Expert Highlights the Role of Tall Buildings in Creating Greener Cities
Significant gains can be made in efforts to combat global warming by reducing energy use and improving energy efficiency in tall buildings. The right mix of appropriate design and greater use of energy saving technologies can substantially reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the building sector which accounts for 30-40 percent of global energy use, says the world's top tall building expert.
''With rapid urban development worldwide, dense and more concentrated cities are widely seen now as an essential part of a more sustainable way of life,'' explains Antony Wood, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Executive Director. "These dense, smaller-footprint cities can cut energy consumption and climate-change emissions by reducing the suburban spread of cities and therefore the need for extensive transportation and infrastructure networks. In this regard, tall buildings play a key role in creating denser cities by accommodating more people on smaller parcels of land and therefore reduce the overall impact of buildings upon the environment and upon the world's climate." To carry out a truly socially-sustainable urban agenda, however, tall buildings need to better respond to environmental concerns and their specific urban locations. According to Wood, tall buildings have an opportunity to reinvent themselves to address the need for both a dense and sustainable city by creating truly vibrant, mixed-use facilities within both the building and the city as a whole. ?Tall buildings need to innovate beyond their standard functions: office, residential, and hotel space - that account for around 95 percent of space in tall buildings worldwide - to include more sustainable functions.? For Example, a recent research conducted by the CTBUH into alternative design approaches has resulted in a number of innovative buildings forms such as vertical farms to help alleviate the environmental problems of agricultural imports, and vertical aquifers to maximize rainwater capture which will help address the growing global decline of water resources. Tall buildings also need to accommodate more social-communal spaces within them, such as skygardens and skyplazas.
In addition, future tall buildings should be focused on sustainability from initial design onwards, as well as incorporating sustainable technologies. ?While there are those who believe that the embodied energies involved in tall buildings combined with the impact on the urban realm, make them inherently anti-environmental, I believe that the opposite is true. The biggest impact on a building?s energy consumption is the fundamental early decisions that are taken in the building?s design, in respect of size, form, shape, skin and the positioning of cores etc - all relative to the environment: sun, wind, light. Moreover, tall buildings provide a great potential for harnessing wind energy; more efficient energy production and distribution systems and an increased access to view, light and air.? In the Gulf region which is experiencing some of the world?s fastest growth rates in construction, the need for more sustainable patterns of life as a response is becoming more and more critical. According to recent studies, ?The construction boom in the Gulf region alone has reached new heights, with 2,837 projects estimated to be worth in excess of AED 8.8 trillion (US$2.4 trillion) now underway. Moreover, this expansion of the construction sector and associated industries is expected to continue till 2030.
''The UAE for example has the highest carbon footprint in the world with almost 9.06 global hectares per person, closely followed by Kuwait with 6.38 global ha/person and the USA with 5.66 global ha/person. The main challenge for these countries is to move directly to more energy efficient building solutions,'' says Wood.
