Our environment is directly impacted by any community development and growth. Due to the scarcity of non-renewable resources, architects have become more conscious of the environment and are concentrating on creating green buildings.
To create a sustainable building, they carefully plan every step of the process, from conceptualization to execution to building demolition.
A green building, therefore, aims to improve resource efficiency so as to have a positive social, economic, and environmental impact.
What is a green building?
A “green” building is one that can have a positive impact on the climate and the environment by reducing or eliminating negative effects during design, construction, or operation. Green structures protect priceless natural resources and raise our standard of living.
The top ten green and sustainable buildings that astounded the world are listed below.
Bank of America, New York
In the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City, there is a 55-story skyscraper called the Bank of America Tower, also called 1 Bryant Park. It is situated diagonally across from Bryant Park at 1111 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), between 42nd and 43rd Streets.
The Durst Organization developed the structure for Bank of America, which was designed by Cookfox and Adamson Associates. The Bank of America Tower, which stands 1,200 feet (370 m) tall, will be the tenth tallest structure in the United States as of 2022 and the eighth tallest structure in New York City.
The 2.1 million square feet (200,000 m2) of office space in the Bank of America Tower is largely occupied by Bank of America. The structure consists of a seven-story base that fills the entire plot and the Tower rising above it. Its curtain wall of insulated glass panels makes up the majority of its facade.
At the base of the structure is the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, a New York City landmark, along with a number of shops and an atrium for pedestrians. When it was first built, the Bank of America Tower was certified as a Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building.
Pixel Building, Melbourne, Australia
The Pixel Building project is a modest four-level structure in Melbourne, Australia that features a remarkable selection of cutting-edge sustainable design innovations.
The client set a lofty goal for Pixel Building to become the nation’s first office structure to achieve carbon neutrality. The answer supported the structure by generating its own electricity and water using on-site wind turbines and a green roof that drew moisture from the building’s greywater through evapotranspiration.
Pixel Building is water-balanced and could, if necessary, cut off from the main supply and be self-sufficient for all of its amenity needs, with the exception of occupant drinking.
The Pixel Building’s design used recycled, sustainable building materials and low carbon concrete, or Pixelcrete, to lower the building’s embodied carbon.
The Pixel Building received the highest possible and highest-ever rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, earning 105 LEED points and a perfect 6-Star Green Star – Office Design v3 rating of 105 points.
Shanghai tower, China
Another ambitious skyscraper in the fierce competition for height and sustainability credentials is the Shanghai Tower. The third “supertall” tower on the City’s famous skyline is the Shanghai Tower, which rises 632 meters. Looking down from the 119th floor, the City is packed with high-rise buildings and streets like a toy model.
The tallest viewing platform, the highest hotel and restaurant, and the fastest elevators in the world are just a few of the world records that China’s new building holds.
However, the 128-story Tower’s claim to fame is that it is the greenest skyscraper in the entire world. The government is praising the Tower for receiving the highest green rating, LEED Platinum, as evidence of China’s expanding green credentials.
Although Shanghai Tower may be the only supertall Tower to receive LEED Platinum certification, it is a part of a growing trend among towers to promote their environmental responsibility as the need for more sustainable urban development grows.
Iberdrola Tower, Bilbao, Spain
The César Pelli-designed Iberdrola Tower is the tallest structure in the Basque Country at 165 meters and 41 floors, and it also has the largest surface area of any skyscraper rising in Spain at 50,000 square meters.
Four thousand eight hundred glass panels made specifically for the Tower cover its façade, which is the equivalent of 20,000 square meters of transparent skin. In addition, this skyscraper, which houses the Iberdrola electricity company’s headquarters, has a helipad on its roof for use in case of emergencies.
The structure is a component of the Nervion River’s waterfront revitalization. It has a hotel, a shopping mall, and Iberdrola’s offices. It has a platinum LEED certification.
Bullitt Centre, Seattle, USA
The Bullitt Center is a six-story, 50,000-square-foot office building in Seattle that aims to be the greenest commercial building in the world.
With its composting toilets, exclusion of 350 commonly used toxic chemicals, including PVC, lead, mercury, phthalates, BPA, and formaldehyde, and strict energy and water budget that aims for self-sufficiency under the Living Building Challenge, this $30 million “living laboratory” by Miller Hull Partnership sets itself apart from other sustainable projects.
The new centre, which employs a number of systems that are easily replicable elsewhere without requiring excessive maintenance, is intended to show that carbon-neutral office space can be “commercially viable and aesthetically stunning,” according to the environmentally conscious Bullitt Foundation.
Bahrain World Trade Centre, Manama
The Bahrain World Trade Center is a prime example of environmentally friendly architecture and engineering. The structure houses the first substantial installation of wind turbines in a commercial structure.
The concept that buildings could harness the onshore breeze from the Gulf and, if designed properly, deliver a renewable source of energy for the project was developed with initial inspiration drawn from traditional Arabian wind towers.
The design, which is exclusive to this structure and meets the challenge of integrating renewable energy solutions with sustainable architecture, calls for three wind turbines, each measuring 29 meters in diameter, to be supported horizontally between the two towers.
The two towers’ sail profiles funnel the incoming breeze between them and create lift behind them, increasing the wind velocity between the twin buildings. Each Tower is visually anchored to the ground by a concertina of curved, sail-like forms, tapering to a height of 240m.
