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Could Encasing Cities in Giant Domes Be an Energy Solution for Our Future?

Could Encasing Cities in Giant Domes Be an Energy Solution for Our Future?

Back in 1979, Winooski, Vermont, a town that often experiences -20 degree weather in January, proposed building a giant dome over their city to help reduce energy costs and keep warm throughout the winter. Thirty years ago, we were experiencing an energy crisis with rising oil prices, and people were looking for solutions to reduce their costs. Nowadays, while we’re also looking to reduce our carbon footprint in addition to costs, the concept is still applicable. By doming off the small city of 7,000, Winooski could stay warm all year round, reduce energy costs and emissions, grow food all year, and ban cars inside the dome. Environmentally, it seems like it has potential.

What do you think?

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Cité du Design: Solar Powered International Design Center Unveiled

Cité du Design: Solar Powered International Design Center Unveiled

Situated in an defunct arms manufacturing facility in Saint-Etienne, the recently unveiled Cité du Design is a stunning international center for design. Designed by LIN, the project completely renovated the historic complex and integrated a new facility made out of triangular scaffolding. Powered by solar energy and supplemented by an efficient heating system, the energy efficient Cité du Design is a world class design center that lives up to its name.

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Taipei 101 To Be World’s Tallest Green Building

Taipei 101 To Be World’s Tallest Green Building

Taipei 101, famous for being one of the world’s tallest buildings, is set to get some major eco-upgrades in an effort to save money, reduce its impact, and gain the much coveted title of “World’s Tallest Green Building.” In 2007, the Burj Dubai surpassed Taipei 101 in terms of height, but the Taiwanese building won’t give up the fight, throwing down $1.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades, which are expected to yield $20 million annually in savings and make it the Earth’s greenest building that’s also closest to the heavens!

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James Law’s Technosphere is an Eco Deathstar for Dubai

James Law’s Technosphere is an Eco Deathstar for Dubai

Like an non evil, sustainable version of the Deathstar, the Technosphere by James Law Cybertecture replicates the Earth as a structural concept. Inside the eco-sphere is an entire world which serves as a vehicle to explore the issues of self-sustaining life on a smaller level. Although not nearly as self-sufficient as the Biosphere 2, the Technosphere is meant to reflect the state of our planet in current and future times. Proposed as an iconic building for the Technopark of Dubai, the eco-sphere would be a carbon neutral tourist attraction as well as a place in which to live and work.

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SOM Wins Competition to Create Beijing’s Sustainable City Center

SOM Wins Competition to Create Beijing’s Sustainable City Center

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) was recently awarded the contract to create a stunning new Central Business District in Beijing. The project will integrate into the existing downtown urban district and will improve transportation infrastructure while introducing energy-efficient buildings green public space. The plan also provides a framework for new sustainable growth that would result in eliminating 215,000 tons of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of planting 14 million adult trees.

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The New Bouwkunde Architecture Proposal Swoops Like a Skateboard Ramp

The New Bouwkunde Architecture Proposal Swoops Like a Skateboard Ramp

Back in 2008, a devastating fire tore through the Bouwkunde building where the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology resided, resulting in a loss of more than just a structure, but also a home base for many students and faculty. To put the tragedy in the past, the university set out to start anew with a design competition to rebuild the Bouwkunde that would focus on community, sustainability, and adaptability. One of the designs is from Adam Wojtalik for his masters project, and resembles the biggest skateboard ramp you’ve ever seen. His clever solar panel-clad design for The New Bouwkunde features well thought out work areas for both students and faculty and lots of public space for relaxing and meeting.

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Graft Lab’s Vertical Village in Dubai Has Spider Web of Solar Panels

Graft Lab’s Vertical Village in Dubai Has Spider Web of Solar Panels

At first glance, Graft Lab’s dazzling complex in Dubai may appear to have a cluster of sparkling geometric pools at its base. But upon further inspection, the web-like structures are actually something even more desirable than a place to take a dip in the hot desert – a means of collecting the scorching rays of the sun and transforming them into energy. Dubbed the Vertical Village, this multi-use building and accompanying massive array of solar collectors was designed to work smarter, not harder, which is expected to earn it a LEED Gold certification when it is completed.

