Archive for eco-friendly buildings
Two UK police stations to receive a green retrofit
Posted by: | CommentsEver since I was just a young child I remember that the police always had a number of nicknames associated with them, in many cases you’d be more likely to to hear the nickname rather than the word police itself. Growing up in England I can recall others referring to them as The Fuzz, The Old Bill, Bobbies, The Force, Coppers and Bluebottles. As I aged I learned of many more slang words for the police many of them not fit for this blog, however one word I’d never seen associate with the police until now was ‘Green’.
As part of the British governments goal to retrofit public establishments in more environmentally friendly ways, a large cross-section of public buildings will be receiving green makeovers in the years to come and two police stations in the County of Cheshire have been selected as the first in the region to become green. Police headquarters in both Nantwich and Middlewich were each chosen to receive an eco-friendly makeover including the latest in green technologies. In time it is expected that each county’s Constabulary will be tasked with lowering the carbon footprint of the police force in Britain with specific goals assigned to reducing energy costs and thus the resultant reduction in carbon emissions. The initial project has been co-funded by the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership. The NWIEP is working closely with local councils, police authorities, fire and rescue services and the health authorities to achieve the aims set out in their strategy which is designed to improve the infrastructure and results of local governing bodies and administration. Regionally the northwest part of the the UK has one of the worst levels of air pollution in the country, something the organisation looks set to tackle, per their website:
Currently the North West is the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide outside of the South East, and the range of targets in per capita carbon dioxide emissions that have been committed to by 16 North West Local Area Agreements present the region with a significant challenge. The North West also continues to be the worst performing region on local environmental quality and performs below the national average for the amount of waste it sends to landfill, or reuses, recycles and composts.
Both police stations will be retrofitted to include solar technology for the provision of electricity and hot water. In addition upgrades to the existing electrical systems and building insulation will in turn lead to more energy-efficient buildings. The Constabulary is also expected to benefit financially through new renewable heat incentives that the Government have rolled out. While other police stations in the country have made some changes such as solar, these two locations marked the first example of an entire station benefiting from numerous upgrades implemented simultaneously. The project researched and evaluated 40 different police facilities in the area before selecting Nantwich and Middlewich. The conversions are expected to take about two months to complete with both locations remaining fully functional during the work that needs to be carried out.
Tags: Bluebottles, Bobbies, british police, cheshire, Coppers, eco friendly gifts, eco-friendly buildings, energy consumption, green construction, green retrofit, he Fuzz, middlewich police, nantwich police, North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, planet forward, retrofit building, retrofit public establishments, solar power, solar technology, The Force, The Old Bill, uk police stations get green refitThe 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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