Pittsburgh will soon see the completion of its first skyscraper to be constructed in 20 years. Dubbed Three PNC Plaza, the structure will be situated in downtown Pittsburgh and will be one of the largest environmentally sustainable mixed-use high-rises in the United States. The glossy green superstructure will employ a variety of sustainable strategies and is aiming for LEED certification.
The construction industry is booming in India, and skyscrapers are lining the country’s skyline. Much of this development does not integrate sustainable features, however many architects and planners have realized the importance of green building practices, and many new buildings and housing projects have adopted green technologies. In line with these developments, India’s new Cyber Park IT hub is vying to be one of the greenest sites in the country.
The United States’ first net-zero community is coming soon to Arvada Colorado! Dubbed Geos, the development will employ a sterling roster of alternative energy strategies to cut its consumption fossil fuels and become completely self-sustainable. Lately we’ve seen a slew of similar communities springing up around the world, from Canada to India to Estonia and we couldn’t be happier, since it’s future-forward communities such as these that are paving the pathway to a brighter future.
Taking a cue from eco-friendly skyscrapers and cars, religious places have started adopting sustainable technologies in the right earnest. The latest to join the green bandwagon is San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. The San Francisco landmark will install a solar photovoltaic power system to meet its energy requirements, bringing yet another green idea to boost the city’s eco credentials.
Everything from buildings to resorts to cars to temples are donning the green mantle. The latest to join this list of sustainable structures is the Keilder Observatory in the UK. Located in Northumberland and designed by Charles Barclay Architects, this stunning structure stands an an example of self-sustainable architecture that is equally inspiring in both form and function.
According to the Planning Commission, India will need to generate at least 700,000 MW of additional power by 2030 to meet growing electricity demands. India will certainly be looking towards alternative energy sources to generate a substantial portion of this energy. Although solar energy production in India accounted for a mere 1.7% of the world total in 2007 (80 megawatt peak (MWp) power compared to a world total of 4,700 MWp), several great green strides have been taken by the country to harness the immense potential of solar energy. The latest example of this future forward thinking is Rabi Rashmi Abasan, India’s first completely green housing project.
The Drake Landing Solar Community is the first solar powered community of North America. Located in the town of Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, the project sets a wonderful example of how every household can lead a sustainable lifestyle. There are 800 solar panels located throughout the community on garage roofs, and they produce 1.5 mega-watts of thermal power during a summer day and supply heat to the district heating system. The whole system meets 90% of the annual heating and hot water needs of the homes.
The Singapore skyline has been getting greener these days with new developments from some of the world’s most renown architects. The latest design to join the trend is a new futuristic green building from architect Ken Yeang named Fusionopolis. A research and development complex, this structure will adorn Singapore as the island nation’s most eco-friendly skyscraper.
Dubai has the knack of adopting green technologies and integrating them into sustainable development projects, giving rise to marvels like Rotating Wind Power Tower, DuBiotech, High-Tech Cybertechture, and many more. The latest project to appear on the horizon is Xeritown, an urban complex designed to work in harmony with the environment of the region through site specific and climate sensitive architecture and planning.
Spirituality seems to be taking a green course. The world’s largest solar kitchen has been installed by the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University and Academy for a Better World. And now a Hindu religious and cultural center in California has taken significant steps towards sustainability including running on solar power, reducing energy consumption and a plethora of planting trees. Currently under construction, this religious meeting place is being built as a place of love, peace and harmony, and protecting the environment is part of the vision.
Seems like everywhere we turn these days there’s green news on the Olympic front. We’ve written about the London 2012 Olympics stadium and Beijing’s Olympic Stadium. And now, even as the 2008 Summer Games have yet to start, the 2010 Winter Olympics are making headlines with the intent to become the green envy of eco-minded Olympic planning committees everywhere. The 2010 Winter Olympics Athletes’ Village will be built to a remarkably high level of sustainability and meet the LEED standards.
One of the most effective ways to cut down the ecological footprint of buildings is to follow the lead of nature through biomimicry. Habitat 2020 is a future forward example of biomimetic architecture that fuses high-tech ideas with basic cellular functions to create ‘living’ structures that operate like natural organisms. This nature-inspired approach to city living looks at the urban landscape as a dynamic and ever-evolving ecosystem. Within this cityscape, buildings open, close, breathe and adapt according to their environment.
Hidden Valley Cabins is Australia’s first carbon neutral resort and tour company. The solar powered getaway is located one and half hours northwest of Townsville, near Running River on the western slope of the Paluma range in Queensland, Australia. This is Australia’s first stand-alone resort that operates solely on solar power, and saves 78 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year!
Rickshaws, or cycle rickshaws, are a popular mode of human-powered transportation all around the world. The higher tech electric version of the foot-pedalled rickshaws has been gaining popularity recently, as it is an important sustainable mode of transport across developing nations. Now, London-based research and design company Solar Lab is working on a solar-powered rickshaw that will be the first human powered hybrid vehicle – combining pedal power with energy from rooftop photovoltaics.
