Wohoo~
We won Engineering Team Project Gold Medal.
We are so surprise and happy.
Thank you everyone.
Thanks Mr Sanif.
We won Engineering Team Project Gold Medal.
We are so surprise and happy.
Thank you everyone.
Thanks Mr Sanif.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Furniture is one of the biggest and bulkiest products that we buy in our lifetime. Fortunately, when you buy eco-friendly furniture, you are doing something good for the environment, for your health, and for your wallet.
BENEFITS for the environment: In order to make most furniture, companies need to use a great deal of energy and extract a lot of natural resources. The high carbon cost of transporting heavy, bulky items contributes directly to global warming, while the deforestation means a decrease in both carbon sinks and biodiversity.1 Eco-furniture minimizes the materials and energy that go into constructing and transporting the furniture.
BENEFITS for your health: A recent study revealed that most furniture contains toxic halogenated flame retardant, which can cause cancer or disrupt hormone production. However, safer alternatives are available.2 If you buy natural, reused, or low-toxicity furniture, at least your own furniture won't be fuming toxic particles into your home.3
BENEFITS for your wallet: While it's true that some eco-furniture can be really expensive, other ones that use recycled materials are often much, much cheaper than even standard furniture.
Cost: Low to High
The price of your eco-furniture is wildly variable, from the most expensive designer eco-tables to some cheap, second-hand furniture.
Time and effort: Low to Medium
Once you know what to look for, the time and effort you put into buying eco-furniture is essentially the same as the time and effort you normally put into buying furniture.
Instructions: When you go out into the store, remember the basics of sustainable furniture. There are three guidelines to follow when finding eco-friendly furniture. First, make sure that manufacturing your furniture will help preserve the natural environment. Second, look for furniture that reuses materials. Third, think about the transportation of your furniture to lower the carbon footprint of whatever you purchase.
Preserve the natural environment:
1. Durable: Fragile furniture breaks easily, and most people tend to throw out broken furniture, wasting space in a landfill. Buying yet another piece of furniture uses up even more scarce resources. On the other hand, durable furniture will be able to withstand normal wear and tear, saving you money. It might even last long enough for you to sell it when you want to upgrade, which would actually earn you money.4Reuse materials:
2. Certified sustainable wood (FSC certified): Trees are a finite resource, and, unfortunately, wood furniture can use up a lot of this resource. However, wood that is certified sustainable wood is either harvested from sustainable tree farms, harvested sustainably from a forest, or is reclaimed wood.5 Some of the most common labels for sustainable wood come from the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) the Rainforest Alliance, MBDC C2C (Cradle to Cradle) Certification, and Rediscovered Wood Certification.6
3. Bamboo: Bamboo is actually not a tree, but an extremely sustainable type of grass. It grows quickly, meaning it is renewed in only a matter of a few years. Plus, it is usually grown with little or no pesticides or fertilizers, and treated with little or no chemicals, keeping it less toxic for both you and the natural environment. As with most resources, there is debate regarding the use of bamboo and there is certainly room for progress in making bamboo an even more sustainable and socially responsible product for use in manufacturing furniture.7
4. Low-toxicity: Furniture is surprisingly toxic. Studies show that air quality inside your house, on average, is worse than outside. This is largely due to volatile organic compounds, or VOC's which emanate off your furniture when they are treated with highly toxic chemicals. When it goes into landfills, this can also seep into the ground and water and harm the surrounding environment. One way to make sure that your furniture is low-toxic is to look for the Greenguard label, which guarantees low-toxicity. Another way is to buy furniture with natural finishes or organic materials, which should have much fewer chemicals.8
5. Sustainable Fabrics and Materials: Some furniture contains fabrics and materials that may be overlooked during the shopping process. Look for organically grown hemp or cotton, which use few pesticides, leaving little impact on the land.9
1. Vintage means recycled: Second-hand furniture literally recycles the same furniture, using all the same resources, energy, and processing that usually goes into making a piece of furniture. Plus, most toxic chemicals will have already dissipated most of their gases, keeping your home healthier. However, make sure to look out for lead, which is always toxic and should always be avoided. 10Lower shipping/carbon footprint:
2. Recycled plastic or metal: While these are both artificial materials, recycled plastic and metal puts these already processed resources to good use.11