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Solar Powered Supertower to Eclipse the Burj Dubai?

Solar Powered Supertower to Eclipse the Burj Dubai?

Even though the 2,600 ft tall, 126 story Burj Dubai is still under construction, a fierce race is already brewing to construct the world’s next tallest building. Recently Santa Monica building designer Tommy Landau threw his hat into the ring by proposing a super-tall 224 story skyscraper to be located in Abu Dhabi. While the building is years away from being built, Landau is convinced that by that time technology will be advanced enough to coat the building in solar cells and power it completely with the sun. Very apropos given the tower’s desert location!

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Songdo IBD: South Korea’s New Eco-City

Songdo IBD: South Korea’s New Eco-City

Every country needs their own master-planned eco city. Germany will have aptly named ECO CITY Hamburg, the UK has Hanham Hall, Sweden has Super Sustainable City in Gothenburg, Spain has Logroño Montecorvo Eco City, and the UAW has Masdar. But South Korea seems to have two master-planned sustainable communities, we saw this super sustainable city by Foster + Partners earlier this week, and now we are taking a look at Songdo International Business District or Songdo IBD. This new eco-city will be impressive with its list of eco-credentials – tons of beautiful open space and parks, green roofs, solar passive design, mass transit and over 120 buildings built to LEED standards.

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Self-Sufficent Floating House Powered by the Sun and Sea

Self-Sufficent Floating House Powered by the Sun and Sea

House on the Water by Poland-based Formodesign is a stunning floating home that relies on the surrounding sea and radiating sun to keep it self-sufficient in terms of energy and h2o. Accessible only by boat, the cantilevered home rests offshore from a beautiful beach and is intended to be used as a rental home for those seeking a life offshore.

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Top Five ‘Green’ Buildings That Defeat The Point of Being Green

Top Five ‘Green’ Buildings That Defeat The Point of Being Green

It’s thrilling to see so many new constructions striving to be as eco-conscious as they possibly can, but beware. What looks green on the surface of things can belie another story entirely when you dig a little deeper. Here we reveal what we believe to be the most ridiculous cases of architectural greenwashing we’ve seen so far.

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Entangled Bank: Sustainable Urban Skyscraper for Dallas

Entangled Bank: Sustainable Urban Skyscraper for Dallas

Charlotte, North Carolina-based architecture firm Little Diversified Architectural Consulting has conceived of an incredible project that transforms a vacant parking lot in Dallas into a completely self-reliant eco-city. Dubbed the Entangled Bank, the project features a green-walled citadel emblazoned with solar panels, an agricultural field, and an extensive system for greywater treatment and recycling, providing its residents with sustainable sources for food, water and energy.

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Blue Crystal: A Sustainable Iceberg Lodge in Dubai?

Blue Crystal: A Sustainable Iceberg Lodge in Dubai?

Temporary ice hotels materialize each winter in frigid northern towns from Russia to Canada. As temperatures rise in the spring the structures melt back into the earth. Now Dubai is poised to get its first year-round ice lodge, Blue Crystal. And considering the amount of energy needed to keep a man made iceberg under 32 degrees in scorching summers on the Persian Gulf, it’s almost amusing to hear Blue Crystal touted as sustainable.

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Almeisan Tower is a Solar Concentrating Skyscraper

Almeisan Tower is a Solar Concentrating Skyscraper

Architect Robert Ferry recently unveiled a stunning design for a sustainable spire in Dubai that requires zero energy and produces zero waste and zero emissions. The Almeisan Tower is a concept created for Za’abeel Park that generates all of its own energy using concentrating solar power technology. The tower itself is actually a solar power tower (much like Solar One in California) that uses heliostats positioned at the top of the tower to direct sunlight onto a central receiver.

