Category Archives: Architecture
We all know Norman Foster for his work on Abu Dhabi’s carbon neutral city, Masdar. Apple has hooked up the architect to design their headquarters located in Cupertino, California. The area spanning across 148 acres, Norman’s project termed as the City of Apple will use up some 90 acres, and the world-renowned architect will get busy drawing sketches for Apple’s dream project. And the best part, this one will be designed to be sustainable. Making use of renewable energy is the prime focus of the City of Apple. Featuring green surface areas and a network of tunnels to join all the buildings together, the City of Apple will be an example set to the world indeed.
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The French are known for their taste, in food, architecture and clothing. We came across a piece of French architecture, that’s as green as a residential building can get. Built in Bonday, France, the social housing project was designed by Atelier du Pont. The U-shaped residential building lets in all the natural daylight it can and is an energy-efficient roof over the head for lower-income families. The housing project also includes rainwater collection systems that collect rainwater from the roof that is then use to water the landscaping. Also, each of these living spaces comes with private balconies, opening up to the natural world outside.
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NL architects just drew up sketches for a 300-meter high tower that could find its roots in Taiwan, if all goes as planned. The Tower of Power, somewhat of a biblical name, will be a model green building, offering sightseeing and recreational facilities to visitors. This one produces a whole lot of green energy, and uses some 2000 rotors for that. Together, the rotors produce as much as 8MW of renewable energy. Besides just being an iconic structure, like most of the others that stand around, this one has its green uses too, owing to the fact that it generates energy. All in all, the Tower of Power could be Taiwan’s new modular power plant with recreational facilities.
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Singapore can now swell up its chest in pride, as the world’s largest renewable diesel plant by Neste Oil finally begins chugging. To help increase production of NExBTL renewable diesel fuel, the facility was set up costing around $550 million. And when we say it’s large, the amount of fuel pumping out of this one is astoundingly high too. The plant has a capacity of producing 800,000 tons of synthetic diesels on a yearly basis. The NExBTL fuel is highly compatible with all diesel engines around and works great in cold climates too. Also, this renewable diesel can be blended into the usual traditional diesel fuel too. Using Neste’s renewable diesel helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a whole 40-80%.
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After being renamed from the Central Terminal at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to the International Terminal and finally shutting down to passenger use, the T2 terminal will now swing its doors open in the spring of 2011, with a shade of green. With a bunch of changes being brought about by Virgin America, this will be the first LEED Gold certified airport terminal in the United States. Seven of the fourteen gates will be used by Virgin America, while the rest of the space will be shared with American Airlines. The terminal boasts natural lighting, energy-efficient HVAC, water reuse program, recycling of construction and demolition debris and will turn into a hydration station of sorts.
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Proposition for Taiwan Tower by Nicolas Laisne Architect from Nicolas Laisne on Vimeo.
Here’s on building façade that’ll stare right back at you if you look at it. Why? Simply because it’s covered with mirrors! Well, besides just showing you a reflection of yourself, the Taichung Tower by Nicolas Laisne, awarded honorable mention in the international Taiwan Tower Conceptual Design Competition, generates some green energy too! The mirrors, or panels, also naturally cool the interior using direct winds, helping the towering structure reduce its carbon footprint by quite an appreciable extent. With enough space for offices, a museum, a restaurant, an observatory and suspended gardens that offer breath-taking views, this beautiful building is the future of green architecture, showing architects and designers just how its done right, the environment-friendly way.
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The Masdar City dream is finally being built into a reality, starting off with the inauguration of the Masdar Institute by Foster + Partners. The institute is net-energy positive and is designed to efficiently function without the use of carbon-based fuels. Using solar electric arrays, passive cooling techniques, low-energy solutions for lighting and other systems and a lot more, the institute complex uses as much as 51% less energy and 54% less potable water than most contemporary building structures. The Masdar City in Abu Dhabi will be an example to the world, showing the globe just how green a city can get, without polluting the environment to function.
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The field’s green, their uniforms green, and its now time for the Philadelphia Eagles to go a lot greener! The team will proudly flaunt a green renewable-energy-powered stadium in the near future. Starting next season, the team’s home stadium will begin juicing up using 100 percent on-site generated renewable energy, cleaning up its act and going eco-friendly. The stadium, the Lincoln Financial Field, will have 80 spiral wind turbines installed on its rim and 2,500 solar panels covering its façade. Also, the stadium will boast a 7.5 Megawatt biofuel co-generation system and to top it all, a high-tech control system that will balance out energy generation from these sources.
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So, you mine for diamonds, make all the money in the world out of your bounty, and leave a crater in the earth. The same was the story of the Mirniy diamond mine in Eastern Siberia, except that the crater left behind will now play home to a little green city! The Ab Elis ‘Eco-City 2020’ pretty much had us think of a city planned for the future just in case a meteor does collide into earth. This hardly is a meteor crater though, just a great way to give back to nature what humankind has reaped from it. 2km wide, the crater will be a complete city with forests, farms, community facilities and housing for 100,000. The crater will then be covered by a transparent dome equipped with solar cells that will juice up using energy from the sun and power up the city.
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Public mass-transit in the state of Massachusetts sees a greener horizon now. Governor Deval Patrick recently inaugurated the $13.5 million commuter rail station at historic Fenway Park, powered by solar energy. Known as the Yawkey Station, this one juices up entirely by solar power and is the first net-zero railway station for the Commonwealth. Packed with a photovoltaic system, transit improvements, bike amenities, better pedestrian sidewalks and a lot more, this railway station is as green as one could get. To serve the Longwood area, brimming with job opportunities in Massachusetts, the station itself will help create about 150-200 construction and permanent jobs.
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We all know Norman Foster for his work on Abu Dhabi’s carbon neutral city, Masdar. Apple has hooked up the architect to design their headquarters located in Cupertino, California. The area spanning across 148 acres, Norman’s project termed as the City of Apple will use up some 90 acres, and the world-renowned architect will get busy drawing sketches for Apple’s dream project. And the best part, this one will be designed to be sustainable. Making use of renewable energy is the prime focus of the City of Apple. Featuring green surface areas and a network of tunnels to join all the buildings together, the City of Apple will be an example set to the world indeed.