3. Sell or exchange your used furniture: It's understandable that you sometimes want to part with perfectly good furniture. Sometimes you have to move away, or maybe you just realized that it's not practical or a good fit with your home. Either way, your trash could very well be another person's treasure. You can either sell it in your own yardsale or online, using popular sites such as Craigslist or eBay. Or, if you are in the charitable mood, try Freecycle, made up of members of a community that give and get items for free.12
4. Easy to disassemble and repair: Far too often, when only a tiny part of the furniture is broken, one has to scrap the entire piece, and buy an entirely new piece of furniture. However, if you could just repair your furniture, you could save yourself a lot of the time, money, and effort of looking for and transporting another piece of furniture to your house.13
5. Reclaimed materials: Reclaimed materials use materials already tossed aside, especially wood. An easy way to find furniture made out of reclaimed materials is to look for the Rainforest Alliance's Rediscovered Wood Certification (http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/forestry.cfm?id=rediscovered-wood).14
6. Spice up your old furniture: Sometimes, the best way to recycle is just to improve what you already have. If you think your furniture just doesn't match your style, try painting it a new color. Or, for couches, try getting a slipcover. If you absolutely don't like the piece of furniture as a whole, you can take it apart and use parts of it in a new and clever way.15
1. Buy local: Buying local furniture minimizes transportation and therefore the carbon cost of moving extremely heavy furniture, whether you have it shipped home or you use your own vehicle to lug it home from the store.16Online brands: If you like shopping for furniture in the comfort of your own home, try these online green furniture shops. Many of these brands incorporate a number of the above aspects in making furniture sustainable.
2. Flat Pack furniture: Flat Pack furniture ships completely flat, but becomes three-dimensional furniture. This both means that it takes a lot less energy to ship it, since it takes up so little space. Another bonus is that, when you're done with it, it's even easier for you to ship it to whoever else wants to use it.17
3. Download cardboard designs: For the really cheap, you can reuse your recycled cardboard and make it into perfectly good furniture. This is great for the environment because, other than the shipping it takes to get some lightweight cardboard, there is no extra processing, manufacturing, or transportation of heavy furniture. Download some easy kid-sized furniture here: http://www.foldschool.com/_about/about_start/about_start.html.
http://www.cardboarddesign.com/
http://www.eklahome.com/index.php
http://www.emeco.net/article/content/environment/emecoinformation.html
http://www.etsy.com/about.php
http://www.greenculture.com/
http://greensofas.com/
http://www.haworth.com/Brix?pageID=76
http://www.iglooplay.com/index.html
http://www.knoend.com/ecodesign/
http://www.kudzuantiques.com/
http://www.mainecottage.com/AboutUs.aspx
http://www.manymoonsdesign.com/
http://www.metrosofa.com/green-production.php
http://www.meyerwells.com/index.htm
http://www.scrapile.com/collections_main.html
http://www.skatestudyhouse.com/html/home.html
http://www.spacemfrs.com/
http://www.surfingcowboys.com/
http://www.thewoodenduck.com/v2/home.html
http://www.waybasics.com/shop/home.php
http://www.woodshanti.com/
http://www.vivaterra.com/pls/enetrixp/!stmenu_template.main
http://www.vivavi.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=31_236
_______________________________________________________________________________
1 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-furniture/green-furniture-top-tips.html.
2 http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/02/killer_couch.html.
3 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-furniture/green-furniture-top-tips.html.
4 Id.
5 Id.
6 http://www.philly.com/philly/home/green/How_to_buy_eco-wise_furniture.html.
7 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/fashion-beauty/bamboo-clothing-ask-summer-rayne.html.
8 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-furniture/green-furniture-top-tips.html; http://www.greenguard.org/Default.aspx?tabid=51.
9 http://www.theworldwomenwant.com/yourworld/home/fabrics.php?page=fb.
10 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-furniture/green-furniture-top-tips.html.
11Id.
12 http://www.freecycle.org/.
13 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-furniture/green-furniture-top-tips.html
14Id.
15 Id.
16 Id.
17 http://weburbanist.com/2008/01/13/more-creative-furniture-for-cramped-urban-living-20-pieces-of-ingenious-flat-pack-urban-furniture/.
Environmentally Friendly Furniture Made from Honeycomb Cardboard
Will cardboard furniture one day be more popular than wooden furniture? That is the interesting scenario being discussed inside the interior design world. With cardboard being more environmentally friendly than its wooden counterparts there could come a time when even governments will take notice of the material’s benefits. As the recession hits hard, cardboard furniture is also seen as the much cheaper alternative.
