European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard urges world leaders attending the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this June to double the share of renewable energy they use by 2030 and give all citizens access to sustainable power.
The Preservation Green Lab at the National Trust for Historic Preservation has recently published their study The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse. Resolving many conflicted arguments, this study confirms that reusing and retrofitting existing buildings with an average level of energy performance almost always offers environmental savings over demolition and more energy-efficient new construction. The research provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the potential environmental impact reductions associated with building reuse. The Preservation Green Lab utilizes Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology to compare reuse and renovations with new construction over the course of a 75-year life span. Continue reading for more.
Barcelona designer Martín Azúa questions the idea of the private home with the Basic House – an inhabitable volume that is “foldable, inflatable and reversible”. The experimental prototype challenges the idea of homeownership, offering an alternative to the materialistic reality of today. Made from metalized polyester, the Basic House is a shelter small enough to fit in your pocket, allowing you to break away from the imprisonment of material ties.
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The United States Green Building Council‘s (USGBC) Center for Green Schools, started by the Georgia Chapter, is behind the transformation of the educational system in this country through the introduction of high performance schools and facilities. It all starts with providing an environment for learning focusing on health, education and the responsible use of funds, which are “the three major concerns that the school system struggles with”, says Laura Turdel Seydel – Chair of the Captain Planet Foundation. The fundamentals are simple and are the typical goals of the Board of Education. But this initiative, which is a coalition between some of the top educational and environmental associations in the country, does this by focusing on where students are learning and that means updating the technology of our schools.
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The main idea behind AME, the first concept by Wesh for a business incubator, is to re-create a small world where different companies can develop themselves and get bigger, with all services provided. The design questions the future of small companies in the periphery of the city for the next 20 years. How can a building enable many companies, each having their own singularity and size, to get along together and evolve? AME is all about wrapping plenty of entities into a bioclimatic greenhouse. For a monthly subscription, each company has its own space, which can be extended or reduced thanks to the company development. More images and architects’ description after the break.
ArchDaily is once again updating you on the progress of The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center designed by Renzo Piano. We showed you initial plans for the building back in 2009. Since then, we have been provided with more detail on the development of the project, which we continue to share with you. As previously mentioned, the center will be a sustainable arts, education, and recreation complex that will contribute to the community of Athens, financed by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Plans for this building began five years ago but it was not until December 2011 that preparatory excavation work finally began. Construction is scheduled for Spring 2012 and according to the foundation website:
The beginning of the construction phase comes at a very critical juncture in modern Greek history and brings a much-needed sense of optimism and hope, as well as a whole range of significant economic benefits to the country. Approximately €1 billion of total economic stimulus will be derived from the upfront commitment in the construction of the SNFCC, while 1,500 to 2,400 people will be employed each year to support SNFCC construction and all related industries.
More after the break.
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) announce Burtland Granvil, AIA, LEED AP as the new Architecture for Humanity Sustainability Design Fellow. Succeeding the first Sustainability Design Fellow, Stacey McMahan, AIA, LEED AP, Granvil will be working directly with the Haitian community at the Architecture for Humanity’s rebuilding center based in Port-au-Prince.
“The earthquake didn’t take as many lives as the poor quality of construction did,” said Granvil. “Architecture for Humanity’s Rebuilding Center in Haiti will help educate and build together with local current and future builders of Haiti…this is the main reason why I joined Architecture for Humanity. I am here with others to work on the long-term approach. Haiti, as well as other post disaster areas, can benefit from this kind of transitional office with this mindset.”
Marking the two year anniversary of the devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, we would like to share with you the important efforts of Project Haiti – a LEED Platinum orphanage and children’s center that is planned to be built in Port au Prince, Haiti. The project is lead by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and their official pro-bono design partner, HOK. Project Haiti not only focuses on the children, but also aims to create a “replicable, resilient model for rebuilding” that may serve as a practical teaching tool for the local community. The USGBC motto states, “Every story about green building is a story about people.”
