The mega structure Copenhagen’ Denmark is no longer using landfills as a solution to its waste problems. Instead, the waste which can be recycled or incinerated for energy is being used by the city which is also trying to reduce waste. This case presents the waste management system of Copenhagen in 2008 and specifically focuses on “Waste-to-Energy” plants, which presently produce heat and power for the city. Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group i.e. BIG has been selected by a unanimous jury panel as the winner of an international competition to replace the 40-year-old industrial Amagerforbraending plant in Copenhagen for The Waste-to-Energy plant with a ski slope for the people living in the city, and also for the visitors. It is scheduled to be completed by 2016. BIG is working with realities:united, AKT and Topotek 1 & Man Made Land on the design for this project. What makes it mega? The Waste to Energy plant stands as an exemplary model before the world in the field of waste management and energy production. Showing off the latest technologies in waste treatment and environmental performance, the building covers 95,000sq m area, with a budget of 3.5 billion DKK. The people visiting the plant are accessed to the rooftop ecological slopes made of recycled synthetic granular, via an elevator along the plant’s smokestack allowing a quick look at the inside of the plant. Traditionally viewed as a symbol of the industrial era, the smokestack has been transformed into an educational tool. With the release of a tonne of CO2, a 30 m smoke ring is discharged in air via the smokestack, reminding the citizens of the impact of the emissions and also to grasp this in a straightforward way. Heat tracking lights continue to illuminate these smoke rings at night too. When viewed from the outside, the building is wrapped in a 74,000 sq m vertical green facade formed by planter modules stacked like bricks. Partner at BIG, David Zahle, explains: “Designing a façade for a building is like wrapping a gift without having to consider its content. Instead of concentrating on the wrapping paper we have instead invested our energy on creating a gift for the citizens of Copenhagen and its visitors no matter if they are adults or children, professionals or beginners. I can’t wait to ski on a base of clean and green energy with a view over the city in 2016.” Eco Credentials “The new plant is an example of what we at BIG call Hedonistic Sustainability – the idea that sustainability is not a burden, but that a sustainable city in fact can improve our quality of life. The Waste-to-Energy plant with a ski slope is the best example of a city and a building which is both ecologically, economically and socially sustainable,” said Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Partner, BIG. The Waste to Energy Plant will inspire people to make use of sustainable and eco-friendly products and make use of waste in every possible way, reducing the dump in landfills. It will also promote a reduction on our dependence upon fossil fuels. It will warn us to reduce CO2 emissions significantly. The energy generated by the building is environmentally friendly. Via: Bustler