It’s not often that we get to talk about airports but there is a lot happening in the aviation industry. One landmark development is the proposed construction of a new terminal at Shenzen Bao’an International Airport in China. Positioned as a gateway to China and designed by architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, the terminal will no doubt be a sleek transit destination. What has captured our attention is the incredible double skin canopy intended to let patterned natural light into the space, and significantly reduce energy consumption.
Half a million tons of e-waste is generated annually in India and is a serious threat to people’s health and the environment. The flourishing Indian IT sector contributes a large part of it. The disposal of this waste is a big problem and the waste leaves a huge carbon footprint. E-waste in India is dismantled and recycled manually in a hazardous, unorganized and unsafe manner. However, a new service launched in Mumbai could soon change the face of e-waste recycling and disposal in India.
Dubai has garnered much attention in recent years with a never-ending supply of architectural wonders being built, or proposed, at a head spinning pace. Mostly these towering structures are grand and tall, but some are also green. We’ve covered many an ambitious Dubai skyscraper scheme here at Inhabitat, including David Fisher’s Rotating Tower, but there is new news from Fisher’s Dynamic Architecture firm. This self-sufficient, sun and wind powered design is making headlines once again as the Italian-Israeli architect has just unveiled the latest design for his twirling tower, and construction is set to begin this month!
Indian Railways has traveled many miles of tracks since its introduction in 1853. However, anyone who has traveled on Indian trains is fully aware that the facilities on board are lacking in more ways than one. Unhygienic toilets reeking of human excreta have left many a traveler with an unpleasant experience, and have been an environmental burden as well. But things are starting to change for the better. Indian rails will soon boast eco-friendly toilets, thanks to an initiative from the Honorable Minister of Railways Laloo Prasad Yadav.
A new green complex from world renowned architecture firm Foster + Partners will be adding more than a dash of green to the Singapore skyline. As sustainability becomes an essential ingredient to development in this island nation, the UK-based firm is leaving no stone unturned to make good use of alternative energy sources in this 150,000 square meter mixed-use project. As the winning design from an international competition, Singapore’s new eco-complex from Foster + Partners is pushing the green envelope from top to bottom in this sophisticated downtown design.
We’ve seen a whole slew of gigantic, volcano shaped, city-in-a-building towers, each promising to be the largest building in the world. First it was the wacky X-Seed design for Tokyo, and then even Norman Foster got into the game with his proposal for the massive ‘Crystal Island’ development in Moscow. Well now, architect Eugene Tsui is taking the gigantic volcano tower concept to a whole new eco level, by taking design inspiration from the natural world. His new design for the Ultima Tower – a 2-mile high Mt Doom-esque structure – borrows design principles from trees and other living ystem to reduce its energy footprint. We are always intrigued by architecture that uses biomimicry – the borrowing of principles from nature’s designs – and Tsui’s concept for this towering, ultra-dense urban development has certainly captured our attention with its thought-provoking design.
If there’s one thing we can depend on it’s the rising and falling of the tides. Up until very recently, tidal power has been a severely underutilized renewable energy source, but this won’t be the case much longer with the announcement of the world’s largest tidal power project in South Korea. A collaboration between Lunar Energy and Korean Midland Power Co (KOMIPO), and would create a colossal 300-turbine field in the Wando Hoenggan Water Way off the South Korean coast by 2015, providing 300MW of renewable energy, enough to power 200,000 homes!
India is well-known for delicious food, and the kitchen is considered to be a sacred place in any Indian home. And now India has something else to be proud of: the world’s largest solar kitchen. The system has been installed as a collaboration between the Academy for a Better World and Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, with technology from Solare-Brücke, Germany. With 84 receivers and cooking at 650 degrees, the system can produce up to 38,500 meals a day when the sun is at its peak!
We love our LEDs for lamps and Christmas lights, but there’s a global application for LEDs that could bring inexpensive and efficient light to the 75% of Africa that lacks dependable access to clean, safe electrical lighting. (In Sub-Saharan Africa over 500 million people presently lack modern energy, and rural electricity access rates is only 2%.) A $13 million World Bank Group Initiative called Lighting Africa was launched in September 2007 to develop and distribute a highly efficient and rugged LED light bulb for the electricity-deprived in Africa.
San Francisco is already one of the greenest cities in the US, but check out this wild new concept from IwamotoScott Architects to completely remake the city into an ecotopia by 2108.
The design, which is as visually stunning as it is thought-provoking, recently won the History Channel’s City of the Future competition. It’s a full-scale urban system that combines the most innovative green technologies with San Francisco’s unique microclimate and geologic conditions, to produce a compelling vision for the future. Hydro-Net, as the project is known, will bring the lovely city-by-the-bay (which many Inhabitants call home) squarely into the 22nd Century with algae-harvesting towers, geothermal energy ‘mushrooms’, and fog catchers which distill fresh water from San Francisco’s infamous fog.