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Tornado Tower Features Energy Generating Facade

Tornado Tower Features Energy Generating Facade

The Tornado Tower is a spectacular modern and unique design that is characterized by a rotating facade, which generates power from high altitude winds. The exterior of the tower is outfitted with curved fins that harness the wind to generate clean energy to power the arts center and the surrounding city as well. Pairing function and aesthetic, the roof of the tower boasts an undulating sea of pearls that meld into clouds, from which unparalleled views of the city are possible.

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SUSTAINABLE SPIRE: Twisting Ivory Observation Tower for Dubai

SUSTAINABLE SPIRE: Twisting Ivory Observation Tower for Dubai

XTEN Architecture recently unveiled an elegantly spiraling observation tower that stands to make an incredible new addition to Dubai’s skyline. Dubbed the ZPO Tower, the structure features a beautiful latticed facade inspired by traditional motifs, and includes plans for solar film, geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, and grey water recycling. The tower is designed to be constructed from mostly recycled materials at net zero energy, and it can generate enough solar energy to completely power itself!

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Toronto’s Ambitious Tower Renewal Project

Toronto’s Ambitious Tower Renewal Project

Much like every big city, Toronto has an aging array of Post WW-II high rise apartment buildings. When they were built in the 1960’s they were considered the height of modernity and dense urban design, but now as they are close to reaching the end of their intended lifespan, they are hugely inefficient and lack the qualities that make a sustainable, viable, urban community. There are no markets or grocery stores, inadequate public transportation, and little retail or local jobs. Rather than tear the towers down to start anew, the Mayor and City of Toronto want to use this vast resource of buildings and revitalize the city to become a more sustainable, walkable, greener community.

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Dragonfly Vertical Farm for a Future New York

Dragonfly Vertical Farm for a Future New York

Modeled after the wings of a dragonfly, this incredible urban farm concept for New York City’s Roosevelt Island intends to ease the problems of food mileage and shortage, and reconnect consumers with producers. Urban farming is a growing trend amongst savvy city dwellers today, but in a densely packed borough like Manhattan, growth must come vertically. Spanning 132 floors and 600 vertical meters, the Dragonfly can accommodate 28 different agricultural fields for the production of fruit, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy. A combination of solar and wind power make Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut’s Dragonfly concept %100 self sufficient.

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Energy 101 INTERVIEW: IBM’s Drew Clark on Future Smart Meters

Energy 101 INTERVIEW: IBM’s Drew Clark on Future Smart Meters

In last week’s Energy 101 column, we looked at some of the home energy monitoring devices currently available and explored the ways that they can help us live more efficient, eco-conscious lives. But with smart grid technologies rapidly approaching, a new group of energy-tracking devices is emerging. We had the chance to speak with Drew Clark, Director of Strategy for IBM’s Venture Capital Group, about what the future holds for smart meter technology.

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Food City: Dubai’s Self-Sufficient Ecotopia

Food City: Dubai’s Self-Sufficient Ecotopia

This past February, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce authorized the development of a “free zone” dubbed Food City. GCLA, a green landscape architect firm, proposed a master plan for the city sector to turn it into an incredible off-the-grid, self-sufficient metropolis. GCLA’s future-forward urban quarter incorporates an extensive list of sustainable urban planning ideas, including vertically stacked landscape surfaces, artificial roof landscapes, renewable energy systems, aquatic farms, and thermal conditioning.

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Balancing Buoy Chair by Evan Dewhirst

Balancing Buoy Chair by Evan Dewhirst

This year the Pratt booth at Bklyn Designs showcased an impressive body of creative work by students, making it clear that the budding designers view sustainability as integral to the development of a design, not as an afterthought to be accounted for later. We were particularly impressed with the Evan Dewhirst’s ergonomic Buoy Chair, and we’re excited to announce that it won our Best Student Design Award! The Buoy Chair is made up of a water buoy, an aluminum body and a cork top, all held together by a harness inside the chair, making it free of glues and epoxies. Sitting upon the stool encourages active balance, upright posture, and is a lot of fun!

