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The height of Eco-Friendly - World’s tallest buildings face new contender
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London's Post Office Tower
It all started with the church in the village where I grew up , it’s stone spire could be seen from a few miles away as it was the tallest building in our little town. As a youngster I was ridiculously impressed by tall and grand buildings, as a little kid when visiting London I was amazed at the twin spires of Westminster Abbey (69 M 225 FT) and the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral (112 M 366 FT), before then being transfixed by the tallest tower (at the time) in London - The Post Office Tower (now named the BT Tower standing at 188 M 617 FT). As a small boy that building seemed impossibly tall and so it remained until the first time I visited Paris on a school trip when I was about eight. It was there that I first saw the Eiffel Tower - not so much a building as a steel observation deck but certainly enough to thrill me and the tallest yet (not to mention very metric exactly 300.0M or 984 feet).
burj-khalifa in Dubai
My dad used to travel to the US and Canada on business a lot and when I was ten we were taken on a family trip which was really masquerading as a business trip but my tall building buzz saw new highs. We flew into JFK and I was lucky enough to visit and go to the top of the Empire State Building (381M) and The World Trade Centre (417M 1368 FT). At more than double the height of the Post Office Tower plus the incredible vastness of the building I remember just looking up in awe - and of course there were two of them! It seemed to my 10 year old brain that the trip was designed around my tall building hobby (it wasn’t) as we also visited Chicago which of course features the Sears Tower, the tallest in the world at the time (442M 1451 FT). My holy grail was visited and I had the photos to prove it.
As I grew older my interest in tall buildings waned, and although I ended up living in one and working in one for a short time I found other interests that replaced my early passion. I’ve paid marginal attention as the Sears Tower was trumped by new skyscrapers in Asia and wept (for reasons beyond the obvious) when the twin towers in New York came crashing down on that dark day in 2001. My interest was rekindled by the recent construction and opening of the new top tower in Dubai - the Burj Khalifa is a staggering height (828M 2717 FT). I can’t even conceive of a building being that tall and photographs and videos such as the one beneath make it seem computer generated against the desert background.
From an environmental perspective the newest buildings are also using more methods of green construction. Not just smaller buildings and homes are benefiting from new concepts of sustainable construction by skyscrapers around the world are also incorporating design ideas that consider more than height. There is now news of a potential tower being constructed later this decade in Miami, Florida that would not only been taller than the current pinnacle in Dubai but also potentially the one of the largest eco-friendly buildings ever built.
The proposed Miapolis
The proposed structure is the Miapolis, if it gets built the 975 meter high tower could potentially beat out Dubai’s Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building if built. Designed by KOBI KARP, Miapolis would be more than just a building - it would be a vertical self-contained city. They utilize the most cutting-edge sustainable systems and practices within the design, it would be the largest LEED-certified structure at any rating level in the United States. The staggering 160-floor tower would contain entertainment and residential spaces within including an amusement park, observatory, restaurants, 2 million sq ft of shops, over 1000 apartments, 1 million sq ft of office space and a 792 room hotel. *(some elevators too I’m guessing)
Miapolis’ eco-credibility includes the use of 60% wind energy, a modular green roof, greenhouse gas management, water desalinization, storm and wastewater management, solid waste management and much more. Will it actually happen? There is a list of proposed super towers as long as my arm that never came to fruition - but to think that the tallest building in the world might also boast a very green core - that would be the height of eco-friendly.
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Green Gazette (Issue 39) Eco-mice, horses and a great way to green your music
Posted by: | CommentsHello again, like many others I have the occasional weakness for ‘gadgets’ although I’m more tempted to just say ‘that’s pretty cool’ as opposed to purchasing one it doesn’t change the fact that I admire the innovation. On the other hand we have gadget consumers, those of us who live to purchase new tools and ideas that change the way we do things and hopefully make life that tiny bit more efficient. Today I thought I’d look at some fairly simple but certainly innovative gadgets that have a legitimate green benefit - each of which has yet to be released on the market. Off we go!
Wireless mouse - you can’t beat a wireless mouse once you’ve made the transition from the more common garden variety of mouse with a cord. It does make me wonder though is it still a ‘mouse’ when it no longer has a tail? At that point isn’t it more like a chipmunk or a marmot. However, if you love your wireless mouse but tire of replacing the batteries every 3 months or so there is now a green option. Meet Corky - he/she is made entirely of recycled cork and doesn’t need batteries. The kinetic energy caused by normal use when scrolling and clicking provides the energy source of our keyboard accomplice. No more batteries and plastics needed - what a great idea.
Discarded car tires/tyres - a blight of rubber wastage and something you rarely see any innovation attached to. This sounds like a bet an 
inventor took and won as he created the Automan 500 - which is an ottoman speaker (subwoofer) made from a standard automobile tire. In addition to being very eco friendly in design it apparently does the task assigned to it very well:
Designers Carolyn Butts and Hans Honegger say that the circular/cylindrical shape allows the subwoofer to have a better sound quality, and its unique construction helps it to emit all the bass notes.
The non audio components include a car tire, bicycle tire and wheat straw fiber board. This ranks as one of the more unlikely gadgets I’ve seen and when did you last see a round speaker?
