Pensieri di un lunatico minore

Super-green building in China

In Guangzhou, China, there is a building going up, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP that has as its goal to be as green as possible. In fact, it attempts to use zero power from the city. This is amazingly impressive, and while I suspect some of the gains might be illusory, I suspect that they are very near the goal. I wonder if the HVAC system is designed for the painfully frigid temperatures that we often keep our offices in this country.

What is important is that it illuminates the way in which architecture can also help solve the looming energy crisis. By designing buildings that more naturally integrate with their environment, we also reduce the amount of energy and resources expended simply trying to maintain stasis in the building. In combination with new energy resources, and additional efforts to simply reduce consumption in products and behaviors, I think buildings like this also illuminate the ways we often forget about.

[via Metropolis]