Cool Green Projects

[M II A II R II K]

ZIGGURAT: Dubai Carbon Neutral Pyramid will House 1 Million

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/25/...use-1-million/





The Mayans and Egyptians constructed incredible feats of architecture able to weather the test of time, but they had no idea their pyramids would inspire the shape of the latest carbon-neutral super-structure to hit Dubai.

Dubai-based environmental design firm Timelinks recently released some eye-catching renderings of the gigantic eco pyramid – aptly named Ziggurat – with plans for its official unveiling scheduled for the Cityscape Dubai event which runs October 6-9 of this year. The ginormous pyramid will cover 2.3 square kilometers and will be able to sustain a “community” of up to 1 million.

Timelinks claims that their Ziggurat will be capable of running completely off the grid by utilizing steam, wind, and other natural resources. The tightly knit city will also feature a super efficient public transportation system that runs both horizontally and vertically, and plans are being drawn up to utilize both public and private green spaces for agricultural opportunities.

According to the International Institute for the Urban Environment, the technologies incorporated into the Ziggurat project will make it a viable metropolis, and Timlinks has responded by quickly patenting the design and technology developed for the project. A number of European professors will be on hand at CityScape Dubai to explain how the Ziggurat project can be incorporated into grander plans, meaning that it may not be a one-off structure.

[M II A II R II K]

Recycled Subway Cars Turned into Studios in London

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/11/28/...-studio-space/







Enterprising young artists in the London scene are usually presented with the dilemma of having to rent extremely expensive studio space in order to be able to work. This led furniture designer Auro Foxcroft to a rather ingenious and environmentally conscious solution. What was it? Take old subway cars, mount them on a rooftop, and use them for office space! A bit sparse? Sure! But these recycled subway cars are sure to inspire other green-minded, socially conscious artistic efforts.

Located on top of an old brick warehouse in Shoreditch, London, Village Underground provides affordable studio space for young artists (around 15 pounds per week). The subway cars act as working spaces for the artists, while a lower-level restored warehouse is used to host events and exhibit the artists’ works.

The four subway vehicles that make up the village were purchased for a grand total of 200 pounds each. They were then moved on top of the warehouse, and retrofitted to create a working space. The seats inside the carriages were removed, but everything else remains as is (one can even go into the cabin to play around with all the buttons and levers).

The best bit? There are plans to expand this concept to Berlin, Lisbon, and Toronto. Needless to say, we love it.

[JDRCRASH]

How tall will this structure have been? It reminds me of that mega-pyramid visioned for Japan.

[M II A II R II K]

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

How tall will this structure have been? It reminds me of that mega-pyramid visioned for Japan.

If the square base is 2.3 square km I guess you would have to calculate the height to the apex.

[JDRCRASH]

Well then by that standard, it looks like it's at least as tall as the Nakheel Harbor Tower.

[nouveau_Mauvilla]

I'm digging those subway lofts- kind of the cooler brother of the recycled storage container.

[M II A II R II K]

Azerbaijan’s Carbon Neutral Zira Island

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/02/02/...ig-architects/







Zira Island is a 1,000,000 sq meter island In the Caspian Sea that will soon be developed into an incredible eco-community and sustainably built resort. Master-planned by Denmark-based BIG Architects, the carbon-neutral eco-island is based on the seven peaks of Azerbaijan and its mountainous ecosystems. Located in the bay of the capital city Baku, Zira Island is a ferry ride away from a growing metropolis and will stand as an example to a region so dependent on oil, that it is possible to live off the wind and sun.

BIG Architects‘ Zira Island will feature seven major structures modeled after the peaks of Azerbaijan that are connected by trails, greenbelts and the coastline. The Seven Peaks will each house a residential development and public space, and there will also be 300 private villas near a golf course in the central valley. Zira’s new skyline of organic buildings will resemble a mountain range that merges with the natural topography of the island.

Many carbon neutral communities are currently being developed around the world, like Masdar, Rioja, and Dongtan. All promise a new way of life completely independent of carbon-based fuels. Zira Island is less of a city and more or a resort, but it still holds the same promises of sustainability and will use the sun, wind and water to heat and power the island.

