Those accustomed to architect Frank Gehry's signature swooping titanium forms might feel that the New World Symphony concert hall hits a low note; Walt Disney Concert Hall it is not. Instead, its boxy form and white stucco exterior reflect the traditional Art Deco architecture of Miami Beach. Located at Washington Avenue and 17th Street, just blocks from both the bustle of Lincoln Road and the beach, the $160 million building measures 100,641 sq. ft. and faces a new 2.5-acre urban park, situated on the site of a former parking lot. Looks can be deceptive; this stucco box contains a few surprises.

Preventing water damage inside our bathrooms is just as important as directing water away from our homes. Caulking, as part of routine homeowner maintenance, prevents avoidable damage around the multiple fixtures and different building materials located inside a bathroom. To get started all you need to know are the areas inside a bathroom that need to be regularly maintained, how to remove existing caulking, and how to apply a new bead of caulk.

As the construction industry continuously looks for ways to enhance its offerings to companies and clients, its abilities to do more with less and to offer better value by using better technologies will provide real benefit. It’s also rewarding for us drivetrain and energy nerds to see the application of some pretty cool and useful technologies such as biofuels that are morphing from research lab to fuel tank and from start-up enterprise to hyper-clean engine.

The first thing we noticed upon entering Boone, North Carolina, from the east was the Great Porch of the Solar Homestead, a prototype net-zero home designed and built by students at Appalachian State University for competition in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011. Capped by a detailed canopy of bifacial solar panels, the Great Porch serves to connect the main house with an assemblage of outbuildings, but, more importantly, it serves as the communal heart of the house. Join us as we learn more about the Great Porch and get a tour of the Solar Homestead in our continuing video series.

Because I love heavy machinery, watching the massive mining equipment in "Avatar," notably the Slash Cutter and the D-22 dozer, had me secretly thinking, “Holy cow, I wanna drive that thing!" The lingering images of the uber-heavy equipment and its seemingly boundless ability to get a lot of work done in a hurry made me think of how today’s machines might morph into these mega-machines. Although "Avatar's" remote-controlled bull dozer may exist only on screen, Google recently announced that it had sent one of its self-driving Toyota Priuses over 140,000 miles of California roads by using their Google Maps and Street View technology. Likewise, the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS) sent a robotic self-driving Audi TTS coupe up Pikes Peak in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb at racing speeds, further fueling my imagination about next-generation equipment.

Throughout the United States, thousands of students are spending the majority of the day in unhealthy and aging portable classrooms. Not only is their presence required, students are expected to thrive and flourish educationally in such environments. “The aging infrastructure of K–12 schools throughout the nation is a serious problem that is presenting unacceptable health and safety risks for our children,” says Marshall G. Zotara, co-founder and senior managing partner of Cause and Effect Evolutions. “In school districts throughout the country, budget deficits are making it very difficult to fund replacements.” Enter the Green Schoolhouse Series and their commitment to replace dangerous portable classrooms with LEED Platinum designed structures.

Most of us understand sustainability to run the gamut of environmental benefits. Saving the trees, the Earth, and the animals may be our primary goals when we decide to pursue green behavior, but we can achieve many different personal health benefits as well — making the point of sustainability hit a bit closer to home. The fact is that our planet is a living, breathing network of organisms, and even our small-scale actions may have a butterfly effect. Here, we’ll examine the ways in which we can improve our health, from the personal decisions we all make individually to the grander scheme of urban or regional planning.