6 Examples of sustainable buildings and the secrets to their sustainability

The Crystal by Siemens, London

The Crystal, an event venue and visitor center built by Siemens in London, is one of the most sustainable buildings in the world. It has both the prestigious sustainable building certifications, the LEED Platinum and BREEAM Outstanding under its belt. Some of its smart and sustainable features are: intelligent energy management, thermal wheels that recover more than half of the outgoing energy, 70% natural lighting, a zero-discharge water facility, and electricity usage monitoring.

The Bullitt Center, Seattle

The Bullitt Center is a six-story commercial office building located in Seattle, Washington. The building is completely self-sufficient when it comes to water and electricity. Photovoltaic cells on its roof act as the primary source of electricity. Its state-of-the-art water and sewerage processing systems ensure that it doesn’t depend on the city’s water supply or sewerage systems.

The Shanghai Tower, Shanghai

The second tallest building in the world, the Shanghai tower, also holds its own when it comes to sustainability. It uses wind turbines to enlighten most of its outer and park areas. All of its ventilation, heating, and lighting are smart, which lead to massive reductions in energy utilization. Its insulating glass façade has been designed in a way to maintain the indoor temperature to an optimal range.

Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore

Singapore may be one of the most expensive cities in the world, but it is also home to some of the most sustainable buildings worldwide. The Khoot Teck Puat Hospital is a prime example. The building uses solar panels for all its electric needs, and a solar thermal system to produce hot water that runs throughout the hospital. Water from the adjacent Yishun Pond is pumped into the hospital’s irrigation system, where it gets processed before being used for landscaping purposes.

Finansparken Bjergsted, Norway

The Finansparken Bjergsted in Stavenger, Norway is the epitome of sustainable architecture. 7 of its 10 levels have been made completely out of wood, making it the largest wooden commercial building in Europe. The ventilation, heating, lighting (both artificial and sunlight) can be adjusted via a smartphone application. All of the building’s electrical components have been tagged, making them identifiable and manageable from the central system.

CIS Tower, Manchester

Last but not least, the CIS Tower in Manchester is one of UK’s tallest buildings. A whopping £5 Million was spent on its solar panel retrofit, approximately 4 decades after its construction in 1962. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has referred to the building as the “largest commercial solar façade in Europe” It has more than 7,000 photovoltaic cells that provide up to 180 megawatt hours of energy every year, along with 24 wind turbines that also act as an energy source.

Final word

Up until a decade or so ago, there were only a handful of sustainable buildings around the world. For example, in 2006, there were only 296 LEED-certified projects in the United States. However, the number grew to 67,200 in 2018, representing a 226-time increase. Similarly, the availability of smart and sustainable building management systems has also risen exponentially in recent years. Solutions like ClevAir can integrate with existing building systems and start saving energy in no time.

Learn more about sustainable building features and the process of turning an old building into a sustainable one

Originally published at https://clevair.io on September 21, 2020.