My first Publication Arup_BuildingDesign2020_v2 | Page 18

The 200 square metre façade of this
residential apartment tower is composed of
glass “bioreactor” panels, each containing
microalgae plants, continuously supplied
with liquid nutrients and carbon dioxide via
a water circuit. Catalyzed by sunlight, the
continuously generated biomass from the
panels is harvested, converted into a biofuel
and used to heat
BIQ’s microalgae façade is an important
pilot project, demonstrating the feasibility
of such living-system façades and pointing
the way to a future in which the contained
biomass could be used for C02 sequestration
and air quality monitoring as well as heat
production. BIQ’s designers anticipate a
day when the biomass generated in such
structures can provide 100% of a building’s
power requirements.
Location / Business: Hamburg, Germany.
Splitterwerk/Arup for International Building
Exhibition.
Sustainable Materials
construction materials take on added
importance as contributors to a building’s
embodied carbon footprint. SOM’s Timber
Tower has a carbon footprint 60-75% smaller
than a comparably sised building constructed
from traditional reinforced concrete and steel
structural elements.
Location / Business: Chicago, IL. Skidmore,
Owings and Merrill LLP and Softwood Lumber
Board for private use.
Timber Tower Research Project is an initiative
to develop a safe, structurally viable, 42-story
building framed with mass timber, employing
reinforced concrete only in high-stress areas.
As environmental impact measurements
shift from energy intensity to carbon intensity,
The ability to track the material content (and by
extension, projected performance) of recyclable materials has
greatly expanded their potential for commercial applications.
Materials continue to become smarter, with embedded
indicators of content makeup and lifetime strain enabling
new categories of reuse. Resource scarcity continues to place
significance on designing for reusability at the material,
component, and building scale. Upfront investments in
designing more adaptable materials, structural and façade
elements, and building systems will need to be incentivised in
order to attain the longer-term benefit of resilience
and flexibility.
Current areas of sustainable material development include
low-carbon materials, materials from renewable sources,
and products that are recyclable at both the material and
component level. Façade design continues to play a critical
role in sustainable building, with strides being made both
in façade materials and control systems, allowing dynamic,
responsive designs that can help mitigate solar gain and
emissions at the systemic level.
Structural materials are another area of innovation, in
both the development of new material categories and the
innovative application of existing materials via projects that
push the boundaries of engineering science. The development
of low-C02 cement-free concrete and the popularity of timber
construction points to an ongoing renaissance of low-tech
sustainability solutions.
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Case Study: Timber Tower Research
Case Study: Microalgae Façade
Building Design 2020
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