Cork is useful for so many more things that bottling wine. The natural, renewable material is now being used for building insulation because of its thermal and vibrational insulation features. Aside from sustainable benefits of using cork, the cork oak is naturally fire resistant, so by installing cork insulation, it acts as a fire barrier in any house or building.
Property managers dread the hot summer months and bitter cold of winter not only because the weather is awful, but also because utilities are going to be extremely costly during those times. WegoWise helps building managers get a better handle of their utilities spending by offering a free (or $5 a month premium package) online service that monitors a building’s energy use, helping the manager locate ways to save by automatically updating utility data to track building upgrades and set benchmarks.
LumioIt looks like a book, but it’s really a light. The portable Lumio lamp fans out like the pages of a novel, and upon opening, it lights up to be a lantern. It can be mounted on walls as decorative accent lighting, used as an emergency flashlight, or light up an outdoor seating area. Fully charged, the Lumio light lasts for up to eight hours, and the spine design allows users to control brightness just by adjusting the angle of the book.
Every city planner should take a look at these modular bus vestibules that have bike racks built into them. The arc modules are made from recycled resin sheets, and the structures themselves are easy to assemble. The company started with a vertical bike storage idea and has expanded to include the bike rack idea into a bus stop, modular car garage, and even a modular off-the-grid house. Also, the bikes take up less space because of how they’re positioned, which means more room for sitting and interacting.