Cardboard furniture is not a completely new idea. The architect Frank Gehry in the early 1970s designed numerous chairs and tables made out of layered corrugated cardboard. The series was known as “Easy Edges” and lead to his increasing popularity in the eco-friendly devoted art world.
Did you know, that in Hong Kong they use cardboard to build coffins?
Just over two years ago, Cardboard Design opened its doors. The store specialises in creating die-cut shapes made from honeycomb cardboard that ship in a flat box and are assembled like puzzle pieces. They don’t even use a single screw or any toxic glues.
Many designers and activists, especially in Europe, would like to spread the design of cardboard furniture to the developing world, which could benefit highly from the inexpensive material.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Dilema ? How to choose?
On the 17th Feb 2009, we have another ETP meeting again with regards to the Engineering Analysis for our project. And there, the problems came in..
-We need to finalized the cutting of the board design for our project. The company will help us cut our cardboard with the "slot" thing too..
- We need to come out the static calculation for the furniture, bending forces, torque, etc..
- Enhancement on the furniture : including EE stuffs.
We discussed about the static calculation. Emang was teaching Jen how to calculate.. COol~ hahaha
The table for the cardboard that available on the comapny. It includes it's material strength. Just click on the photo above to enlarge the photo.
Now , here comes the dilema: From the above two design of the cardboard, which one to choose? At the left on is reminded by Mr Sanif that our initial idea of the project that we wanna do a modular type. He reminded that we can hang some string to support the bended plate.Wafi also mentioned that it is much more similar to our initial idea. THough we pointed out the issue of the static support for this model might not be strong enough, Roy also mentioned that we can put some steel rod or hinge at the weak place to support.
At the Right one is designed by Eimang and Roy. It looks more stable. But a bit diverted from our initial proposal.
So how?
hmm~
Voted result shows majority go for the right one..
hahaha.. so ok la~
We'll proceed on the projects.
Hope we will do the best out of the best ever..
Go Go Go Team38!~
hahahaha(^o^)
-We need to finalized the cutting of the board design for our project. The company will help us cut our cardboard with the "slot" thing too..
- We need to come out the static calculation for the furniture, bending forces, torque, etc..
- Enhancement on the furniture : including EE stuffs.
We discussed about the static calculation. Emang was teaching Jen how to calculate.. COol~ hahaha
The table for the cardboard that available on the comapny. It includes it's material strength. Just click on the photo above to enlarge the photo.
Now , here comes the dilema: From the above two design of the cardboard, which one to choose? At the left on is reminded by Mr Sanif that our initial idea of the project that we wanna do a modular type. He reminded that we can hang some string to support the bended plate.Wafi also mentioned that it is much more similar to our initial idea. THough we pointed out the issue of the static support for this model might not be strong enough, Roy also mentioned that we can put some steel rod or hinge at the weak place to support.At the Right one is designed by Eimang and Roy. It looks more stable. But a bit diverted from our initial proposal.
So how?
hmm~
Voted result shows majority go for the right one..
hahaha.. so ok la~We'll proceed on the projects.
Hope we will do the best out of the best ever..Go Go Go Team38!~
hahahaha(^o^)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
13th Feb 2009
We met with our advisor Mr Sanif.
hahaha..
" good good.." said mr Sanif. "So, you guys got confident to go into EDX?"
We all laughed.. hahahahahahahaha
Now, we have to calculate the things using static, the furniture bending moment, centrifugal forces, etc.And Mr sanif will provide us the support material for Visiting the company.
So, We all going to the company d~
wohoo!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Preparation meeting on 10th of Feb 2009.Mira called upon the meeting for group 38 to discuss and complete each other's tasks together.
Amazingly we all are able to help each other by giving opinion to improve.
The team really put in the effort to try our best, from designing stage until engineering calculations.. AS Jen said:"We're are the team that really committed to the ETP.." haha.. Thanks Jen~..
Hence, we tried to complete the design using AutoCad.. Emang and Empun was cracking their head to find back the memories on how to use the Autocad. Impressively.. the Autocad software really made our mouth open wide.. (^o^)haha.. and at the end Emang said he will try to complete the design back in room.
