green architecture

We've seen vertical farming concepts before, but the Clepsydra merges an entirely new building type with an urban greenhouse. We know the benefits of vertical farms include the ability to produce great amounts of food in a small land area.

Also the food is closest to the people who eat it, minimizing the need for transportation, refrigeration, packaging and other energy-intensive activities. Bruno Vigano and Florencia Costa have designed the Clepsydra with these thoughts in mind, and created what they call an accessory building, which can be added to existing structures.

Copenhagen, Denmark will soon have a brand new waste-to-energy plant incinerating trash to generate power and heat for the city. Scheduled for completion by 2016, the design by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) won an international competition and features a built-in ski slope.

The finished building will include over one million square feet and cost 650 million dollars. BIG architects conceptualized the project as a gift to the city of Copenhagen, providing what they call Hedonistic Sustainability. Everything about the plant is designed for ecological, economic and social sustainability.

Envision Solar has developed the first-generation Solar Grove for use in parking lots. This "grove" of Solar Trees not only generates power, it transforms otherwise barren parking lots into modern-looking, shaded areas. Everyone knows how much time and gas it takes to cool down

your car when it's been sitting in the sun all day. Not only do the Kyocera-manufactured solar panels keep the sun off of cars parked underneath, they prevent the asphalt from absorbing and later releasing wasted heat energy. All this while generating enough electricity to pay for the investment