Projects + Products

This page is available for you to talk about your projects and/or products related to Sustainable Construction. If you have an innovative project or product that you would like to see posted here please contact us.

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House of Music: Denmark’s Solar Powered Symphony Hall

Multi-functional centers are great – same complex, different uses, minimal infrastructure. The House of Music in Aalborg, Denmark is just such a place, combining public and performance space with cultural and education functionality. Designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au this multifunctional center is a marvel of Solar passive design and features a south-facing facade covered with thin-film photovoltaics that help to reduce its energy use. With a concert hall, auditoriums, public courtyards and sustainable design features, Denmark has a wonderful addition to its cultural scene. To read more visit

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/10/28/house-of-music-denmarks-solar-powered-symphony-hall/

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2010 venue architects get environmental award

Fifteen architectural firms involved in nine projects for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games have been presented with a one-time award for excellence in green building practices.

The Green Building Practices award was presented on July 22 by the Globe Foundation and the World Green Building Council in a ceremony at the newly constructed Trout Lake Ice Rink in Vancouver. The group of architects developed the largest set of simultaneously constructed, single-project, environmentally low impact facilities in the world.

to read more visit

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/environment/news/newsid=13275.html

Three Ideas for Creating a Zero-Impact City Block in Dallas

To read more visit

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/three-idea...

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The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is exceeding its targets for making deliveries to the Olympic Park for construction by sustainable means.

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Solar-powered 'dragon' stadium is world's first to supply all its power needs from the sun This futuristic looking stadium is the first in the world to provide all its own electricity using the power of the sun. The horse shoe-shaped structure in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, has been built for the World Games which will take place in the city in July. It is the first stadium to use only solar power technology for all its electricity.

The gigantic 19 hectare structure which has a seating capacity of 55,000, will be used mostly for athletics and rugby events, including hosting the main events for the 2009 World Games. After that, the Taiwanese national football team will play home matches there. The 8,844 solar panels will generate more than enough electricity to power the building's 3,300 lights and two giant television screens. The Taiwanese government plans to sell the excess capacity which will be generated during hot weather. Japanese architect Toyo Ito designed the innovative steel rod structure with a roof covered in solar panels.

A Taiwanese official said the panels will generate 1.14 million kWh of electricity per year, preventing 660 tons of annual carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere from traditional power stations.

To read more and see the pictures visit

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1181327/First-solar-powered-stadium-used-World-Games.html

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Seeing Things | Taking the LEED at Rock Row

When it is completed at the end of this year, Rock Row will be Los Angeles’s first sustainable-affordable subdivision. The project, located in the city’s Eagle Rock neighborhood, is the brainchild of thirty-something brothers Hardy and Kevin Wronske, who formed Heyday Partnership in 2001. With degrees in real estate development (Hardy) and architecture (Kevin), the enterprising brothers cover all bases themselves, from design to construction. Rock Row, named for its location and its roots in traditional row-house typologies, is Heyday’s most ambitious project to date.

to read more about visit

http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/seeing-things-taking-the-leed-at-rock-row/

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Top sustainable construction projects honored with Global Holcim Awards Recognition for projects that improve lives, reduce environmental footprints, and lead the way to a more sustainable future.

Global Holcim Awards Gold 2009 – USD 300,000 River remediation and urban development scheme, Fez, Morocco Main authors: Aziza Chaouni, architect, Extramuro, LLP, Fez, Morocco and Takako Tajima, urban planner, Urban Studio, Los Angeles, USA

http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T856/A08AMgo.htm

Global Holcim Awards Silver 2009 – USD 200,000 Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Main authors: Kazuhiro Kojima, architect, Coelacanth and Associates Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan and Trong Nghia Vo, architect, Vo Trong Nghia Co., Ltd., Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T893/A08APsi.htm

Global Holcim Awards Bronze 2009 – USD 100,000 Sustainable planning for a rural community, Beijing, China Main authors: Yue Zhang, academic, Tsinghua University, School of Architecture, and Feng Ni, government officer, Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, Beijing, China

http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T892/A08APgo.htm

Global Holcim Awards “Innovation” prize 2009 – USD 50,000 Self-contained day labor station, San Francisco, USA Authors: Liz Ogbu, designer, Public Architecture, and John Peterson, architect, Public Architecture/Peterson Architects, San Francisco, USA

http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T792/A08NA-Silver.htm

To read more about visit http://www.holcimfoundation.org/T935/A09gl-releaseEN.htm

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100 Public Spaces Program

The 100 Public Spaces Programme improved the public realm of London through streetscaping, transportation and public space planning. In this interview, we take a special look at—and a visionary zoom around—Aldgate, a neighborhood in East London undergoing considerable change, including an inclusive transformation from car-dominated streets to a large public park.

