Portland, Oregon is looking at their drinking water in a new way. Last year a Portland-based startup, Lucid Energy, helped the city generate its power by installing small hydro-turbines in the city’s drinking and waste water pipes. The system utilizes the energy available in water flowing downhill to power nearby things like street lighting and even individual buildings. The system is expensive and only works in areas with elevation changes that cause water to flow naturally

Bob Hausmann, President of Entriq Solutions, has seen many trends evolve in the architectural industry over his career. Bob recently shared his thoughts on the rise in sustainability based design: Long ago, as an architectural student, I was taught the value of good design: selection of a site, placement of the facility on the site, making use of durable products, staying abreast of new technologies, etc. When pulled together correctly, an architect creates a facility that a