Finally how about something a little different for the children which will serve a dual purpose by being eco-friendly while helping educate the kids about green issues and clean energy. You can accomplish both at once if you meetIf you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Green Gazette (Issue 37) G.E. gets renewable, using your green loaf and solar fencing
Posted by: | CommentsHello again, February already would you believe? For those of you in colder climes don’t worry the worst of Winter will soon be behind you and the Spring thaws will start before you know it. It’s been a topsy turvy Winter with traditionally mild places being snowed in and colder regions experiencing warmer weather than usual. The ostriches say ’so much for global warming’ whereas the informed among us know the difference between climate change and weather change. These things are measured in 50 year increments so seasonal deviation means nothing really, what does mean something is weather in general being more unsettled as occurrences of drought and flooding are changing rapidly due to a complete change in the ferocity/frequency of storms around the planet. However I’ve gone on a tangent for I am here to bring you some eco-news for the latest Green Gazette so let me do just that.
General Electric (G.E.) have announced their intent by dedicating a brand new $45 billion facility in Schenectday New York as their “Renewable Energy Global Headquarters”. Such a statement of change sends a very positive message from the corporate giant, you can have any number of new and smaller alternate energy companies start at the grassroots level but when the muscle of G.E. is getting behind the drive toward renewable energy we’ll find that we reach our destination that much quicker. The building itself is of course a model of green efficiency and it creates 650 new jobs and was completed a year ahead of schedule. To learn more the building and the corporation’s growing commitment to renewable energy please visit this Business Wire story.
“The dedication of our new, state-of-the-art global headquarters represents our ongoing mission to provide renewable energy solutions that will help meet both the world’s energy and environmental needs,”
Victor Abate, VP of renewable energy for GE Power & Water
I’m always amazed (impressed) by the fact that almost every type of industry can make a difference in environmental matters by moving toward sustainable practices. The more I read and research the fuller my understanding of the fact that applications that can have a positive impact 
exist almost everywhere and at the heart of much of the needed change will remain consumer awareness. Sara Lee are yet another example of a company that have baked up a good idea. The bread giant announced this week that they are trying to capture a slice of the green market with a new ‘eco-wheat’. The new green loaf will hinge on more than just a concept as a new ‘eco-grain’ has been specifically developed by Cargill and CHS for Sara Lee. The wheat will be grown using farming practices that reduce fertilizer and it requires less land than organic farming. Best news of all is that you don’t have to be from the upper crust to try the new product as it will be priced equivalently to the company’s existing product line. I’m not buttering up the fact that I hope sales will bring in extra dough versus the non green competition. Look for the bread to be in stores this spring.
Solar Fence
I wanted to close with another example of remarkable innovation. Solar energy seems to be usually associated with rooftops and solar farms but here is one avenue I wouldn’t have considered although you may well see it around a farm or indeed a homestead. A solar fence (but of course!) has been developed by a company called Earth Sure out of New Jersey. The fence is fully functional as a…well as a fence but also collects the suns rays from dawn until dusk and then transforms the solar rays into energy for your home. It’s a natural idea in my books and wins the Gazette award as green innovation of the week. Learn more about the solar fencing here. At last a legal fencing operation that will pay for itself in little time.
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Green Gazette (Issue 30) Christmas waste…..room for improvement
Posted by: | CommentsHello again, however you celebrated the holidays I hope they allowed you some time with friends and family and the opportunity to relax a bit before you leap right back into the treadmill we all typically experiemce. In this neighbourhood we have alleys behind the house for refuse collection and it was while taking the trash out this morning that I was (unhappily) astounded at the increased levels of waste from seemingly every house on the block due to the holidays.
Thus I was scouring the internet for some useful (and current) stats about the waste that the Holidays create. The only very recent data (2008) I could find was for the UK - but if you translate the numbers and accept that the UK has about one sixth the population of the US and Canada combined it gives you a good idea of what we’re looking at. Before asking you to read on, please know that I simply love numbers and statistics so this is one of those chances where I just devour the information on offer. So, with that said, here are some statistics for the UK for 2008 (population 61.4 million)
Multiply by about 5 or 6 for North America!!
- The Royal Mail (the postal service in Britain) deliver approximately 150 million cards and packages each day in the two weeks leading up to Christmas.
- Estimates suggest about 1 billion Christmas cards (17 per every person in the UK) will ultimately end up in the trash
- 8.1 Million Christmas Trees were purchased, fewer than 20% will be recycled
- The UK will throw out about 85 square km of wrapping paper this season, enough to cover Manhattan and wrap most of the skyscrapers within it!!
- Can and bottle use (and waste) increases by over 125% for the month of December in the UK
- Around 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging will be thrown away over Christmas
- About 3,000 tonnes of aluminium foil are used to wrap Turkeys to cook this month
These are just the easy to measure stats of what the holidays can create in terms of waste. When we receive new clothes are we disposing of the clothes they may replace or donating them for future use? The same can be said for electronics, appliances and household furnishings. Recycling is not a chore - I think its a duty we really all share. If consumption is a by-product of our society surely the appropriate disposal or recycling of items is the least we should be doing.
Not to be a grinch, but does every 10th house in this city need (literally) thousands of lights burning all night long to show the holiday spirit?
Within 10 miles of here you can take the family out to see amazing displays of hundreds of thousands of lights at The Zoo, The Train Park, Downtown and other special displays. At some point it must reach overkill surely if every house is trying to enter the competition? If you are going to have lights at least put them on a timer, not many people are driving around here enjoying the lights at 2am after all.
As with most things, its all in the planning.
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