JET Design Group was invited by JCI Architects along with Terraplan Landscape Architects, to joint venture in the design of the Green Leaf project. After winning the commission earlier in 2011, in December, the final negotiations were completed to enable the project to move forward quickly. The team will be working together, helping Bangladesh to design a sustainable community with an innovative green concept. Green Leaf is green landscape architecture and built form which takes full advantages of the local natural resources to create a hybrid habitable space combining architecture and nature. The concept is inspired by adopting current and green innovative technology to make the design construction economic and feasible. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Edward Mazria, architect, founder and CEO of Architecture 2030 was awarded this year’s Purpose Prize. His work over the past eight years, after founding Architecture 2030, has set numerous environmental goals for the building industry. It has also brought many issues of sustainable design to the forefront of conversations and policies about buildings and their construction. Watch the video for more information!
More about Edward Mazria and Architecture 2030 after the break.
Implementing green roofs into architecture is rapidly becoming a design principle for buildings at every scale. There are many benefits to a green roof including a decrease in heating and cooling costs, which in turn mitigates the urban heat island effect. Other benefits include a natural filter for rain water, an increase in the life span of the roof, a natural habitat for animals and plants and a reduction in dust and smog levels. In this post are four highlighted projects where a green roof is emphasized to produce successful sustainable architectural works.
Dutch firm Shift Architecture Urbanism is the winner of a first prize, two second prizes and a third prize in the competition for an eco-retail development, the Groene Kamer, in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The aim of the development is to create a new type of country estate where eco-retail, nature and recreation are brought together in an innovative way; A place where city and countryside meet, both physically and programmatically. The competition’s goal was to select the designers of four different building typologies which will populate the masterplan designed by Fabric and Lola landscape architects. Shift’s design, Topos, makes use of a topographic approach that allows for a profound integration of architecture and landscape. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In more recent times, the importance of the changing climate and its effects on the environment are being given more attention in regard to design practices. As a result, sustainable work spaces are becoming more prominent and some may even argue that a more energy efficient building correlates to a more efficient and productive work environment. With a growing demand for energy efficient buildings comes a greater responsibility of architects today and in the future. In turn, officer owners and managers are also placed under increasing obligations to be focused on cutting down on productivity costs and to find more sustainable ways of going about their business endeavors. Companies are coming to the realization that investing in ‘green’ principles is more profitable in the long run.
In this post we are going to present to you office buildings that offer sustainable techniques through innovative architecture.
The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was commissioned by the Government Services Administration (GSA) to conduct a post-occupancy evaluation of 22 “green” federal buildings from across the United States. The report stats reveal that not only does these “green” buildings emit 34 percent less carbon dioxide and are using 11 percent less water, they cost on average 19 percent less to maintain. In addition to the environmental and economical savings, the evaluation reports that the occupants are more satisfied in the “green” buildings by 27 percent.
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Oppenheim Architecture + Design recently won the international competition to design a new hotel in Brooklyn, NY. A third pillar of the Williamsburg Bridge to emerge after 108 years. Their design of the Williamsburg hotel attempts to capture the essence of this vibrant neighborhood. Adjacent to both the Williamsburg Bridge and the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank, the building expresses itself as three dramatically proportioned, rectilinear volumes of varied height and materiality. Soaring high above the neighborhood, the hotel becomes the third pillar of the bridge, while serving as an archetypical tower to the domed basilica of the historical bank.
Sustainability was once again an important issue for Oppenheim Architecture + Design. The hotel will have geothermal, wind, and solar power generation, along with other resource saving strategies, for which they achieved Platinum LEED rating. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The University of Melbourne together with partners including the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development have just announced CMA+U and Team winners of the Sustainability Award ʻFuture Proofing Schools Competitionʼ Australia. The competition explores design ideas for next generation relocatable 21st century learning spaces as part of Australia’s research program for Building the Education Revolution. More images and information on the awarded project after the break.
The Masters of International Cooperation Sustainable Emergency Architecture at the ESARQ-UIC in Barcelona is excited to present this year’s open conference on December 12th titled, Rebuilding Japan: Lessons in architectural response, featuring talks and a roundtable discussion with Japanese architects involved in the reconstruction of Japan during its recent history of devastating earthquakes. How can architects respond in the aftermath of a natural disaster? What lessons can be learned from the last three major earthquakes in Japan? How does the context of a natural disaster affect the role of the architect and the reconstruction process? More information on the conference after the break.
