Sustainable architecture is not as complicated as we think. For many people architectural sustainability represents buildings with innovative designs, solar panels, or some impressive perspectives of futuristic architecture. Let me make it more clear. Sustainable is something that can last a long time but does not cause any damage to the environment and architecture is the art of building constructions. Simply adding an ecological device and planting beautiful trees and plants on the facade does not make a building sustainable. The first thing about sustainable architecture is thinking in a global way about designing a building. The architect must think of everything about the construction in a sustainable way such as soil, ecological devices, materials, energy consumption, climatic conditions, natural disasters, etc. In simpler terms, sustainable architecture is the one which is environmentally responsive architecture. In this blog, I’ve covered the top 20 sustainable architecture projects that will really inspire you.
1. Living Walls of London
These walls are being implemented across the capital city London to help clean the air by the botanist Patrick Blanc. The main reason for creating these living walls is because of the high toxic pollution within the city centre. Green walls have the ability to absorb the harmful polluted air and in exchange, they release pure oxygen. These walls can also be incorporated inside the buildings to increase the internal oxygen levels.
What is the primary purpose of the Living Walls of London?
- A. To improve the aesthetic of the city
- B. To provide a habitat for birds
- C. To absorb harmful polluted air and release pure oxygen
- D. To increase property values
2. Parkview Green FangCaoDi in Beijing
In China, over 400000 people are dying every year prematurely due to high pollution levels. These levels can exceed 50 times what the World Health Organization deems to be safe. However green architecture play an important role in providing clean air to the cities. So the Chinese government have developed the Parkview Green FangCaoDi, the largest sustainable green building in the country. The hotel, shopping and commercial hub is designed in such a way that energy efficiency is its primary goal. It is the first project that used microclimate techniques in architectural design.
3. Forest Conservations in Louisiana
The US government is planning to develop the entire forest cities in the Louisiana region which can absorb 10000 tons of carbon dioxide annually and produce 900 tons of oxygen. This is all being designed by the Italian architect Stefano Beret who has already designed and built vertical forests over in Milan.
4. Green Side Wall in Barcelona
Sustainable architecture is being created in Barcelona to improve the psychological well-being of its citizens. This is because the demolished old building in the city left an ugly dividing wall facing towards the streets which left a negative impact on the city’s landscape. The architect Capela Garcia came up with a solution to create a vertical garden which wraps around the building. The wall has a network of connected tubes to feed the plants with water and fertilizers. This garden made those people more environmentally conscious and also serves as the natural habitat for a variety of birds. Thus the demolished wall turned into a beautiful green side wall through architectural sustainability.
5. Bunker Catalana Building in Barcelona
It was the first green building to be built in Barcelona. The plants provide shade from the heat of the strong sun which dramatically reduces the air conditioning requirements inside the building. Each level of the building provides a natural shade which can reduce the external temperatures up to 7 degrees. It is extremely important in large cities that experience the heat island effect.
6. Park Royal Hotel in Singapore
The city that often experiences the heat island effect in particular is Singapore which sits right by the equator. Before the 19th century, the city was covered in lush rainforest and the only inhabitants were the animals and birds who could perfectly adapt to the hot humid climate. In the 19th century mass deforestation occurred and trees were replaced with concrete buildings leading the average temperature of the region to rise dramatically. But in recent years there has been a resurgence of greenery within the city to reduce the heat island effect which is an important factor in preventing the climate from getting warmer. Though the city is hot, the greenery and the water level in the streets keep us cool. This greenery has been transferred into the architectural designs of the buildings, one among them is the Park Royal Hotel in Singapore which was designed as a hotel and a garden. It has won numerous awards for its sustainable and green efforts. It has a wide garden space where the hotel guests can completely immerse themselves in nature.
7. Oasia Hotel in Singapore
Not far from the Park Royal Hotel is the Oasia Hotel, which is a building completely wrapped in red skin. This allows plants to grow in a facade. In total the building hosts 50000 species of plants and trees which help improve the biodiversity within the city. The 190-meter-tall building has large sections of cut-outs which break up the facade and allow cross ventilation into the building. These garden spaces act as a mini oasis in the centre of the busy business district. Overall the green facade totals over 25000 square meters and the plot of the land that the building sits on is only 2500 square meters. This means that the building achieves an overall greenery replacement of more than 10 times the site area.
8. Super Trees in Singapore
The most famous tourist attraction within Singapore is the Supertrees within the gardens by the bay. These man-made structural architectures are designed to emulate the biological behaviour of trees at their trunks at information plucks which teach the public the importance of trees for their survival. The 18 super trees within the garden incorporate technologies such as cooling channels which help moderate the temperature of the surrounding environment. They also provide photovoltaics to harvest energy for the evening light show.
9. Building Green Hamburg
Over in Hamburg, Germany, they are taking a more scientific approach to green architecture. They are using the algae and the process of photosynthesis to turn the sun’s energy into fuel. The algae rapidly grow within the glass panel which is extracted and put into a bio-converter which turns the algae into biomass. This biomass is then used for various things such as food for humans, and animals, and in power cars. Its main purpose is to create electricity and heat for the people living in the building. It can offer electricity to the surrounding buildings too. Isn’t that interesting?
10. Copenhill Waste-to-Energy Plant in Denmark
Another favourite green building lies in Copenhagen, Denmark. Here they are engaging the public directly with the energy sector. This is achieved by placing the ski slope on top of the cleanest waste energy power plant in the world. The people can directly see the process of converting waste into energy. The top of the building releases toxin-free steam which is as fresh as the mountain air. They have also started the world’s largest artificial ski slope which makes lives more enjoyable. The Bjarke Ingels Group, the creator of this plant hopes that this architectural design will inspire people across the world to create an architecture that is both fun and saves the environment.