Design for London is now part of the London Development Agency's Design, Development and Environment Directorate. The 100 Public Spaces Programme has transformed into new public space initiatives under the current mayor, Boris Johnson, with a focus on the legacy of the Olympics site in East London. The Aldgate neighborhood's public realm continues to become more people friendly with transportation planning and parks.

To read more about and watch a video visit 

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009735.html

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Arthur Willis Environmental Centre

University of Sheffield’s new £4.4 million Arthur Willis Environmental Centre will allow researchers to study future climate scenarios and their effects on local biology, including plants and social insects such as ants and bees. The energy-efficient greenhouse gave Bond Bryan Architects and builders William Birch & Sons Ltd an opportunity for some innovative work. The facility has been built to not only blend seamlessly into the surrounding woodlands and sit upon on WWII rubble infill, but also to allow bees to fly in and out! 

To read more about visit

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/04/15/beehive-building-innovative-eco-research-center/

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Landmark energy savings targeted for Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is projected to be become an energy-efficiency test case and potential showcase to demonstrate how retrofitting buildings can reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) and several partners announced Monday.

The New York City landmark has a more than $500 million upgrade program under way, and a core element of the change is a comprehensive approach to how to use energy more productively in the building.

Partners in the work are the Clinton Climate Initiative, Rocky Mountain Institute and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

The $20 million energy project is expected to reduce energy consumption within the Empire State Building by 38%, and the goal is to make this project a model for similar projects around the world, the organizations said.

To read more visit

www.architectmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=1012&articleID=933696

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ODA awarded 'excellent' Ceequal rating for rail project

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has received an 'excellent' rating in the Civil Engineering Environment Quality Assessment and Award Scheme (Ceequal) after achieving a record score for a rail project.

ODA workers constructed a 12-track railway siding to replace ones that had to be dismantled in order to make way for the Games' Aquatics Centre. 

The new sidings, which are roughly the size of three full-size football pitches, were built at Orient Way towards the north-east of the Olympic Park

John Armitt, the ODA's chairman, said the project at Orient Way is "an excellent example of how we have gone the extra mile".

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• PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP building ‘raises the bar’ for sustainable office design
• Energy performance provides a 70% improvement on building regulations with an EPC ‘A’ rating
• 25% of energy will be produced on site

The new building for professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP at More London, near Tower Bridge in central London, is the first building in the capital, and the first major office in the UK to be awarded the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating.

The international BREEAM standard is the highest award for best practice in sustainable design and environmental performance for buildings, and the 'Outstanding' rating, the top award. To achieve the rating, the site at 7 More London had to meet or exceed a challenging score of 85% against strict criteria, and included environmental innovations such as the use of 80% recycled aggregate within the concrete used, and the recycling of waste heat to cool and warm the building.

PwC’s vision for the 48,000m2 office – equivalent to the size of four football pitches – on the south bank of the Thames in London, close to City Hall, was to ‘raise the bar’ for the sustainable design of office buildings. Aggregates used in the office build were from predominantly recycled sources, part of a strategy to integrate sustainable products and materials throughout the site, delivering both affordable and sustainable environmentally friendly features to the building.

Roger Reeves, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said:

“We had the opportunity with the design process for the building, to take a blank sheet of paper and raise the bar, both for ourselves and others, in the environmental and sustainability performance of office buildings. This assessment sends a really clear message that planning for the sustainable use of resources, in detail and right through the process, can make good business sense."

 

The building’s shell is now complete, and is currently being fitted out internally. It is due for full occupation in early 2011. 5500 people will be based in the ten storey building, which will feature four restaurants, 240 cycle spaces, a roof terrace, on site energy generation facilities using recycled cooking oil and the use of solar thermal panels.