by the exclusivity and the unknown aspect of what lies beyond the entrance doors. What’s the atmosphere like? The design? The furnishing choices? How does the architecture contribute to the club’s great success? What exactly makes Berghain so special? 

Berghain, one of the most widely known clubs in the world, just so happens to be one of the most challenging to see inside of. The club keeps a low profile and as a result, the public relies on firsthand stories and experiences to envision the interior space. Nonetheless, one thing we do know is that Berghain sits in a former post-war power plant and received a facelift in 2003. Berlin-based design firm, studio karhard® was commissioned to lead the design. 

The space boasts a raw, industrial aesthetic and is primarily built with steel and concrete. The club is divided into numerous spaces, each exuding its own personalities and providing a unique atmosphere and place of refuge. The main room is grand and boasts 60 foot (18 meter) high ceilings. While the upstairs space, known as the Panorama Bar, offers a raw and sparse atmosphere. From the exposed electrical equipment, unpolished finishes, and seating structures made of concrete pipes, it is certain the feel of the club transforms when jam-packed with moving bodies. Over the years smaller renovations have taken place, such as adding a smoking lounge and a coffee bar. 

This cultural institution takes its no-photo, no-media policy so seriously that there are no mirrors to be found in any of the venue’s bathrooms. This equally enforces the club’s rules, encouraging guests to commit to an evening of folly. Berghain’s low profile has made me ponder the idea of architecture and privacy. Within the context of this club, the architectural mastery that contributes to its great success cannot be widely appreciated as images of the design are not made public.

The only substantial collection of images I have come across is the beautifully curated photographs featured on studio karhard®’s website, which reveal a thought-out and tantalizing architectural design. However, these images are under copyright and therefore, do not circulate. But shouldn’t this incredible architectural design be widely celebrated and appreciated? What happens when such images turn public? Does the mystery wear off? Does the space lose its exclusivity and allure? 

In the summer of 2020, Berghain opened its doors at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this time without the subjective entry policy and deep techno tunes. The club was transformed into an art exhibition and invited the public into its prized space. The art installation featured artworks that were made during the pandemic, all of which were done by local artists. This event marked a unique chance to experience the space and the inside architecture — all in a relaxed and non-confronting environment, without the noise, the boisterous behavior and the crowd. And for the first time, images of the interior space began circulating. News outlets covered this significant moment in Berghain history, and individuals who would likely never attend the venue on a normal Saturday night got to see inside.

On March 5, at long last, Berghain reopened its doors and returned to its pre-pandemic spirit: decadence, freedom and penetrating techno. And with this reopening comes the return of the subjective entry requirements, covered cameras and no-media policy. Once again, Berghain will only be experienced by the lucky patrons that make it past the entrance, and studio karhard®’s design will return a mystery. This techno institution exemplifies a pronounced intersection between architecture and privacy, and forces individuals to reevaluate their habits of easily acquiring images, ideas and information. Sometimes, the beauty lies in the unknown. 

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.



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A startup uses microbes to boost carbon sequestration
CategoriesSustainable News

A startup uses microbes to boost carbon sequestration

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The climate crisis has seen record-breaking levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Potential solutions range from renewable fuels to reforestation. But a growing band of researchers and biotech firms believe that one of the best solutions may be waiting right underfoot – microbes. Companies like Loam Bio (founded in 2019 as Soil Carbon Co.) believe that they can use tailored microbes to turn the world’s soil into a massive carbon sink, while also improving crops.

The company has developed a microbial seed coating that ‘supercharges a plant’s natural ability to store carbon in soil’. Farmers coat the seeds in the solutions before sowing. As the plants grow, they exude sugars into the soil. These are then converted into stable soil carbon by the microbes. This soil carbon is stored in tiny structures called micro-aggregates, which prevents the carbon from being released back into the atmosphere.

The added carbon also benefits plants by increasing soil health and leading to higher yields, boosting farmers’ revenue. Studies conducted by Loam show an increase in soil carbon of up to 17 per cent in a single season – which, if used on a global scale, would equate to drawing down 8 gigatonnes of CO2 each year. Loam CEO and co-founder Guy Hudson believes that, if applied to America’s entire soybean crop, the coating could offset the emissions from the country’s aviation industry.

“Using our naturally-derived products on crops across the globe will give the world the time it needs to adjust to a low carbon economy,” Hudson explains, adding, “Our modelling includes the fact that large proportions of the soil organic carbon we are building will be decomposed and respired back into the atmosphere. The stable remainder still leads to an environmentally significant amount of CO2 removal. Our aim is to increase the storage of carbon to levels higher than what our current agricultural systems are achieving.”

Carbon sequestration is increasingly being seen as a valuable tool in the arsenal of those seeking to slow climate change. And there is no shortage of idea. Innovations seen recently here at Springwise include an artificial leaf that captures carbon dioxide and a technology that makes sequestration cheaper and more efficient. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

17th March 2022

Website: loambio.com

Contact: loambio.com/contact-us/minneapolis

Reference

A software service optimises decentralised energy projects
CategoriesSustainable News

A software service optimises decentralised energy projects

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The transition to a net-zero economy will require huge changes in our energy infrastructure. Not only will the power grids of the future be cleaner – they will also be more decentralised. In the fossil fuel era, energy infrastructure was owned by a small number of large players. But in the future, the fossil fuel supply chain will be replaced by much smaller assets embedded within the built environment. In the words of Australian startup Gridcognition, the energy transition represents a move away from ‘big dumb machines, to small smart ones’.

This transition represents a huge opportunity for the industry but comes with its own problems. One of the trickiest issues is the complexity of planning and assessing each de-centralised project – something that is beyond the scope of even the most sophisticated traditional spreadsheets. Industry players need to understand the environmental impacts and commercial opportunities of a diverse range of energy assets – such as virtual power plants, microgrids, community energy systems, and electric vehicle charging points. And they must also consider how each project interacts with the wider energy ecosystem and commercial landscape. Much more sophisticated data analysis is needed, and this is where Gridcognition’s software aims to play an important role.

The startup’s software service allows customers to simulate different energy project options based on a wide variety of different parameters – such as technical considerations, geographic location, and tariffs. The simulations crunch all this complex data allowing the user to quickly compare options based on commercial performance measures (such as cashflow) or environmental considerations (such as amount of CO2 emissions saved). The software also allows users to create a ‘digital twin’ of a project that can be updated as the project is deployed.

Gridcognition’s software is designed to be used by a range of different players including energy providers, project developers, solutions providers, large energy users, and property businesses. The startup has already secured a number of high-profile clients and partners, such as Amazon Web Services, and announced in October 2021 that it plans to expand into the UK microgrid market.

Other smart energy innovations spotted by Springwise include
a startup reducing
the impact of electric hot water systems, and devices that bring smart
meter technology to hard-to-reach homes.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

17th March 2022

Email: hello@gridcognition.com

Website: gridcognition.com

Reference