Heat pumps, which plunge into the surrounding Caspian Sea, will heat and cool the buildings on the island, and Solar Hot Water Collectors are integrated into the architecture to provide hot water. Photovoltaics on strategically angled facades and roof tops will generate electricity, and an off-shore wind farm will be constructed in the Caspian Sea, utilizing the existing oil platforms and foundations for the new and more sustainable power supply.

Potable water will be provided via a desalination plant, while waste and stormwater will be collected in a wastewater treatment plant and recycled for irrigation. The solid waste will be composted and reused as fertilizer for the island. Many trees and lots of lush vegetation will be planted to create a tropical environment, although no information is provided for how the island will deal with their trash or whether or not they will grow any of their own food.

[M II A II R II K]

New Green City Block in Singapore

http://www.architecturelist.com/2008...-in-singapore/





Designed by Foster+Partners, the new 150,000 sqm green city block in Singapore will be located between the Marina Center and the Civic District.

The complex will fill an entire city block between Singapore’s Marina Center and the Civic District with commercial, residential, retail, hotels, and a ‘green’ link to an Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station. All facades will be fitted with solar cells and, to help control solar gain, direct sunlight will be filtered through ribbon-like canopies rising from the base of the entire complex to the exposed east and west elevations of the towers.

[GO_UAE]

MASDAR city Abu Dhabi (one of the main reasons why Abu Dhabi was chosen to host the IRENA)


http://www.overseaspropertymall.com/wp-content/gallerymasdar/masdar-development.jpg

http://www.masdar.ae/en/Menu/index.a...=25&mnu=SubCat

and a link to the skyscrapercity URL

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...ghlight=masdar

[M II A II R II K]

LIVING WALLS












Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” It turns out that his suggestion is also a good idea for creating handsome buildings. And who wants to hide an investment in green away on the roof when you can hang it out for everyone to see?

Vertical gardens reduce cooling loads in summer by shading buildings; this “blanket effect” also cuts heating loads in winter, with the green layer acting as extra insulation. As the plants grow, they trap carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, and soak up such pollutants as lead and cadmium. Green walls absorb noise; help reduce the heat island effect, keeping cities cooler; and provide a habitat or insects and spiders, which in turn feed birds and bats. And, as Wright noted, these interventions can hide a lot of ugly buildings.

[East2Westback]

[M II A II R II K]

Why Treasure Island Is the Super-Green City of the Future


Published in the January 2008 issue.

By Logan Ward

http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...81.html?page=1

A blighted island in San Francisco Bay could become the world’s hottest property, a showcase of sustainable design. With cities now consuming 75 percent of natural resources, it’s just in time.

Every day, a few hundred thousand vehicles cross the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, their drivers barely aware of the small, rectangular land mass lying just to the north. From where I am standing, on rocky Yerba Buena Island, I can both hear the traffic thundering overhead and look across a narrow isthmus to the long-forgotten patch of real estate in the middle of the bay: Treasure Island. Home to an abandoned Navy base and a small population of low- to middle-income residents, the 400-acre property hardly lives up to its prosperous name. Defunct military buildings, rusty oil tanks and electrical transformers litter the landscape. Crumbling asphalt caps chemical dumps.

[M II A II R II K]

Nice Dutch project using ‘waste’ heat and CO2 to increase greenhouse yields!


October 23, 2009

by Tom Raftery

http://greenmonk.net/nice-dutch-proj...nhouse-yields/

What is WarmCO2?

It is a project which takes residual heat and CO2 from Dutch fertiliser manufacturer Yara and using infrastructure supplied by partner company Visser & Smit Hanab, pipes them to vegetable growers in the nearby Terneuzen commercial greenhouse project.

[M II A II R II K]

http://www.euinfrastructure.com/news...digital-cloud/

Cloud technology is fast becoming the method of choice for users that want to access all their information where-ever they are in the world... but an actual 'Digital Cloud' is being pondered to be a centre piece of the city's Olympic village.

- The Cloud would 'float' over London's skyline and would be made up of 120m towers holding a series of interconnected plastic bubbles that would display images and data. It would also be used as an observation deck as well as a park.

[M II A II R II K]

Is this the nation's greenest office building?

