Greenest Buildings of the World(Eco Architecture)..... 1. Sun harnessing high-rise wins ‘Shenzhen 4 Tower in 1’ competition: Sun and wind harnessing high-rise for the headquarters for China Insurance Group.Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au has won the competition held for designing the next-gen headquarters for China Insurance Group with a stunning piece of architecture that merges technology with the environment. Intended to be built in Shenzhen, China, the 49-story building will have a height of 200 meters and a footprint area of 1600 square meters. The skyscraper will not only be unique due to its stylish façade design, but will also stand apart from the rest due to its capability to harness renewable energy sources. The second skin of the façade will carry photovoltaic cells to generate electricity, specially designed cells to reduce wind pressure, shade the sun and create multimedia displays. All public functions will be organized in the base of the building while all offices will all be situated in the tower. Meeting rooms, conference centers, recreation areas and gardens will be concentrated in the middle of the building. Apart from greening the skyline, the renewable energy generators will also reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. Photovoltaic cells on the façade will only be able to generate a percentage of the total energy requirements of the skyscraper. Apart from generating energy, the architects have not mentioned anything about the any other basic necessities like water and waste management. 2. Anara Tower – A 700m-high green structure for Dubai’s congested skyline: A 125-story mega skyscraper conforming to LEED certification requirements for a greener Dubai.Dubai is already housing some of the most fascinating skyscrapers ever built on our planet. Be it Burj Dubai or Burj Al Arab, all the skyscrapers built in this part of the world are the best ever built by anyone. Here is another skyscraper, which too like some others in Dubai, will be ranked among the tallest man-made structures on Earth. Called the Anara Tower, this 125-story building will be about 700 meters tall and will be built by a British firm Atkins. Apart from sky gardens after every 27 floors, the building will have offices, shops, a luxury hotel with 250 rooms, 300 residential apartments, and a place for exhibitions and auctions. The apartments, which are expected to be the most expensive in Dubai, will have luxuries like exclusive swimming pools, exclusive elevators and views of the beautiful coastline of Dubai. The glass structure on the top of the tower will be a restaurant, which will not only give the diners the pleasure to feast at about 700 meters, but diners here would also be able to enjoy the panoramic views of some of the most important avenues of Dubai. This tower will conform to LEED certification requirements of at least silver rating, by maximizing water and energy efficiency and will also include some form of renewable energy generators for its monstrous power needs. Construction of this mega-skyscraper is scheduled to commence in late 2009. Delivering luxuries such as exclusive swimming pools and elevators for all the 300 apartments would definitely be eco disasters for a place such as Dubai. We don’t think that the skyscraper will be able to house renewable energy generators of the form that will be needed to run the elevators and pumps to provide water for all 300 swimming pools and elevators. 3. Gesterbine self-sufficient skyscraper features a mesh of wind turbines: Sustainable skyscraper designed to harvest wind energy.Polish architecture firm Mode:Lina Architektura & Consulting proposed the Gesterbine skyscraper for the eVolo Skyscraper Competition that has been designed to maximize energy generation using a series of wind turbines, human kinetics and water. The self-sufficient tower is being envisioned for Greater Poland, an area characterized by a small amount of precipitation. During the day when energy demand is high, the Gesterbine uses wind energy to provide renewable electricity to households, farms and small offices. However, during night when energy demand falls, the turbines generate electricity to power water pumps that transport river water into the land. This water is used to support and even create small retention water reservoirs across the land. In addition to planting trees, the reservoirs also retain water for as long as possible within the land raising levels of ground water. The body of the Gesterbine features a large number of small turbines which help generate energy needed to support the neighboring units. 4. The Strata: Worlds First Skyscraper With Built-In Wind Turbines We’ve seen skyscrapers studded with wind turbines before, but the Strata is the first building to integrate turbines directly into its facade. Developed and contracted by Brookfield Europe, the tower is a tricky engineering feat indeed, especially granted the gusty blasts of wind that construction crews had to deal with while raising it. Measuring in at 42 stories tall, the Strata tower has enough height to eclipse the buildings surrounding it, allowing it to take full advantage of the area’s 35mph wind speeds. The tower is also designed to utilize the Venturi effect created by nearby structures to force wind through the turbines at accelerated rates, generating an expected 50MWh of electricity annually 5. Spiraling solar-powered skyscraper helps cool the environment: Solar-powered eco-tower with water collection and a cooling system.Kenneth Loh and Michelle Lim have come up with an ingenious design of an eco-tower that blends a vertical garden, mixed-use development and open space together. The new urban prototype of solar powered skyscraper incorporates many programs to make the building as green as possible. The entire façade of the spiraling hollow structure is covered with a thin membrane of solar cells that produce enough energy to meet with its interior requirements. The sustainable tower housing residential, office, commercial and growing space incorporates features like water collection, renewable energy generation and a smart cooling system. It includes a hollow core that draws hot air up and out of the building, while letting cool air in from the bottom. Residential units for low, medium and high density are attached to a continuous ramp. The rainwater collected on the façade is sent to an underground cistern that has a power plant. Here the water is collected, filtered and stored to utilize it for energy production. The designers hope to solve the housing problems of some urban settlement globally, while cooling the environment by bringing a series these towers into use. 6. Vertical Park: Stackable Solar Skyscraper for Mexico City: In the ever-expanding metropolis of Mexico City, green space is hard to come by. An estimated population of 22 million inhabitants bears an impressive weight on the Valley of Mexico and, in recent years, architects and urbanists have been examining solutions to combat the thickening smog. This stunning Vertical Park by Jorge Hernandez de la Garza intends to infuse the city with much-needed green space in the form of a modular skyscraper made up of a series of stacking units. The solar-powered structure contains sky-gardens in addition to spaces for living and working, and recycles all of its own water. Each module of the Vertical Park can be configured to provide space for public and private use, water and solar collection, and urban farming. This allows for flexibility in design, size, and location – including the potential for relocation throughout the city or the world. The Vertical Park’s steel frame will support solar panels used to power the building’s diverse functions and allow wind to pass through structure on warm days. 7. Faceted Ecological Skyscraper incorporates renewable energy generating systems: Sustainable skyscraper generates solar and wind energy.Eco-conscious architect Addler Elizalde Lozano has designed a self-sufficient skyscraper for Madrid that generates on-site renewable energy. Dubbed the Faceted Ecological Skyscraper, the building provides space for residential apartments, hotel, commercial and recreational areas. The façade has been designed by folding solid planes that protect the interior from hot climate. The small openings allow natural light and air to filter through to reduce energy consumption. In addition to several passive energy systems, the Faceted Ecological Skyscraper incorporates solar panels and wind turbines to generate renewable energy.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 19:24:06 +0000
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