Mira explaining the concepts of the project.We discussed and we agreed to have a field trip to the cardboard manufacturing company. Hence, Mira will contact the company at Prai see whether is it possible to make the arrangement to meet the company people to have our visit this weekend (15th Feb)
And we also hope Mr Sanif can accompany us..
Come come ..
Mr Sanif..
We'll have a lot of fun one.. hahahahahah
(^o^)
In overall, thanks ETP38 groupmates..
And we also hope Mr Sanif can accompany us..
Come come ..
Mr Sanif..
We'll have a lot of fun one.. hahahahahah
(^o^)
In overall, thanks ETP38 groupmates..
All the Best everyone!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Cardboard Company in Malaysia
Man~.. If we wanna visit cardboard company, there is damn a lot in Malaysia~ (^o^).. hahahaha
There are a lot of company on the link below:
http://printing.kellysearch.com/suppliers/Corrugated+Cardboard+Boxes+or+Cases+or+Containers/MY/25828
Some example of the cardboard companies are:
There are a lot of company on the link below:
http://printing.kellysearch.com/suppliers/Corrugated+Cardboard+Boxes+or+Cases+or+Containers/MY/25828
Some example of the cardboard companies are:
Info on Material - by Liyana
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Proposal discussion and "trial&error" designing
Team designing the mini prototype..
Hey.. it can support all our team members' handphone..
cool~
Doing second design with a X-cross one..
Second design can support a tuperware.. hahaha
It can even support the laptop.. cool har...
Multipurpose Card Board Furniture.. cool~
Hey.. it can support all our team members' handphone..cool~
Doing second design with a X-cross one..
Second design can support a tuperware.. hahaha
It can even support the laptop.. cool har...Multipurpose Card Board Furniture.. cool~
Self assesment of the Feasibility of Project
Wow~33/36
cooool~
jom! let's start our project.. so high scored!!
hahahahaha
Dinner~
Special Thanks
for
Project Manager Mira
for the Dinner 2Feb09
(^.^)
for
Project Manager Mira
for the Dinner 2Feb09
(^.^)
On 2 Feb 2009, Mira smsed us to ask us anything we'll like to order for our dinner.. hahaha.. unexpectedly she surprised us that she would like to treat us for our dinner..hahaha.. cool~Thanks Mira~
hahahahaa
Jen helped out with the setting up for dinner.. hahaha
Amazingly, emang and billy have chicken chop for dinner, Embun ordered chicken grill, Jen got Mihun Goreng, Mira got western set..
"yay~! i love my dinner.." :-)hahahahahahahaha......
And we all dining and chatting together.. it's quite fun.. we discussed about current UTP issue, our projects, and also our life.. great sharing experiences together..
Until all of us finished our dinner already, Mira still havent .. Guess what?.. hahaha..
She spent the past time( when we are eating and chatting),
she is cutting her meal into small pieces.. hahaha..
have a look on photos below:
Before~
After~
( you can see the burger bun been sliced into small cubic pieces)hahahaha..
Actually she want to share with us one.. hahaha..
In overall, we all are having a very happy meal together.. and also sharing happy moment together.. haha.. Mr Sanif, you gonna miss a lot of fun~ wakakakaka...
All the best for our team~
All the best for our team~
we're so happy~Monday, February 2, 2009
Spining th Idea
The team members is looking for a Spining Shelf, a multipurpose furniture, cardboard material..How do you think? Can leave some of your comment here, or at the chat board also..
"Finally, we saw something already~ since the starting.. " -Mira
hahaha
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Research and Development Director's (RDD)Updates
Tasks allocated since last meeting for RDD are:
1. Research on the Pattern.
2. Research on the Furniture Available in market
3. Design Blog for Updates
4. Assisting in editing the proposal
The Tasks Completed Are:
1. Design Blog.
I choose the charcoal template because it looks cool~.. haha.. you guys see if wanna change just let me know la.. I'm thinking if possible we take a team photo, ans then i can post it on the blog. hahaha..
Anyway, can i request that the blog will place under direct responsibility of Publicity and Creative Design Director(PCD) to keep updates and design it?(^o^).. I will assist him somehow also. Since i have to continue to do more research and development, i afraid that i couldn't keep on updates and designing the blog. haha... we can further discuss this in the next meeting. (^o^)
2. I had edited the proposal and sent it to mira in Docx and Doc format. I think it looks nice in Docx format. haha. So far we completed chapter 1 and 2, and still working on chapter 3 and 4. Hopefully can finish fast.
