Eco Skyscrapers: Green Architecture Reaches For The Sky

WebEcoist:

With a burgeoning global population that has ever-growing needs for both food and housing, many architects are looking up for sustainable solutions that will prevent further sprawl and provide fresh food to urban residents. Vertical farms and skyscrapers that incorporate various functions like housing, recreation, work and tourism are like miniature self-sufficient cities, complete with transit and on-site energy production, minimizing the building's carbon footprint and that of its residents.

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Comments

[Totto]

Green Movement

http://www.thalys.com/feeds/metamorphosis-in-action

THAT'S high-speed !

[jsarets]

All of these design concepts have too much glass area. Architects love that, even the ones that specialize in green buildings, but inevitably they hand the design to an energy analysis subcontractor that tells them that they just can't get away with that much glass and still meet their energy budget.

Every green building project I've ever worked on wound up being built with less glass area than was originally desired. Sometimes they wanted over 80% glass and I had to patiently explain to them why they couldn't have more than 40-50% even with super-expensive triple-pane low-e glazing.

I've worked on three LEED Platinum buildings, and none of them look anything like these concepts. The glass has to be strategically placed and cleverly shaded in order to maximize natural lighting and pleasant views while minimizing heat transfer through the building envelope.

[SonofLiberty1]

What about the lighting? Is that green too?

[jsarets]

All of the recent green commercial buildings aggressively exploit natural lighting and high-efficiency fixtures. With the way the LEED rating system works, natural lighting is the easiest way to score points, so everybody takes advantage.

When I worked as a building energy modeler, I spent most of my time tweaking the daylight models to capture all of the light sensors, dimmer settings, window light shelves, reflective ceiling tiles, sunspace atriums, and other design features intended to reduce electric lighting energy.