General Sam Would Be Extremely Proud Of His Sustainable Namesake And Her Green World Class Medical Center

photo credit: inhabitat.com

Just outside of downtown Houston is home to the world’s largest medical complex the Texas Medical Center (TMC), a campus encompassing a cluster of 42 university-affiliated schools, hospitals and clinics. One of which is TIRR Memorial Hermann the one U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a bullet through her brain, was transferred this week.

Houston, Texas is built on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, only 43 feet (13.1 meters) above sea level, and with four major bayous passing through the city, it has the moniker of “The Bayou City”. Add to this, 175 years of unrelenting urban sprawl has made flooding a recurring problem. With that in mind, starting nearly two decades ago the Texas Medical Center started earnestly researching avenues for storm water management. (more…)

Color Changing Roof Tiles Absorb Heat In Winter, Reflects In Summer

What colors? Well, your basic power colors of course, black and white. Or to make your art teacher cringe – black and white makes green.

Black surfaces absorb the sun’s heat very efficiently, producing hot surfaces. In the wintertime, that can be a good thing: A dark roof heats up in the sun and helps reduce your heating bill. But in summertime, it’s definitely a bad thing: Your house gets even hotter, and your air conditioning has to work harder. In most places, the summertime penalty is greater than the wintertime gain, it turns out, so that’s why many people, including U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, strongly advocate switching to white roofs. (more…)