Council House 2, Melbourne, Australia
CH2, located on Little Collins Street, was conceived when the need arose to provide more living space for employees. However, the opportunity to improve workplace design in the process of meeting this need was too good for the City to pass up.
As part of its mission to achieve its goal of zero emissions by 2020, the City of Melbourne piloted CH2, which was designed in collaboration with the Melbourne City Council. ESD measures such as using biomimicry for its design (the first such urban example in Australia) and a strategic ventilation system contribute to the building’s impressive energy efficiency.
Mechanical ventilation during the day (an under-floor air supply technique that distributes filtered air drawn from the outside without any recycling of air) and natural ventilation (the stack effect, enhanced by turbine ventilators) at night provided fresh air for CH2.
The concrete ceilings in CH2 are exposed and are kept at a more comfortable temperature year-round, thanks to chilled ceiling panels. These ceilings are made of concrete, and they work by absorbing heat from the rising air during the day and releasing it during the night during purging.
CH2 is intended to keep the workplace at a comfortable 21–23 degrees. In 2006, it became the first building in Australia to be awarded the highest possible Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
Manitoba Hydro Place, Canada
As the largest energy provider in Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro is the fourth largest energy provider in Canada and boasts some of the most competitive electricity rates anywhere in the world. All of the province’s electricity is generated by hydroelectric plants that are owned by the government and replenish themselves constantly.
Manitoba Hydro Place, the company’s new headquarters tower, is the pioneer of the next generation of sustainable buildings by combining established environmental concepts with cutting-edge technologies to create a “living building” that actively adapts to its environment.
Without sacrificing design quality or, more importantly, human comfort, this architectural solution relies on passive, free energy and clearly responds to the client’s vision.
Winnipeg residents have given the building the moniker “Open Book” because its two 18-story office towers sit atop a stepped 3-story street-scale podium. For maximum exposure to the abundant sunlight and consistently strong southerly winds characteristic of Winnipeg’s climate, the towers converge at the north and splay open to the south.
Manitoba Hydro Place, unlike most North American office buildings, does not use recycled air and is instead filled with 100% fresh air around the clock all year long.
Three six-story south atria, or winter gardens, nestled between the two towers, serve as the building’s lungs, bringing in fresh air and conditioning it before distributing it to the offices via vents on the raised floor.
Each atrium has a waterfall that is 24 meters tall, and this feature either adds moisture to the air or removes it, depending on the season. When it’s cold outside, we warm the air by using the sun’s passive radiant energy and the heat we reclaim from the exhaust.
While energy efficiency and distinctive design are important, Manitoba Hydro is just as committed to fostering a positive work environment and reviving Winnipeg’s downtown. The structure provides access to a covered walkway above the City below.
Manitoba Hydro Place is a model for how to improve the human experience and the civility of city life through the harmonious integration of architectural excellence, climate responsiveness, energy efficiency, and sustainable design.
Museum of Tomorrow, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Museum’s architecture delves into the dynamic between the urban and the rural, drawing inspiration from the Carioca culture that informed its design. Exhibit space at the Museum totals 5,000 square meters split evenly between temporary and permanent displays; outside, a plaza spanning 7,600 square meters provides a scenic backdrop and connects the building to the adjacent dock.
The building’s 75-meter-long overhangs face the square, while the 45-meter-long overhangs face the ocean. The Museum has expanded from the pier into the bay, and these are some of the highlights. Upstairs is where you’ll find the permanent exhibit, and from the 10-meter-high roof, you can take in breathtaking vistas of Guanabara Bay.
In order to preserve the bay’s vantage point of Sao Bento Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the building is capped at 18 meters in height.
The building’s width is kept to a minimum while its length and height, both of which extend into Guanabara Bay, are highlighted by a cantilevering roof with large, movable wings.
Santiago Calatrava has said that – Rio de Janeiro is an inspiration for cities around the world because of the way it has recovered quality urban spaces through drastic intervention and the creation of cultural facilities like the Museum of Tomorrow and the new Museum of Art. ” In our initial plans, we reflected this idea by including a plaza outside the Museum. In addition to reflecting the larger transformation of the neighbourhood, the plaza also serves as a unifying urban space.’ – ArchitectMagazine
Parkroyal Collection, Singapur, Singapur
The PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore, is the first “Garden-in-a-Hotel” in Singapore and is located in the heart of the Central Business District and Marina Bay, with stunning views of the city skyline.
Over 2,400 plants, trees, shrubs, and groundcovers from more than 60 varieties of flora are spread across 15,000 square feet of space in one of Southeast Asia’s largest indoor sky-lit atrium, making the hotel a champion of sustainability, environmental responsibility, and advocate for green innovations in the hospitality industry.
Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, Singapore is a luxury hotel in Singapore that specializes in providing eco-conscious guests with a range of modern amenities and services, including a focus on biophilic design, iconic architecture, and eco-friendliness.
When you arrive at the hotel, you’ll be greeted by friendly staff members at the reception desk, and then you can mingle with other guests in the foyer while taking in breathtaking views of the atrium gardens, all thanks to the biophilic design concept that was used to create the hotel.
Ending Notes
These green buildings are pushing the boundaries of the green revolution and bringing the world closer to sustainability. I don’t have any doubt about the speculation that green buildings are the future of architecture. Do pay these amazing places a visit if you are nearby.
