FIVE OF THE WORLD’S GREENEST BUILDINGS
Buildings alone contribute more than 40 percent to global energy consumption and one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. For that reason, it is essential for governments to encourage green building by giving grants and financial support to companies thinking about going green. It is not only the environment that green buildings will save they will also cut energy costs to businesses in the medium term. Let’s take a look at some of the pioneering green buildings in the world
1. The Crystal, London
Considered by many environmental experts to be one of the world’s most sustainable buildings. The Crystal hosts the world’s largest exhibition on the future of cities. Over 100,000 people visit the building each year to engage with the interactive exhibitions and attend the sustainable events. The Crystal sets the bar high for other British buildings. It is the only building in the world to get the highest certification in BREEAM (British rating agency) and LEED schemes. With the help of Siemens technology, the building ensures the highest energy efficiency and C02 standards.
2. The Edge, Amsterdam
A standard day at the world’s most intelligent building starts the minute you wake up. The Edge app checks your schedule, and when you arrive, the building recognises your car and directs you to a parking spot. It then finds you a desk and wherever you go your preferences for light and temperature are tweaked. The Edge is the greenest building in the world according to BREEAM, it gained a 98.4 percent rating—the highest sustainability score ever. The solar panels create more electricity here than the building uses. Its LED panels can be powered with the same cables that carry data for the Internet. The panels are also packed with sensors—motion, light, temperature, humidity, infrared—some 28,000 in total.
3. One Bryant Park, New York
2The One Bryant Park is the greenest skyscraper in the world. It was the first building of this height to earn an LEED Platinum rating from the United States Green Building Council. Amazingly, the One Byrant Park collects every drop of rainwater that falls; nearly 48 inches per year. A series of collection tanks dispersed throughout the floor can store 329,000 gallons of water, and they are then used for irrigating plants and flushing the building’s toilets. But that’s not the end of the cycle, next water from the building is treated, for use in the cooling towers that then return the water back to the atmosphere as a vapour—completing the cycle.
4. Vancouver Convention Center, Vancouver
3The main convention center in Vancouver was built with the environment in mind. The building is the world’s first LEED Platinum-certified facility and uses the latest green technologies. The building has a six-acre living roof with more than 400,000 indigenous plants and grasses. Its roof is designed to act as an insulator, reducing gains in the summer and losses in the winter.
Moreover, local BC wood products are used from sustainably managed local forests.
5. Bahrain World Trade Center, Manama
4The first thing you notice about this 240-meter skyscraper in Manama is the highly visible wind turbines. It is the first building in the world to integrate large-scale wind turbines. The energy yield from the pioneering technology is 15 percent. The glass covering the building is high-quality solar glass that uses low shading to reduce the building’s air temperature. Importantly, the building also looks pretty so it is less of a blight on the surrounding environment. The architectural designs fuse Arabian flair with modern sustainable trends.
