Green Bulidings

Not only is Dubai home to the world's tallest building,  the world's only 7 Star hotel and one of the world's successful economies but now it is also home to the first bubble wrapped building. Well, that is not exactly true; it is actually a clear honeycomb screen around the outside of the building that gives the building its characteristic look. The screen was designed to cut cooling costs and make the building greener by keeping the sun's rays out. The hexagonal pattern was derived from an Islamic pattern that opens and closes in response to the suns path. This should cut cooling costs by up to 25%. In addition to the special screen on the outside of the building, the roof of the tower is covered in solar panels which should compensate for another 5% of the buildings energy consumption. This building, being 25 stories tall and having 2000 employees in it, is meant to be the headquarters for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. I think it is good that Dubai is finally deciding to look toward building greener buildings rather than taller and more extravagant ones.

Looking to build a new, green home? Model it after this one built by Ralph Disch in Germany. Many builders nowadays are starting to think about how they can make their houses more green. Most decide to put solar panels on their roofs but the problem in doing that is the panels only are pointing toward the sun for a short amount of they day resulting on a little power being produced. This is one of the many problems solved by Disch's new house. His entire house is mounted on a large pole so that the house can rotate with the sun as the day goes along so that the solar panels can be used with maximum efficiency. He also has water pipes running through the top of his house so that he can use the power of the sun to heat his water. In addition to these power saving methods, Disch also uses rainwater and greywater (water that goes down your sink drains) to meet his water demands such as flushing toilets. All of this amounts to not only being able to only produce enough power to power all the need of his house but actually create FIVE times the amount of energy he needs. This means he can sell the excess power back to the grid and actually make money off of his house by doing absolutely nothing. I think that the rotating solar panels are a great idea but I do not want rain/grey water for my water needs just yet. Thanks for reading and please comment!