11. Bubble Wrap Building in Spain
In Barcelona, we can see a building that looks like it is wrapped in a bubble wrap. It is one of the prime examples of how technology can make large buildings that are environmentally friendly. The technology used in this building keeps the interior cool dramatically reducing the need for air conditioning systems. Spain uses over 40% of its energy consumption on air conditioning systems due to its hottest climate. This technology on this building works using the sensors that detect the heat from the sun shining on the facade and pumps nitrogen into the ETFE cushions which causes them to expand this creates a block between the heat of the sun and the cool building interior in two different ways. Firstly, on the southeast facade, the cushion creates a positive reverse design which creates a shared effect inside. Then on the southwest facade, the cushions insulate the building as the nitrogen acts as the cloud-like solar filter. This combination of designs stops approximately 114 tons of CO2 entering the atmosphere per year which is equivalent to planting over 5000 trees every single year.
12. Roof Garden in Singapore
The core design feature of the capita green building in Singapore was designed around a simple concept with major benefits. The building is crowned with a red flower light-like sculpture, the pencils capture and guide the wind down the building’s cooling board. The building’s 55% of the exterior is covered with lush foliage this not only reduces the solar heat gain but also the positive effects on the users within by promoting a sense of Biophilia. This building uses nature as a design inspiration and uses all the best ways to combat climate change.
13. Bloomberg HQ in London
The Bloomberg company in London have made a large afterimage using that ecological footprint in their buildings. In total, they have saved a massive 95 million dollars in operating costs which have also drastically improved employees’ productivity. This shows that sustainable architecture is not only benefitting the planet but also the economy and well-being. This building achieves such high sustainable credentials to use the new solutions it has for ventilation, lighting power, and water. 4000 integrated ceiling panels have been included with the petal leaf design. The panel combines heating, cooling, lighting and acoustic functions and uses 40% less energy than the typical office lighting system. The building takes over 3.2 acres and yet can still be naturally ventilated. The water conservation system saved 25 million litres of water each year enough to fill 10 Olympic swimming pools.
14. The Edge in Amsterdam
The building’s orientation is based on the path of the Sun. The HU invades the building in the northern daylight while the solar panels on the southern Bussards collect the energy from the Sun. These solar panels are then able to power all smartphones, laptops and electric cars. It is future-proofed so they can add new sensors as technology advances in the future. The building stays warm by pumping down warm water in the summer months almost 400 feet into the aquifer below. It is insulated during winter when it is sucked back out for heating.
15. Passivehaus Tree House in England
This tree house was designed to have minimal impact on the surrounding trees and aimed to preserve the natural habitat of the site. It has been certified by the Passivehaus standard which means it is incredibly energy-efficient due to its air tightness and insulation. It is predominantly made from wood and sits on stilts to minimize its impact on the ground. There has also been no concrete used on the site which is good news as this material is often scrutinized for its CO2 emission.
16. Prefabricated House
These sustainable buildings are now being incorporated almost all over the world. These types of houses can be built in just 3 days by the process called prefabrication. This process involves creating an entire house in a factory which minimizes waste site disruption and transportation which ultimately reduces the carbon footprint of the building. This house is made in three separate chunks with all the fixtures and fittings already installed in the factory. When the project is completed it can be simply connected together like a jigsaw. I find this similar to 3D printing technology. What do you think?
17. HO4 Shipping Container House across Canada
This eco-home also follows the low-waste theme of the last one by reusing old shipping containers. Shipping container buildings can be delivered readymade to almost any site as they are the perfect site for transportation. There are almost 20 million containers which have been deserted on land and this number is only set to rise. Hence this American architecture is one of the feasible forms of sustainable design. Wouldn’t it be funny if these container houses were found near the harbour and being ported by cranes thinking this as the actual containers?
18. Earthship in New Mexico and Colorado
The next building claims to be the most eco-friendly design of them all. It is created based on the idea that there are six human needs which can be addressed through sustainable building design. They are:
- Energy from solar and wind
- Rubbish management from reusing and recycling
- Creating shelter with natural recycling materials
- Harvesting rainwater
- Growing your own food
- Treating the sewage by feeding the wastewater to the plants
19. Earth Covered Home in Texas
These homes which are covered with earth, have fantastic insulation and thermal properties. It is located in central Texas where there is an extremely hot climate during the day. The layer of the earth over the house acts as a barrier from the heat which dramatically reduces the need for air conditioning indoors. This building simply lifts the ground above and, therefore, doesn’t disrupt the surrounding wildlife.
20. Rotating House in Italy
Finally, we came to the nd of this list, which is the rotating house. And I’m damn sure that you all will surely love this architectural design. Can you believe if I say that this house can rotate in all directions? But you should. This house gives a panoramic view of the surroundings to the owner. The house follows the sun’s path through the sky and efficiently generates a substantial amount of energy. The house also gets additional energy from the heat pump. This is one of the most expensive types of eco homes because the mechanical system to spin the house would cost a lot of money.
Takeaway
Green architecture can be implemented pretty much anywhere in the world and can be used a lot more in the future to help with pollution issues and resolve climate change. So, every government can implement these technologies which are already having a positive impact around the world. Similarly, we can also try building eco homes. So, I believe that we could see much more of these homes in the near future. Let me know in the comments your favourite sustainable architecture.