People nowadays are much more concerned about preserving their environment than they were earlier and this clearly reflects in the number of sustainable buildings being constructed in every part of the world. We did some research and created this list of eight most sustainable buildings from around the world, which will surely make interesting reading for you. Let us look at each of them in the following sections.
Robert Redford Building:
Located in Santa Monica, California, it is headquarter for NRDC or National Resources Defense Council. Some of the sustainability features that are present in the building include utilization of sixty percent less water as compared to other buildings of similar size. This is accomplished by capturing as well as filtering sink, rain and shower water for irrigating the landscape and to flush toilets. The building has solar panels on the roof, which meet almost 20% of building’s electricity requirements.
BoA Tower:
Situated in NYC, Bank of America tower has earned the LEED Shell Platinum and Core certification, which is given to high-rise structures that adhere to sustainability guidelines. The building has gray water storage feature as well as fixtures for low flow plumbing that help in saving as much as ten million gallons of water each year.
K&H Bank:
The headquarters of K&H Bank located in Budapest, Hungry boasts of its LEED-NC rating and it is the first building in the country to get it. The energy saving design is such that it consumes about twenty-two percent less energy than other buildings. Water usage in the building has also been planned properly with facility for capturing as well as storing rainwater to irrigate garden on the roof and watering the landscape around the building.
Z6 House:
Situated in California, USA, the building is known for its sustainable design with the name signifying the six main areas where it scores well than other buildings, namely; carbon emission, waste, water, energy and ignorance. The building makes almost seventy percent of its energy by using solar power and the water heaters are solar powered.
Pixel:
It is one of the well-known commercial buildings in Australia with many sustainability features. The building has been able to achieve the Green Star rating with the use of several innovations. The building not only uses sunshade system to reduce glare as well as heat but also allows natural light to come in. The building also generates electricity using wind turbines to meet its own energy requirements.
The Change Initiative:
Situated in Dubai, TCI is one of the most sustainable buildings across the world. The material utilized in making the building is recycled material and water being used is recyclable. The energy requirements are met by solar panels fitted on the roof and heat reflective paint along with triple insulation on the outside helps to save a lot of energy required for cooling the building.
Council House 2:
This commercial building is in Melbourne, Australia with 6 Green Star rating. It generates as much as 30% of its electricity using micro-turbine set up on the roof. The heat produced in the process is then used in air-conditioning in the building as well as for heating water.
Park Hotel:
This hotel, located in Hyderabad, India, has received LEED Gold certification for its sustainability efforts. The hotel has its own plant for wastewater treatment that treats gray water for reuse.
Summary:
Sustainable buildings are helpful in saving our environment and reducing overall energy consumption by the society in general. If we develop more such sustainable buildings then it will help in solving many of the energy problems.
