Imagine what cart corals at the supermarket would look like if shopping carts didn’t nest together. Imagine what the entryway of the supermarket would look like if shopping baskets didn’t stack. This would be poor spatial planning on the designers part. Next, image what a parking lot could look like if our cars stacked? We all of the sudden will have a plethora of open space, hmmm why didn’t we think of this earlier?

The first innovative step towards stacking cars was the parking structure, where layers of cars could be stacked upon each other. The next innovative step is to actually stack cars up against each other to reduce the absurd amount of space we require for vehicular parking. The concept is a hybrid of car sharing systems, spatial planning, alternative fueling systems, and personal convenience.

Developed by MIT Media Lab students from the Concept Car Design Workshop sponsored by GM, the key behind this concept is the redesign of the wheel and axel. Rather than having a rigid axel, it will actually fold in a way that will allow the car to rotate upwards 90 degrees. In this, the long dimension of the vehicle is perpendicular to the ground while parked. Since each car has the same form and design, they perfectly nest together to reduce surface space consumption. The stackable car will be able to reduce required curbside parking space by about a third to a half. This allows for more sidewalk space, biking lanes, and comfortable city conditions.

Due to the small dimensions, the stacks of cars will be conveniently placed in locations all over the city- where you would normally come out of a building and hail a cab; you can jump in an electric city car and advance to your next desired location. The concept City Car system includes solar paneling on the rooftops of buildings adjacent to the stackable parking depositories. These panels will be the power supply to charge the electric cars while parked.

This car-sharing concept is a solution to the missing link between public transportation and the front door. Often people don’t use public transit due to the time necessary to switch from the subway to the bus to the next bus. Now people can commute into the city, get off the train, jump in a city car, and drive that extra three to ten miles to the office. This is a reasonable solution to a very prevalent problem. Instead of unnecessarily consuming a parking space while in the office all day long, you can use a city car in the morning and evening, while others use it all afternoon; and the convenience of hopping in a city car is what will make this work. In addition, since these cars aren’t personal vehicles and people will be in them on an average of five to thirty minutes, hopefully the new system will encourage people to share rides across town thus influencing our sense of community, status, and ownership.

A research team with the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) in Australia is working on a project to integrate energy-generating materials into our clothing. By simply collecting the energy in our movement, vibrations, and friction, our clothing could create enough juice to power up our mobile phone, mp3 player, etc. The Australian Defense Department awarded the team of researchers a $4.4 million grant to deem the technology feasible.

Dr Adam Best, project leader and employee of the CSIRO Energy Technology Division “predicts that the first power shirts - or flexible energy devices- could be developed within five years,” states a Sydney Morning Herald report. Their concept includes the technology of piezoelectrics as the energy generating material. This popularly researched material produces a charge displacement when it is flexed. It naturally occurs in soft chrystalline structures like quartz, and Rochelle salts.

The idea is to develop a fabric woven with piezoelectric material so that any movement on, in, or around your body would stimulate the fiber to generate power. The clothing would be woven with flexible batteries that could act as storage unit series for your devices. The next step is to figure out how to wirelessly transmit that power collected in your t-shirt to your mobile phone without damaging your body due to intense exposure to electro-magnetic fields.

Dr. Best believes that the development of this concept could revolutionize the form and usage of daily appliances. “With printable flexible circuit boards, the day may not be far off when people could make phone calls simply by talking into their collars.”

Interestingly, defense programs and departments are commonly funding projects that develop the potential for remote electrical energy generation. The Australian Defense Department sees this as an opportunity to power “back-to-base” medical monitoring equipment, radios, and other such powered devices used in the field. As it could revolutionize battle in the field, it could also serve as a highly effective tool in field research and remote backpacking trips to power gps devices, emergency radios, data recording and transmittance devices…

There are many similar ideas out there along the lines of energy generating wearables. A collaboration team with members from Michigan Technological University, Arizona State, and NanoSonic, Inc., is developing a backpack with piezoelectric fibers integrated into the straps. Alberto Villarreal, a young San Francisco-based designer, has gained recognition for a concept shoe that harnesses electricity from your step. With the development of these concepts into real products we could be actively moving towards an energy revolution.

This Friday is the opening day of the 3rd Solar Decathlon Exhibition. The exhibition takes place on the National Mall in Washington DC from October 12th to 20th. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the competition invites 20 teams from colleges and universities across the United States, Germany, Spain, and Canada to participate. The objective is to “design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house.” Students have been working on these projects for up to two years; they build them, then deconstruct their projects to transport them across the country and even across oceans only to put them back together again. Teams arrived in Washington last Wednesday, October 3, and have been assembling their homes to prep for Fridays opening.

Powered entirely by the sun, these high-tech homes that exhibit superior efficiency are “likely to help shape America’s clean energy future,” states a press release from the Department of Energy. The first Solar Decathlon was in 2002. I am partially inspired by this event as my old alma mater, the University of Michigan, competed in the 2005 competition. Although Michigan is not competing this year, many of the students from participating schools and prospective schools took notes on the flaws present in 2005, and went home to improve, reinvent, and discover new technologies for this year’s event.

As a result of seeing the 2005 University of Michigan MISO (Michigan Solar) home, I can tell you that these teams are consciously composed. With students from disciplines ranging from Engineering, Architecture, and Design to Urban Planning andEnvironmental Studies, these projects are guaranteed to be well-conceived. “These solar homes are powerful, comfortable, and stylish. They are relaxed, elegant, wasting neither space nor energy.” Since these projects come from an academic setting, a place where exploring concepts and visions for the future is fostered and encouraged, these homes are creative, innovative, and surprising.

Not only is this an opportunity for students to learn, explore, and experience solar home construction; it is also an occasion for the public to come view the solutions and learn about the best in energy efficiency and home design. If you are in the DC area and have a chance to stop by, the exhibition hosts an entrée of tours, seminars, workshops, and talks by students and professionals. Starting this Friday October 12, the exhibition is open to the public. Next Thursday, October 18 is a day devoted to building industry professionals, and the official awards ceremony is next Friday October 19. Enjoy!