While many developers argue that the design of green tall buildings cost too much when compared with conventional buildings, Wood disagree with this argument saying, ''Green buildings'' energy savings primarily come from reduced energy usage and secondarily from reduced peak energy demand. In general, green building benefits include reduced energy, water and waste in addition to lowering operations and maintenance costs. There are also the more-difficult-to-measure benefits such as the higher quality internal environment which can have a positive effect on worker productivity, occupant health and the amount someone is prepared to pay per square foot. In general, green buildings provide financial benefits that conventional buildings do not. On average, green buildings use 20-30 percent less energy than conventional buildings -a saving of about AED 220.000 (US$60.000) per year for a 100,000 square foot building. A recent report from Massachusetts Technology Collaborative concludes: ?The financial benefits of green buildings are between US$50 and US$65 per square foot. These financial benefits are in lower energy, waste and water costs, lower environmental and emissions costs, and lower operational and maintenance costs.? While many tall buildings worldwide are beginning to incorporate sustainable design approaches and technologies, Wood argues that they still have a long way to go. At its eight World Congress in Dubai next March, with the theme Tall and Green: Typology for a Sustainable Urban Future, the CTBUH plans to convene world leaders in the design, construction and operations of tall buildings to discuss how to the form is reinventing itself in the current international building boom. (WAM)
''With rapid urban development worldwide, dense and more concentrated cities are widely seen now as an essential part of a more sustainable way of life,'' explains Antony Wood, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Executive Director. "These dense, smaller-footprint cities can cut energy consumption and climate-change emissions by reducing the suburban spread of cities and therefore the need for extensive transportation and infrastructure networks. In this regard, tall buildings play a key role in creating denser cities by accommodating more people on smaller parcels of land and therefore reduce the overall impact of buildings upon the environment and upon the world's climate." To carry out a truly socially-sustainable urban agenda, however, tall buildings need to better respond to environmental concerns and their specific urban locations. According to Wood, tall buildings have an opportunity to reinvent themselves to address the need for both a dense and sustainable city by creating truly vibrant, mixed-use facilities within both the building and the city as a whole. ?Tall buildings need to innovate beyond their standard functions: office, residential, and hotel space - that account for around 95 percent of space in tall buildings worldwide - to include more sustainable functions.? For Example, a recent research conducted by the CTBUH into alternative design approaches has resulted in a number of innovative buildings forms such as vertical farms to help alleviate the environmental problems of agricultural imports, and vertical aquifers to maximize rainwater capture which will help address the growing global decline of water resources. Tall buildings also need to accommodate more social-communal spaces within them, such as skygardens and skyplazas.
In addition, future tall buildings should be focused on sustainability from initial design onwards, as well as incorporating sustainable technologies. ?While there are those who believe that the embodied energies involved in tall buildings combined with the impact on the urban realm, make them inherently anti-environmental, I believe that the opposite is true. The biggest impact on a building?s energy consumption is the fundamental early decisions that are taken in the building?s design, in respect of size, form, shape, skin and the positioning of cores etc - all relative to the environment: sun, wind, light. Moreover, tall buildings provide a great potential for harnessing wind energy; more efficient energy production and distribution systems and an increased access to view, light and air.? In the Gulf region which is experiencing some of the world?s fastest growth rates in construction, the need for more sustainable patterns of life as a response is becoming more and more critical. According to recent studies, ?The construction boom in the Gulf region alone has reached new heights, with 2,837 projects estimated to be worth in excess of AED 8.8 trillion (US$2.4 trillion) now underway. Moreover, this expansion of the construction sector and associated industries is expected to continue till 2030.
''The UAE for example has the highest carbon footprint in the world with almost 9.06 global hectares per person, closely followed by Kuwait with 6.38 global ha/person and the USA with 5.66 global ha/person. The main challenge for these countries is to move directly to more energy efficient building solutions,'' says Wood.
While many developers argue that the design of green tall buildings cost too much when compared with conventional buildings, Wood disagree with this argument saying, ''Green buildings'' energy savings primarily come from reduced energy usage and secondarily from reduced peak energy demand. In general, green building benefits include reduced energy, water and waste in addition to lowering operations and maintenance costs. There are also the more-difficult-to-measure benefits such as the higher quality internal environment which can have a positive effect on worker productivity, occupant health and the amount someone is prepared to pay per square foot. In general, green buildings provide financial benefits that conventional buildings do not. On average, green buildings use 20-30 percent less energy than conventional buildings -a saving of about AED 220.000 (US$60.000) per year for a 100,000 square foot building. A recent report from Massachusetts Technology Collaborative concludes: ?The financial benefits of green buildings are between US$50 and US$65 per square foot. These financial benefits are in lower energy, waste and water costs, lower environmental and emissions costs, and lower operational and maintenance costs.? While many tall buildings worldwide are beginning to incorporate sustainable design approaches and technologies, Wood argues that they still have a long way to go. At its eight World Congress in Dubai next March, with the theme Tall and Green: Typology for a Sustainable Urban Future, the CTBUH plans to convene world leaders in the design, construction and operations of tall buildings to discuss how to the form is reinventing itself in the current international building boom. (WAM)
No comments:
Post a Comment