In the age of rising awareness towards the creation of green earth, the architects and the eco conscious designers all over the world are attempting to make housings that are based on green architecture. These structures, if they really hit the world, will be glaring examples of eco consciousness to the new generation. Have a look at five such massive structures handpicked for you:
Western Canada’s oldest skyscraper Union Bank Tower gets a facelift
This 11 story magnificent building in Canada is the best example of green building. It is located in the downtown of Winnipeg and this enormous Canadian splendor is the building of the Union Bank Tower. It covers the landmass of 100,000 square feet and is a residential campus of the college students as well as the site for hospitality and tourism program. A further addiction to this green structure very shortly will be the student operated canteen of the Red River College. Thus, at the ground floor, there will be restaurants, labs and multi purpose spaces. The second floor will comprise of labs, classrooms and offices and the third floor will feature residential options for the students. The eco credentials of the building are the operable windows and the foam sprayed walls. The glass exterior will present a panoramic view of the outer world. These are all the future projects of going green and started on 2009. It is expected to get completed by 2011 and the estimated budget is $27 million.
100 Park Avenue Gets a Facelift Courtesy of Aluminum
The first retrofit building of New York has been built with aluminum composite materials. It has won the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification for its eco credentials. This amazing skyscraper has also used glass along with steel for its framework to give it a modern and futuristic perspective. The main challenge in its architecture was to reduce the load on the brick foundation. Thus, ACM panel was used to create a suspended system, which was only possible due to the panel’s light weight. The resultant building now features 36 story and occupies a surface area of 955,000 square foot with high rising lobbies and double the size of the original store fronts. There are 14 green roofs that will work towards recycling water by virtue of the low maintenance Xero Flor mat system.
Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper undergoes $1.9m green facelift
This eco conscious building of Taiwan works towards reduction in the consumption of energy and water consumption by as much as 10 percent. This building is located in Taipei and the owner, Taipei Financial Center Corp.(TFCC), is currently renovating the building to incorporate new and green heating, ventilating and cooling systems, along with the setting up of a piping structure throughout the building that will collect and direct the rain water to flush the toilets. The conventional lighting system will also be replaced with energy efficient lighting and more stress will be given on the local preparation of food within the building. This will be done to substantially minimize the harmful emission from the vehicles during transportation of food to the building.
San Francisco Victorian house gets a 21st century ‘green’ makeover
Under the leadership of the eco conscious designer, Criag Steelt, the Victorian house of San Francisco will get a green makeover, complying with the needs of 21st century. Thus, it will be a gallant effort to restore the 19th century heritage building of the area in a much intelligent and eco conscious way. The basic material of this new structure is recycled wood and recycled wooden facades. Another noteworthy renovation is the glass penthouse with steel exoskeleton that supports the structure of the penthouse and creates less pressure on earth. Hence, the designer has attempted to restore the originality of the neon green structure of the original Victorian house but with an eco conscious twist.
California Academy of Sciences gets a green makeover
This newly created green building in California, the California Academy of Sciences, is a praiseworthy effort of the architect to give it eco conscious features. Hence, this LEED Platinum certified building is a self sustaining structure. It also comprises of a roof top vegetation of living plants that cover 2.5 acres of landmass, along with 60,000 photo voltaic cells, indoor rainforest with living animals and plants, NASA sponsored planetarium and living aquarium, all of which contribute to its eco credentials.
