National Sustainable Design Expo

16 April 2011 | 7:11 PM

Wayne at the National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington DC

Showcasing the bright future of the United States being imagined and created by university students from across the country, the National Sustainable Design Expo gave an insight into the ideas that will help our society become more sustainable into the future.

Themes that students were investigating with research projects included energy production, recycling and reusing materials, energy efficiency and water treatment. Some of the most popular ideas included designing water filtration devices and methods for developing countries and the use of algae for energy. Several projects were investigating designs to either grow, improve production efficiency, harvest or process algae as a fuel source.

Perhaps one of the most practical and production ready ideas that will have the potential for an immediate impact on our energy efficiency was the smart grid concept being developed and modelled by the "EcoHawks" from the University of Kansas.