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Generating Giant Sandstone Walls to Fight Desertification

Generating Giant Sandstone Walls to Fight Desertification

Desertification, the degradation of land in arid areas, is a growing problem due to deforestation, fires, and climate change. Magnus Larsson, a student at London’s Architectural Association has a drastic solution–a 6,000 km long wall of artificially solidified sandstone spanning the Sahara Desert from east to west. Dunes along Larsson’s sandstone wall will act as a combination of refugee housing and a block against the desert.

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ChunWei Liao Elevates Common Cardboard to Design

ChunWei Liao Elevates Common Cardboard to Design

At Milan’s 2009 furniture fair, Designersblock did not depart from its habit of showing the very best in fresh new design, and ChunWei Liao’s Transformer furniture and lighting collection is the perfect example of the show’s unique and innovative spirit. The Taiwanese designer presented a stellar catalog of work, but the most interesting product in the series was the lamp grandly named “Transformer Lighting Infinity.”

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Foster + Partner’s Sand Dune-Inspired UAE Pavilion

Foster + Partner’s Sand Dune-Inspired UAE Pavilion

A golden sand dune-inspired structure begins to take shape as Foster + Partners recently broke ground upon their UAE pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. A showcase of passive environmental design, the pavilion creates a symbolic reference with the desert landscape over which each of the seven emirates presides. As if modeled by prevailing winds, the pavilion mimics the duality between the rough and smooth sides of a sand dune while making the most of its site. The northern façade allows natural light to filter through its porous structure, while the southern façade is enclosed to minimize heat infiltration during the exhibit.

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Rak Jebel Al Jais Mountain Resort Defies Nature

Rak Jebel Al Jais Mountain Resort Defies Nature

The Rak Jebel Al Jais Mountain Resort is a new master planned tourist village in the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. Designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, this future resort will be built on the top and the sides of a mountain range, defying nature and the mountains with its extravagant design, improbable building site and disregard for the native landscape. In a country focused so completely on luxurious resorts, new developments and ostentatious displays, this resort is no surprise.

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Soaring Seawater Farms for a Self-Sufficient Dubai

Soaring Seawater Farms for a Self-Sufficient Dubai

Dubai is a burgeoning metropolis surrounded by seawater that relies on imports for nearly all of its food. Addressing the region’s lack of natural resources, Italian architects Studiomobile have conceived of a Seawater Vertical Farm that draws upon local resources to create a sustainable source of food for a cleaner, greener and more self-sufficient Dubai. Envisioned as a spire that branches off into soaring sky-gardens, the design uses seawater to create an ecosystem conducive to growing crops amid the clouds.

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INHABITAT EDITORS’ FAVORITE STORIES OF 2008

INHABITAT EDITORS’ FAVORITE STORIES OF 2008

We’ve brought you the most popular stories of 2008, and you voted on your favorites. Now we’d like to highlight some more under-the-radar Inhabitat stories from 2008 that you may have missed – the editors’ favorites. As avid followers of sustainable design, our Inhabitat editors were amazed at the wealth of green design developments that the past year brought. Now …

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INHABITAT READERS’ TOP STORIES OF 2008

INHABITAT READERS’ TOP STORIES OF 2008

DRUMROLL PLEASE … Here at Inhabitat we feel lucky to have such a dedicated and enthusiastic reader base, so when we revealed Inhabitat’s Top 10 Most Popular Green Design Stories of 2008 earlier this week we wanted to give you the chance to weigh in vote for your favorite stories. Well, the results are in, and we’re excited to reveal our readers’ choice top posts of 2008! Read on to see the results…

