What could be better than building concrete structures without creating more CO2? How about this: a new form of cement that actually absorbs carbon dioxide rather than being a primary source of its man-made emissions.

Consider this: 1 out of 20 units of carbon released by human activity into the atmosphere comes directly from concrete – this does not even take into account other construction-related activities, such as on-site vehicles or other building materials.

So how does an age-old, nearly-universal building material move from being destructive to the environment to being constructive for pollution? “By replacing the calcium carbonates used in cement formulation with magnesium silicates, and by using a low-temperature production process that runs on biomass fuels … developing a new class of cement that offers performance and cost parity with ordinary Portland Cement, but with a negative carbon footprint.”

Novacem™s Carbon Negative Cement is two steps in the right direction, simultaneously displacing a carbon-intensive building block and substituting it with something that goes beyond simply doing no harm. As for awards: “Novacem is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer for 2011 and features on MIT Technology Review’s list of the ten most important emerging technologies for 2010. It is also on the Global Cleantech 100, is a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation winner and a Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer for 2010.”

By: JILL CONNORS, This Old House magazine

Photo:  Mark Lohman

Beautiful Bungalow

It takes a certain eye to see a smart little cottage where others see a stucco teardown. But Steve and Shauna Mullins had exactly that vision when they first saw this 875-square-foot bungalow in Hermosa Beach, California.

“It was in a great location, less than a mile from the beach, and the basic layout was good—it hadn’t been screwed up,” Steve says. Still, the exterior of the 1941 house was showing its age, and its small rooms needed an update. Collaborating with architectural designer Rosa Velazquez on the front of the house, doing much of the work themselves, and enlisting a general contractor for the bigger projects, the couple lavished the tiny two-bedroom with a proud new facade and freshened the interior throughout.

For nearly all their redo needs, they jumped in the car and hit nearby home centers, scouring the aisles for well-priced shutters, fencing, cabinets, crown molding, paint, and more. Keep reading for the redo rules they followed—what worked for them can work for you, too.

Read the rest here.

New York City, United States

San Diego

Chicago

Seattle, Washington

Philadelphia

Melbourne, Australia

Sydney

Brisbane

Paris, France

Damascus, Syria

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Rome, Italy

Moscow, Russia

Tokyo, Japan

Frankfurt, Germany

Sibiu, Romania

Malaga, Spain

Singapore, Marina Square

Bangkok, Thailand

Lviv, Ukraine

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro

Vancouver, Canada

London, England

Jakarta, Indonesia

Buenos Aires, Argentina