All the top news and trends In 2017, sustainability is often the thread that connects many of the topics we cover here at Curbed, from architecture and product design to transportation and infrastructure. Browse our ?Green Design? group and you?ll find that this year had no shortage of projects and innovations that paint a picture of how we might live in future.
What were the most salient themes" From a helluva lot of development in solar to more sophisticated urban farming, below we give you a rundown of the sustainable design news to know from this year.
All solar everything

Tesla
What the first Tesla solar roofs look like in the wild.

In 2017, solar power is no longer constrained to the bulky panel shape long associted with the technology. There is, of course, the much-buzzed-about solar roofing from Tesla (and a few other startups) that blend right into the architecture. And a flower-shaped sun-tracking system finally available for purchase. And a 16-mile stretch of solar highway in Georgia. And how about the beginnings of ?solar blinds,? ?solar windows,? ?solar glass bricks,? and ?solar paint?" The future is bright. Meanwhile, college students in the U.S. and abroad built some incredible solar-powered homes for the 2017 Solar Decathlon. Copenhagen completed a school covered in 12,000 solar panels. China launched both the world?s largest floating solar farm and the first of 100 planned panda-shaped solar farms to help promot...