Green Architecture Saving the World | Visiting Sustainable Buildings from Across the Planet

last year i traveled across the world to see what humans are doing in order to fight climate change i've seen some of the world's greenest buildings and in this video i'll show you exactly how these amazing architectural designs are able to save our planet [Music] the carbon footprint of all my flights is offset using the platform offset earth but before we get on any flights let me show you what's being done here in london living walls are being implemented across the capital city to help clean the air this is because toxic pollution can be incredibly high within the city centre green walls have the capability to absorb these harmful chemicals and in exchange they release pure oxygen they can even be placed indoors to increase the internal oxygen levels it is likely that green walls will be an integral part of our cities in the future as it is predicted that 75 of people will be living in cities by this will be 3 billion more people moving into urban districts therefore we have to create the right infrastructure to cater for this increased demand over in china 400 000 people are dying every year prematurely due to the high pollution levels these levels can exceed 50 times what the world health organization deems to be safe the source of the pollution is what should be sorted out first however green architecture can play an important role in providing clean air to the asian cities they are planning to develop entire forest cities in the louisiana region which can absorb 10 000 tons of co2 annually and produce 900 tons of oxygen this is all being designed by the italian architect stefano beret who has already designed and built vertical forest over in milan these buildings are not only doing good for our physical health but also have a positive effect on our psychological well-being i traveled to barcelona as i was told they were creating green architecture to improve the psychological well-being of its citizens so i wanted to see if it actually made me feel any different the demolition of an old building in the city's less court district left an ugly dividing wall facing towards the streets this left a particularly negative impact on the city's landscape due to its high visibility the architect capela garcia came up with a solution to create a vertical garden which wraps around and attaches to the sides of the existing building the vertical garden softens the urban landscape and provides passersby with a connection to nature by strengthening this bond people have with nature it will encourage them to be more environmentally conscious of their own habits there is interior access to the vertical garden which allows maintenance to be done from the inside however the wall has a network of connected tubes so the plants are automatically fed with programmed doses of water and fertilizer it has created a new ecosystem it's even encouraging biodiversity it's provided a natural habitat to a variety of birds whose natural environment was once destroyed by urban development the bunker catalana building was the first green building to be built in barcelona the plants provide shade from the heat of the strong sun which dramatically reduces the air conditioning requirements inside of the building the plants wrap the entire building on each level providing natural shade to the offices behind it can also lower the external temperatures by up to seven degrees which can be extremely important in large cities that experience the heat island effect one city that experiences this effect in particularly is singapore which sits right by the equator this is a city that's taking green architecture to a whole new level the city has one of the highest population densities in the world however before the 19th century it was covered in lush rainforest and the only inhabitants were animals who had perfectly adapted to the hot humid climate in the 19th century mass deforestation occurred and trees were replaced with concrete leading to the average temperature of the region to rise dramatically however in recent years there has been a resurgence of greenery within the city this has been an attempt to reduce the heat island effect within the city centre which is incredibly important with the overall climate getting warmer as we experience singapore is incredibly hot however the use of greenery and water features at the street level help keep us cool this greenery has been transferred into the architectural designs of the buildings the park royal hotel on pickering was designed as a hotel and garden the project has won numerous awards for sustainable and green efforts including the bca green mark platinum which is singapore's highest green rating the building reinforces singapore's tropical image and enhances the quality of life of its guests it does this by providing spaces where the guests can completely immerse themselves within nature it can also benefit those who are simply walking by and admiring the building even the concrete has been shaped to resemble natural forms the designers at wohar refer to this as topographical architecture the stratified undulating layers of precast concrete wrap around the entire building and resemble the structure of the bedrock this shows that nature can not only be used for practicality and efficiency but can also be used as a design inspiration not far from this building is the oasia hotel which is a building entirely wrapped in a red skin this allows plants to grow in the facade in total the building hosts 54 species of plants and trees which help improve the biodiversity within the city [Music] the 190 metre tall building has large sections cut out which break up the facade and allow cross-ventilation into the building these garden spaces act as mini oasis in the center of the busy business district overall the green facade totals over 25 000 square meters and the plot of land the building sits on is only 2 500 square meters this means the building achieves an overall greenery replacement of more than 10 times the site area this will help address the huge loss of green spaces within the urban city center like other living facades it works with an enormous lung which generates oxygen and absorbs co2 it is also able to filter out dust fumes and pollution from the air the most famous tourist attraction within singapore is the super trees within the gardens by the bay the man-made structures are designed to emulate the biological behavior of trees at their trunks at information plucks which teach the public on the importance of trees for our survival the 18 super trees within the gardens incorporate technologies such as cooling channels which help moderate the temperature of the surrounding environment they also hold photovoltaics to harvest energy for the evening light show ultimately singapore showcases fantastic examples of green architecture however it has been blessed with a climate which allows for plants to grow rapidly over in hamburg germany they are taking a more scientific approach to green architecture they are using algae and the process of photosynthesis to turn the sun's energy into fuel the algae rapidly grows within the glass panels it is then extracted and put into a bio-converter which turns the algae into biomass this biomass can then be used for a number of things it can be a source of food for humans or animals and it can even power cars but the main purpose is to create electricity and heat for the people living in the building whilst we were there we were told the process was actually producing so much energy that it can offer electricity to the surrounding buildings too finally my favorite green building that i visited on my travels was in copenhagen denmark here they are engaging the public directly with the energy sector this has been achieved by placing a ski slope on top of the cleanest waste energy power plant in the world we took the glass lift to the top which showed us inside the factory where 440 000 tons of waste is being converted into clean energy annually once you reach the top you see the toxin-free steam being released which is said to be as fresh as mountain air you then see the start of one of the world's largest artificial ski slopes this building has shown that creating a sustainable future doesn't have to be limiting it can actually make our lives more enjoyable the architect jacques ingles hopes that this project will inspire those across the world to create architecture that can be both fun and save the environment green architecture does propose some problems however all of which have solutions it can lead to additional costs of construction but in the long term it can save a lot of money due to the greatly reduced air conditioning vegetation also adds more weight to the structure however if incorporated in the original designs this shouldn't be an issue as it is organic matter it can propose a fire hazard however as long as the irrigation system keeps the vegetation well watered this shouldn't be a problem my takeaways from this trip is that green architecture can be implemented pretty much anywhere i expect to see green architecture be used a lot more in the future to help with both pollution issues but also to help resolve climate change climate change is an issue which will affect us all however we have the technology right now to prevent these horrific scenes from continuing so we must urge our governments to act and make sure that they use these technologies which are already having a positive impact around the world i hope that you've enjoyed this video on the world's greenest buildings if you want to see more interesting architecture be sure to watch my smart buildings video and also subscribe to see where i'll be visiting in the future thank you and i will see you in the next video

Channel: Going Green

Views: 245,040

Keywords: green architecture, the world's greenest buildings, green buildings, how can buildings be made sustainable, can buildings help save the world, green architecture saving the world, green architecture examples, green architecture definition, green architecture buildings, what is green architecture, biophillic architecture, sustainable design, sustainable architecture, energy efficient buildings, green architecture singapore, eco design, green technology

Id: -dvFb2vC7_Y

Length: 9min 31sec (571 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 14 2020