University of Bristol's new Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information


09/03/09

By Dillan Baxter

http://www.euinfrastructure.com/news...ndly-building/

The Environmental Agency in Bristol has declared that their new office in Bristol is the greenest office building in the country. Despite not yet being finished, it has already achieved the highest-ever score awarded by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) for its environmental credentials, 85.06 percent under Breeam 2006 assessment method.

- Developed by Westmark and located on Deanery Road, the environmentally friendly building has been designed using the latest technologies, innovative design and stringent site management to ensure a high level of environmental performance in both the construction and use of the building.

- Amongst its green technologies is the building's ability to harvest rainwater to cut water consumption, intelligent lighting systems to cut electricity use, natural ventilation and a ground source heat pump that reduces heating and cooling costs. The construction process also lessened the building's environmental impact. Recycled materials were used and, according to Westmark, energy and resource management was carefully regulated.

[trueviking]

the greenest office building in north america is manitoba hydro in winnipeg.


http://dcnonl.com/images/archivesid/34913/110.jpg


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZSDxxAG1X1...ydro+Place.jpg

Canada's Most Important Building
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/...rtant-building

Best Tall Building of the Americas Award
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/sto...obuilding.html

Description
http://www.smithcarter.com/green/res...tudy_Sept4.pdf

[amor de cosmos]

Water Purifying Skyscraper Cleans up Jakarta’s Rivers

One of our favorite projects from the 2010 eVolo Skyscraper Competition is this incredible water purifying skyscraper designed for the rivers of Jakarta. Dubbed the Ciliwung Recovery Project (CRP), the design took second place in the competition thanks to its amazing concept, beautiful design and ecological benefits. The project provides housing and features an integrated filtration system consisting of a series of tubes that pump and purify waters from the region's polluted rivers.

The structure itself is built from a spine of tubes that carry water to and from the river. It utilizes three methods of water purification — first the tubes collect water from the river via capillary action and separate out the garbage, which is then used to create fertilizer. Second, water is filtered to eliminate dangerous contaminants and add beneficial minerals before being sent back to the river. Third, waste water from households is collected, processed and filtered and then added back into the river. Household waste is converted into fertilizer for use on the banks of the river and in the new ecosystem of the building.

The structure itself is built from a spine of tubes that carry water to and from the river. It utilizes three methods of water purification — first the tubes collect water from the river via capillary action and separate out the garbage, which is then used to create fertilizer. Second, water is filtered to eliminate dangerous contaminants and add beneficial minerals before being sent back to the river. Third, waste water from households is collected, processed and filtered and then added back into the river. Household waste is converted into fertilizer for use on the banks of the river and in the new ecosystem of the building.

As the river and its banks are converted into a new ecosystem, the slums along the river will be removed and the people living there will be relocated into the skyscraper’s low-income housing units. Elevators inside the structure will be powered via the Archimedes principle of vessels – the vessel will move up or down based upon their specific gravity. Additionally, the structure will be powered with wind turbines and a solar system placed on the roof, making the building completely self-sustaining in terms of energy and water.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/08/...akarta-rivers/




http://www.evolo.us/competition/wate...er-in-jakarta/

[amor de cosmos]

The 10 MW Tower is an eco skyscraper and renewable energy generating machine that harvests wind and solar power. A 5 MW wind turbine sits at the top of the building harnessing the wind, while the power of the sun is collected via a 3 MW concentrating solar system plus a 2 MW solar updraft system. Designed by UAE-based Studied Impact, this 50 story skyscraper will put out 10 times as much energy as it needs, pumping renewable power back into the Dubai electric grid.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/10/...-wind-and-sun/

[amor de cosmos]

the bus-shaped fountain is a goofy idea but the building looks cool

Pelli Clarke Pelli presented the final design for the Transbay Transit Center on Thursday to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board (TJPA) in San Francisco, Calif. The glass-and- steel complex, which will serve 12 transit systems including the future California High Speed Rail, is noticeably minus its original iconic tower and includes new features as well.

One of those features is a 5.4-acre rooftop park with a 100-seat outdoor amphitheater for musical performances, space for evening film screenings, cafes and restaurants. The park will have 20 sub-environments including an amphitheater, a children's playground, public artworks and a lily pond, providing rich educational and recreational experiences to the public. A 1,000-foot long fountain shaped like a bus will automatically be activated when a bus passes underneath the park.

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...pload_id=13872

[Coldrsx]

^unreal!