A Visual History Of Christmas Trees and What You Might Consider Buying Now For Next Year.

above photo courtesy of Jek a go go

Now that Christmas has passed and most of you are cleaning pine needles up off the floor and wondering how long your tree will last before drying out and having to be lugged to the garbage, you might want to consider a different sort of tree next year (now is the time, many of them are presently on sale).

First, a visual history of Christmas trees, followed by modern eco-friendly alternatives for 2012.



One thing this infographic fails to reflect is the growing popularity of modern alternatives to Christmas trees that hit the market beginning in 2008-2009 and have steadily grown since. These include flat-packed, lasercut, wood, lucite, aluminum and metal versions. Below are some examples.

The Tannenboing Aluminum Suspended Tree:

Modern Lucite Acrylic Christmas Tree by Aaron R Thomas:

PossibiliTrees:

Silver Cocoon Modern Tannenbaum Tree:

The Filigree Tree:

Matteria Lasercut Tree:

Modernica Superstar Holiday Tree:

And a selection of wood trees from Buro North:

More wood alternatives



These aluminum, wood and lucite trees pack up easily and can be stored for future use - saving you trouble, preventing messy christmas tree lots (like the one shown above courtesy of Pardon Me For Asking) and saving some trees. Think about it.

A Modern Bamboo Solar-Powered Studio by Lamboo

The Illinois-based Lamboo is a technology company that specializes in the manufacturing of engineered structural bamboo for architectural applications all over the world. Their research and product development specializes in bamboo panels and veneers, window and door components and other structural elements.



Their Lamboo Studio Project integrates many of their proprietary designs, such as the doors, windows, cabinets, joists, beams and even furniture.



The custom S-shaped roof on which the solar panels are placed provides heat in the winter and shade in the summer.



The Lamboo Studio Project brings functionality, sustainability, and performance together to result in a building with optimal physical and mechanical properties.



LAMBOO® STRUCTURE™ (Laminated Structural Bamboo) curved beams are used for the roof structure and Lamboo beams implemented for the floor/deck joists. LAMBOO® DESIGN™ products were incorporated for interior paneling and custom furniture designs. LAMBOO® VUE™ component material was used for the windows and doors.



The design of this studio space and its custom “S” shaped roof allows for it to consume the most sunlight in the winter months and the least in the summer months. This feature helps to achieve the most possible sunlight into the living space during the winter solstice to naturally heat the space while still achieving full sun activity on all solar panels.



During the summer solstice the “S” shaped roof overhang does not allow for sun to shine into the studio, yet stops the sunlight at the deck. This helps save on cooling energy and will result in maintaining much cooler conditions naturally through the summer months and still resulting in 100% solar panel activity.

A look inside the house:




The house at night:


Designed by Luke D. Schuette, images and info courtesy of Lamboo.


Studio Features:
* 304 sq.ft. interior space
* 308 sq. ft. deck
* LAMBOO® STRUCTURE™ Beams
* LAMBOO® STRUCTURE™ Joists
* Aluminum Clad Roof
* Cork Flooring
* Composting Toilet
* LAMBOO® VUE™ Doors
* LAMBOO® VUE™ Windows
* LAMBOO® DESIGN™ Cabinets
* LAMBOO® DESIGN™ Furniture
* Uni-Solar PV Panels

Lamboo Inc. utilizing the most rapidly renewable, high yield fiber resource on the planet, is introducing an alternative high performance building product. Through species and adhesive selection, and proprietary lamination processes, Lamboo technology is leading the structural engineered bamboo industry.