The lucky sunny state of Arizona is about to become home to the world’s largest Solar Plant! Thanks to a just-announced contract between Abengoa Solar and Arizona Public Service Company (APS), the enormous solar plant called Solana will power up to 70,000 homes, and will be the first example in the country of a major utility getting the majority of its energy from solar. The 1900 acre plant will be completed by 2011 – IF AND ONLY IF Congress renews the clean energy tax credit that’s set to expire at the end of 2008.
Instead of doing the old-fashioned solar power thing, and capturing the sun’s rays as they hit the Earth’s surface, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Osaka University Institute of Laser Engineering is bolding going where no space station has ever gone before – in terms of solar power. Pioneering scientists at Jaxa have found a way to harness solar power even closer to the source- from outer space! The Space Solar Power System (SSPS) technology would capture solar rays in space and transport the energy to be used here on the ground. A single unit placed in space would generate enough energy to power 500,000 homes!
What do you get when you combine the innovation of MagLev technology with solar power, hydrogen fuel, and a futuristic aesthetic? The Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Super Highway, or the Traveler- a ground-breaking solar powered, hydrogen-fueled, zero emission mass transit system that would carry everything from people to cars in sustainable style and carbon neutral function. The construction is set to begin this year, and would connect Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Ocean waves are already being used as a source of renewable energy, but could differences in water temperatures in the sea be our next source of green power? A decade old idea to generate renewable electricity for the globe with offshore, floating ‘Energy Islands’ could soon become a reality. The concept – creating artificial islands to collect wind, wave and solar power in the tropics – is based on the work of Jacques-Arsène d’Arsonval, a 19th-century French physicist, who envisioned the idea of using the sea as a giant solar-energy collector.
Norman Foster’s Masdar City is poised to become world’s most sustainable, zero-waste, car-free, carbon neutral city. The model for the city was formally unveiled on 21st January at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. We’ve talked about the grand scheme before, but the official debut deserves some new attention, given its viewing and support from everyone from General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and even President George W. Bush. The construction would start the next month, and the city is likely to open in late 2009.
Just when you thought green towers couldn’t get any greener (or more towering), there’s a new kid on the block. The Aquarius Tower, a 500-foot tall condominium to be built in Atlanta, is the latest to join the burgeoning ranks of iconic green hi-rises. The building is designed around the four elements of life: sun (solar panels), water (reclamation systems), air (wind turbines) and earth (a minimal footprint).
Amidst the increasing buzz around green cars, and innovative green car designs gaining grounds, Taiwan is ready with the prototype of a solar powered car that could hit the markets soon. The car was featured at the World Solar Challenge 2007, weighs a mere 250 kg and can reach speeds of 70 km/hr. All this with no emissions, powered by the sun!
What would you call a skyscraper that works like a tree, makes oxygen, distills water, produces energy, and changes with the seasons? Perhaps it’s time to propose a new word: treescraper! Biomimicry – the art of drawing inspiration from nature’s designs – is a strategy often found in green architecture, and here’s a tree-inspired super structure that exemplifies healthy and high-tech design for the future. Designed by William McDonough, the green architect par excellence, who built the first solar-powered house in Ireland in 1977 and was entitled “Hero of the Planet” in 1999 by the Time magazine, this latest proposal for the Tower of tomorrow was commissioned by Fortune Magazine. McDonough’s proposal focuses on the possibilities of today, for a future context, integrating green and arboreally-inspired systems in a super efficient, forward-thinking architectural marvel.
Michael Jantzen’s experimental designs are a fascinating amalgamation of art, architecture, and environmental sustainability. The visionary architect’s design for the Solar Wind Pavilion is no exception. Planned for the California State University at Fullerton, the Solar Wind Pavilion is an impressive integration of wind power generation, solar energy, and rainwater harvesting, all combined into a gathering place for students and faculty for special events, studies, relaxation and meditation.
The benefits of green homes are catching on! Entire apartment communities are getting solar-powered, and now PowerHouse Enterprises is making solar power more accessible with green prefab homes delivered by truck! Three of their award-winning designs – single family, multi-unit, and PowerPod – offer flexible living solutions with features such as energy-generating metal roofs, solar electricity, low-flow composting toilets, CFLs for lighting, bamboo flooring, and recycled compost wood siding.
Can you imagine driving a ultra-lightweight, solar-powered plastic car? If designer Harsha Ravi has his way, the lean, green Globetrotter car will be the future of transportation. Winning him the coveted Young Designer of the Year Award, Ravi’s car design for 2017 is independent of fossil fuels, packed with eco-friendly technologies, and cuts back the weight and bulk of today’s gas guzzlers. His design employs a carbon-neutral, bioplastic body that is 12% petroleum-based and 88% corn-based, which cuts manufacturing energy by 30%. And there’s more: a zinc-air fuel cell, a nano-paper battery, airless tires, nanopaints to absorb solar energy while parked to charge its batteries, and woven seat material. The Globetrotter is, indeed, the ultimate “tread lightly” automobile for the environment-savvy consumer.
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