3. I had research many websites.
I will try my best to continue to contribute to the team.(^o^)
1. Research on the Pattern.
2. Research on the Furniture Available in market
3. Design Blog for Updates
4. Assisting in editing the proposal
The Tasks Completed Are:
1. Design Blog.
I choose the charcoal template because it looks cool~.. haha.. you guys see if wanna change just let me know la.. I'm thinking if possible we take a team photo, ans then i can post it on the blog. hahaha..
Anyway, can i request that the blog will place under direct responsibility of Publicity and Creative Design Director(PCD) to keep updates and design it?(^o^).. I will assist him somehow also. Since i have to continue to do more research and development, i afraid that i couldn't keep on updates and designing the blog. haha... we can further discuss this in the next meeting. (^o^)
2. I had edited the proposal and sent it to mira in Docx and Doc format. I think it looks nice in Docx format. haha. So far we completed chapter 1 and 2, and still working on chapter 3 and 4. Hopefully can finish fast.
3. I had research many websites.
http://www.returdesign.se/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,78/lang,en/
The website above is the company who produce cardboard furnitures. Just Click on the furniture you want, and you will be able to access to the catalog of cardboard furniture available.
Maybe we can purchase something from them? Financial Manager.. how you think? Budget allow? Hahahaha..
The website below shows the process of making a cardboard chair.. but I couldn’t download it.. you all look see.. if you can download, put it in the proosal as finding ~
http://futurecraft.media.mit.edu/craftastic/2007/09/25/39/
Below are some more about cardboard chair..
http://www.foldschool.com/_objects/objects_stool/objects_stool.html
This website is the pattern of card board furniture
Cardboard furniture - Patent 4934756
Improved cardboard furniture (eg, chair, sofa, ottoman or the like) comprising a ... a cardboard honeycomb made from a criss-cross pattern of interlocking, ...
www.freepatentsonline.com/4934756.html
Cardboard furniture - US Patent 4934756 Description
This invention relates to improved cardboard furniture. ... Likewise, the concept of providing either a pattern or kit for the do-it-yourselfer to make ...
www.patentstorm.us/patents/4934756/description.html
I found some design that maybe we could think and innovate on? hahaha
SURVEY FOR MULTIPURPOSE CARDBOARD FURNITURE.
From: Billy, Team Research and Development Director
Category | Survey Questions | Remarks |
| 1. Family /House usage. | a. How much you spend for average in a year to buy/maintenance your furniture? b. How long is the last time you change your furniture? / How long you think furniture’s life usually is? c. What are the special criteria about a cupboard that make you purchase and use that particular cupboard? d. What are the weakness/ strength of the furniture you have now? e. What kind of advance criteria you are looking to have in your cupboard Affordable | -->trying to get cheapest price for our project. --> I will try to find out the true research facts about this. --> Design counts? --> Tech: light?; material: firm, dust-less? These criteria are those you still haven’t found it in the market but you hope to have it at your furniture. |
| 2. Traveler /Picnic | a. Do you wish to have a comfortable picnic/camping site with furniture instead of sitting at the floor?/ what are the special about picnic/camping? b. If you would like to bring a tent for picnic/camping, what are those criteria you’re looking for ? c. For businessman who travels a lot, when you live in hotel, would you like to have something from home such as portable furniture? Why and how? d. How much you allocate your financial for this? e. What kind of advance criteria you are looking | --> to know about the criteria to develop the project --> to develop our project better
|
| 3. Students living in hostel/ rent house | a. How much you pay for a hostel with furniture? Or do some times you also need to spend money to buy furniture? b. Would you like to have an arranged/organised/ clean room with cupboard putting your stuffs on? c. Do you move your furniture a lot in your room? Why? d. Do you take all your stuffs back to home after the semester ends? You take those furniture you bought along? | --> to find the price range for our project. --> to survey the preference of using furniture from students. --> to develop the convenience of the project |
| 4. Office | a. Would you care for the arrangement of furniture in your office? b. How much budget allocated for office furniture and maintenance? c. What are the criteria of cupboard? d. How long you change the office furniture once? | --> systematic? Feng shui? --> Security? |
I will try my best to continue to contribute to the team.(^o^)
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