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TOP TEN MOST POPULAR GREEN DESIGN STORIES OF 2008

TOP TEN MOST POPULAR GREEN DESIGN STORIES OF 2008

With the end of 2008 rapidly approaching, now is a good time to take a look back at the year and reflect on the most interesting green design developments of 2008. From massive shifts towards eco-friendly transportation to monumental wonders of green architecture to a stunning array of clean technology breakthroughs, it’s been a banner year for green, with thousands of incredible projects cropping up in every field of sustainable design. Over the next couple days we’ll be compiling a bunch of top ten lists for 2008: including our readers’ favorite stories and our editors’ favorite stories. To kick off this list we’d like to highlight Inhabitat’s most popular stories of 2008, (based on number of pageviews according to Google Analytics). We’d love to hear what you think, and we’ll be putting together a reader ‘top ten’ in a few days, so please vote on your favorites below…

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TOP TEN GREEN ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS OF 2008

TOP TEN GREEN ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS OF 2008

As the holiday season winds to close we’re counting down the days to the new year with a look at some of Inhabitat’s most exciting stories of 2008! It’s been an outstanding year in green building and today we’re looking back at ten of the most impressive green architecture projects of 2008. From LEED platinum superstructures to innovative recycled and reclaimed buildings to ground-breaking monuments that integrate incredible new technologies, read on the year’s best and brightest developments!

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Herzog & de Meuron’s Lush Green BBVA Headquarters

Herzog & de Meuron’s Lush Green BBVA Headquarters

Herzog and de Meuron have been very busy lately designing some amazing new buildings in Europe, like their Project Triangle in Paris. Their newest design for the Spanish banking group BBVA will be built on the outskirts of Madrid as early as 2013. The verdant green headquarters will feature luscious gardens and will create it’s own microclimate by using natural ventilation, evapotranspiration, and the shade of the gardens and buildings to create a cool artificial oasis on a desert-like site. The project is meant to function as a small city, encouraging people to walk and meet within the outdoor spaces.

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Dubai Outdoes Itself With a Universe of Islands

Dubai Outdoes Itself With a Universe of Islands

If we ever harbored the sentiment that Dubai’s dubious construction blitz would slow in times of economic unrest, the astronomical scale of the UAE’s latest project will surely dispel these qualms. Dubai’s largest developer, Nakheel, recently revealed plans for an entire archipelago of universe-themed islands at a $20 million dollar opening party for the Atlantis Resort. The cosmic string of strands will feature a sun, stars, and planets, and will be situated inshore of the already constructed World Islands.

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Steven Holl’s Stunning Solar Copenhagen Bridge

Steven Holl’s Stunning Solar Copenhagen Bridge

A welcoming beacon before a shining expanse of sea, Steven Holl Architects‘ LM project will update Copenhagen’s waterfront with two eye-catching photovoltaic-sheathed skyscrapers and a sky bridge studded with wind turbines. The iconic development recently took first place in a competition to design a new gateway for Copenhagen, and it was approved in a unanimous vote by the jury.
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MVRDV’s Stackable Sky Village High Rise

MVRDV’s Stackable Sky Village High Rise

MVRDV and ADEPT Architects are the masterminds behind this incredible Sky Village high rise. Designed as an acropolis of stackable green-roofed units, the structure recently won a competition to construct a new high-rise in Rødovre, an independent municipality of Copenhagen. The high-rise incorporates lots of sustainable design elements to reduce its environmental impact, and its main concept is centered around a system of individual units that can be stacked in various configurations to maximize available space and allow for easy structural changes in response to market demand.
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ANARA TOWER: Dubai’s Titanic Turbine-Shaped Superstructure

ANARA TOWER: Dubai’s Titanic Turbine-Shaped Superstructure

It seems that hardly a week passes before Dubai’s prospective skyline is updated with plans for yet another soaring skyscraper or incredible development. The latest world-class superstructure to grace the modern megopolis is Anara Tower, an ambitious project crowned with an eye-catching propeller-shaped peak. Designed by Atkins Designs Studio and Developed by Tameer Holding Investment, the 2,150 foot tall skyscraper will be aiming for LEED silver certification when construction begins next year.
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