It’s called the GreenPix Zero Energy Media Wall, and with 2,292 individual color LEDs, comparable to a 24,000 sq. ft. monitor screen, it’s said to be the largest color LED display in the world. The wall is solar-powered too — photovoltaics are integrated into the wall’s glass curtain, and it harvests power during the day, to illuminate the display at night. (more…)

The Proximity Hotel is proof that a hotel can be very green without sacrificing the comfort of its guests. The hotel is located in Greensboro, North Carolina, and it achieved a Gold LEED certification this year from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Proximity uses 36.5% less energy and 30% less water than a conventional hotel. It gets 60% of its hot water from 100 solar thermal panels on the roof. The hotel also boasts the first regenerative drive elevator, which recaptures energy as the elevator moves down.

(more…)

This is a quick post to let you know that the Bahrain World Trade Center has turned on all three of its huge wind turbines simultaneously. For a glimpse of the turbines in action, check out the video over the fold: (more…)

This new building in Seattle by Weber + Thompson requires no air conditioning. To achieve this feat, the architects made use of numerous passive cooling elements throughout the building. Passive cooling means no electricity or other fuel is needed — instead strategic shading and orientation is used, rather than high-tech gadgetry. (more…)

Architecture firm Foster + Partners won an international competition to design a green complex that will fill an entire city block in downtown Singapore. This complex will be on the leading edge of green design. It will incorporate arrays of solar cells on the buildings’ facades. Ribbon-like canopies (also covered with thin-film solar cells) will start at the base of the complex, and rise up the exposed east and west elevations of the towers, where they form a series of vertical louvers. These will filter the sun and will transform the towers into a series of vertically linked green spaces. The buildings’ slanted facades are oriented to catch the prevailing winds and direct air flow down to cool the ground level spaces. (more…)

These unusual, onion-shaped towers are designed for Precinct 4, or the Putrajaya waterfront in Malaysia (30 kilometers south of Kuala Kumpur). The design, by Studio Nicoletti Associati, was inspired by ship sails and traditional Islamic architecture. (more…)

The “Clean Technology Tower” is a highly efficient building which will be constructed in Chicago. The tower will have wind turbines positioned at the corners of the building, to capture wind at its highest velocity as it accelerates around the tower. At the apex, where wind speeds are at a maximum, a domed double roof cavity directs the wind towards an array of wind turbines. The negative pressure created by the turbines will be used to ventilate interior spaces. The dome itself is shaded by solar cells that capture the southern sun. (more…)

The Masdar Headquarters building will produce more power than it needs (an energy positive building). In fact, the solar roof (one of the largest in the world) will be constructed first, and it will power the construction of the rest of the building. The video link on this page has a great view of the sun-infused interior. (more…)

This apartment high-rise concept won a sustainable housing award recently in China. It integrates a vertical greenhouse into the high-rise. Designed by Knafo Klimor Architects, the “agro-housing” concept allows the residents to produce their own food, reducing commuting needs and providing a green neighbourhood. The greenhouse is a multi-floor structure for cultivation of crops such as vegetables, fruits, flowers and spices, equipped with a drip irrigation system that re-uses grey water. (more…)

The largest modular green roo, has been installed on top of the new “Court at Upper Providence” shopping center in Pennsylvania. The 2.3 acres green roof was constructed with GreenGrid modules. These modules are made with recycled plastic, and they contain small but hardly plants like sedums. (more…)

Foster + Partners have just been granted preliminary permission to start construction on this volcano-shaped superstructure in Moscow, which will be dubbed “Crystal Island”. In terms of efficiency monolithic buildings like this seem unnecessary, but the proposed dimensions are amazing: it will be 1,500 foot tall with 26,909,776 foot squared of floor space, that’s enough room to house 30,000 people. (more…)

The “Energy Plus” office building, to be located outside of Paris, is designed to produce all its own energy for heating, lighting and air conditioning. This zero-energy building, according to the designers, will be the greenest office building ever created. It will accomplish this by having more solar panels on its roof than any other building - producing enough energy to power the entire building and still feed extra back into the grid.

(more…)

In Madrid, Spain they are currently building a huge structure called an “Air Tree” or “Eco Boulevard de Vallecas”. The Tree was created by Urban Ecosystem to be a social center, and to improve the surrounding environment. The structure is also completely self-sufficient, generating all its own power with solar cells. Any surplus energy is sold to the electrical grid. It also produces oxygen using its arrays of plants and trees, hence the “tree” appellation. (more…)

The Hudson Yards is a huge swath of land located on the Far West Side of Manhattan. The land, which is the largest undeveloped site left in Manhattan, is owned by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Now, five teams of architects are in the running to develop a 26-acre site in a sustainable way. Pictured here are a few of the designs.

(more…)

Discover reports that, starting in 2009, tourists with deep pockets will be able to enjoy something fewer than 500 people have been lucky enough to experience—spaceflight. For $200,000, if all goes well, they can orbit for two and a half hours in Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. But the port for landing and takeoff—Spaceport America in New Mexico—will also be sensitive to the needs of those stuck on Earth. The plans, revealed in September, show a teardrop-shaped building with high-tech ventilation systems, solar panels, and massive windows, all features that could earn it top certification for efficiency and energy savings by the U.S. Green Building Council. (more…)

Designed for the waterfront in downtown Dubai, this “Wave Tower” will be located right on the water. A large undulating plane creates a bridge to the base of the tower, then folds upwards to create one of the twisting silk-screened glass sides of the structure. The “seascraper” is designed to be a green building. Interior gardens or “sky gardens” will be located in common zones, improving the air quality and working as natural temperature regulators. The silk-screened glass skin will assist with controlling the heat from the sun. (more…)

The Barcode nightclub was built in a disused brick Victorian railway arch in Vauxhall, south London. The entire nightclub is illuminated using only LED lights, and the sound system is also energy efficient. The architect, Woods Bagot claims that the system consumes “less electricity than the power used to boil a kettle”. If they could just give a watt hour figure I’d be happier! Still, this is a interesting example of all-LED lighting in a building, which I’m sure we’ll see more in the coming years. Because the LEDs give off very little heat, much less AC is required to cool the building in summer. See more pictures over the fold.

(more…)

The MGM CityCenter is a $7 billion project under development on the Las Vegas Strip. The 76-acre complex is the largest green building project in the U.S. The designers actually hope to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for this project. But when the first hotel guests stream through the lobby of the 4,000-room resort at CityCenter three years from now, they probably won’t notice that the polished wood accents began as wood from old barns across the rural United States or that stonework was partly constructed from an old retaining wall torn down in Britain. Nor will they dwell on the energy-efficient glass in their hotel rooms, the carpeting made from recycled materials, or that all around them is reused material that came from the casino torn down to make way for the project.

(more…)

The PowerPod is a modular home that incorporates many green design elements, including a solar butterfly roof that collects rainwater and includes an active solar array for electricity and hot water. Designed by Lawrence, Massachusetts based PowerHouse Enterprises, the PowerPod can be transported on two trailers to your site for assembly. Measuring just 480 square feet, the floor plan highlights an open living/dining/kitchen area that opens onto a front porch. High ceiling create a sense of spaciousness. A PowerPod home costs about $100,000 or $200 per square foot.

(more…)

This 42-story apartment tower, under construction at Elephant and Castle in London, will feature a roof with an array of integrated wind turbines. The three turbines are each nine meters in diameter and are design to provide power the building’s lighting systems.

(more…)