What’s happening right now?
Sustainable skyscrapers are an eco-friendly approach towards solving the problems of housing of an ever growing human population. Today many architects are seriously looking at building sustainable skyscrapers which would not just provide extra floor space for its residents, but will be like a miniature city on its own complete with farms, gardens, work place & other recreational centers. Basically what it means is that these are self sufficient buildings where the inhabitants of these buildings will hardly need to step out of their residential zones to fulfill any of their human needs. Many such sustainable skyscrapers have already been built by architects around the world. But now the designers are coming up with an even better and bolder idea of having sustainable buildings with integrated renewable energy generators, like solar and wind, to further reduce their carbon footprint. Here we are going to give you a glimpse into a number of such sustainable skyscrapers with integrated energy generators.
Trends
1. A Shining Solar Skyscraper for Shenzen:
The next-gen headquarters of the China Insurance Group will be built by Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au & it will harness the energy of the sun to produce electricity for its inhabitants. This 200 meters, 49 storey building will occupy a space of 1600 square meter in Shenzen, China. Solar PV cells will be incorporated in the second skin of the façade in order to enable it to be fully self-sufficient in its energy needs.
2. Anara Tower – A 700m-high green structure for Dubai’s congested skyline:
This “monster” of a skyscraper, being built in Dubai, will be self-sufficient in its energy needs. Named, Anara tower, this eco friendly skyscraper will harness some form of renewable energy source to meet its energy needs and reduce its carbon footprints. The building will be built by a British architect firm called Atkins and it will be a 125 storey, 700meters tall tower.
3. Model of Energy producing skyscraper that resembles pasta:
This pasta shaped building, to be built by Polish architecture firm Mode:Lina Architektura & Consulting for eVolo Skyscraper Competition, will be fitted with several wind turbines to generate energy from wind. They call it the Gesterbine skyscraper. The powers generated from the wind turbines will perform different functions during day & night. During the day the wind turbines will provide electricity to households. But when the darkness falls, the turbines would power pumps that transport river water into the land.
4. The Strata: World’s First Skyscraper with Built-In Wind Turbines:
The Strata would be the world’s first skyscraper with wind turbines fitted into its façade. Three giant wind turbines will be housed on top of the building and it would meet 8% of the building’s energy needs. The tower will be built by Brookefield Europe and will be situated in London. The three wind turbines situated on top of the building will be able to produce 50MWh of electricity by utilizing the venturi effect created by nearby structures.
5. solar-powered skyscraper helps cool the environment:
This spiraling skyscraper is fitted with a thin veneer of solar cells that can produce enough electricity to meet the needs of people residing in it. It also incorporates other “green” features like water collection and a smart cooling system. The design of the tower has been conceived by two architects named Kenneth Loh and Michelle Lim.
6. Stackable Solar Skyscraper for Mexico City:
This sustainable skyscraper has been designed by Jorge Hernandez de la Garza with the intention of giving the city a much needed green space. The modular skyscraper has been built by a series of stacking units. The building intends to harness the power of the sun to meet its energy needs. It contains a sky garden in addition to living areas and office spaces for its residents. The building will also recycle all its waters.
7. World’s First Building-Integrated Wind Turbines:
Bahrain’s World Trade Center, when it became operational in 2008, became the first building in the world to have integrated wind turbines for meeting its electricity needs. The three 29m diameter wind turbines will meet approximately 11-15% of the tower’s electricity needs.
The concept:
The concept of sustainable skyscrapers with integrated with integrated energy generator is certainly here to stay. In fact this is the future as far as building architecture is concerned. The success and potentiality of this concept have already been proven by buildings like the World Trade Center in Bahrain. It will not just reduce the carbon footprints of skyscrapers, but it will also eliminate the need for the residents to venture out of their surrounding to meet their daily needs.
The advantages:
These sustainable skyscrapers with integrated renewable energy sources will definitely go a long way in mitigating the adverse effects of global warming and climate change. These skyscrapers will also boost agriculture since they would house farming areas within them. By producing electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind, they will lower our dependence on fossil fuels. They will also help bring in new cost effective technology in the areas of renewable energy.
The impact:
These concepts are not free from its share of disadvantages. Firstly, building such skyscrapers would require a lot of money, since the technology involved in building them, is still quite expensive. Secondly, the architects must come up with answers to psychological problems of people regarding living in confined spaces. But whatever the challenges may be, the novelty of this emission free, green concept of housing cannot be denied given the times we are living in.
