“Our intention is to build the third Rotating Skyscraper in New York,” Dr. Fisher stated. “Additional Dynamic Towers will be built around the world, following an expression of interest from developers, governments, and public officials to construct a Dynamic Tower in Canada, Germany, Italy, Korea and Switzerland”.

The futurist architect also has mentioned that “the Dynamic Tower is environmentally friendly and the first building designed to be self-powered, with the ability to generate its own electricity, as well as for other nearby buildings, it achieves this feat with wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor, An 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant,”.

The Dynamic Tower is also the first skyscraper to be built entirely from prefabricated parts that are custom made in a workshop, resulting in cost savings, this approach known as the Fisher Method, also requires far fewer workers on the construction site, thereby dramatically lowering construction costs.

“Each floor of the building can be completed in only seven days. From now on, buildings will be made in a factory,” Dr. Fisher said.

The Dynamic Tower also takes the concept of green buildings to the next level as the futurist tower generates the electricity to cover its energy needs.

Dynamic Architecture.

The Elithis group specializes in the design and installation of technical fluids into buildings achieving superior energy, comfort, technology, and energy efficiency. Put all this expertise altogether and the result is a remarkable positive energy office structure which creates more power that it uses and produces six times less greenhouse gas emissions than classic commercial buildings.

Thierry Bievre, director of the Elithis group, has accomplished an extraordinary assignment by re-defining the conceptual possibilities of green design and by managing a team that has implemented the latest sustainable development techniques into a ten story building which blends aesthetics, urban integration, comfort, energy and environmental performance.

Elithis Tower Teaser 1

Click here to view the embedded video.

The materials used for the construction of the Elithis Tower were strategically selected to minimize energy consumption. The exterior of the building is made of wood and recycled insulation while bay windows were selected to bring in natural light. In addition, the Elithis team designed a solar shield that allows natural light to enter the building while filtering out excess heat and blinding light.

Solar panels cover the roof of the Elithis Tower

Power is also harnessed from over 330 solar panels on the building’s roof. Moreover, a triple flow system which allows the reuse of of energy emissions from computers, photocopiers, lights, etc, harmonizes energy consumption and distribution across the building. With more than 1,600 sensors installed, data of daily energy consumption is recorded and displayed on a public sign for everyone to see, thus promoting transparency and awareness of the building emissions and environmental impact.

Promoting a culture of collaboration, management of the E-Tower encourages all stakeholders, from owners and tenants to employees and visitors, to take an active role in the cause of responsible energy consumption. As the first structure of its kind, the Elithis Tower has a tremendous value to the community and management of the tower has opened its doors to welcome scientists, researchers and universities to visit and evaluate the information collected in this project.

The architectural design was accomplished by renowned Jean-Marie Charpentier

Structure Specifics

Building size – 54,000 square feet

Building details – Ten stories of office space

Main floor of retail and restaurant space

Building height – 110 feet

Total building cost – 7 million euros (6.3 million GBP)

R & D timeline – Six months

Start date – December 14th 2007

Completion date- March 31st 2009

Significant support to the project came from the city of Dijon and ADEME Bougogne in France. The architectural design was accomplished by renowned Jean-Marie Charpentier of Arte Charpentier Architects based in Paris, France.

Elithis Press contact:

Johanna Toiviainen – Open2Europe

+33-1-55-02-14-58

j.toiviainen@open2europe.com

Sources:

http://www.tour-elithis.fr/

http://www.euroinvestor.co.uk/news/story.aspx?id=10645194

The 46″ prototype TV, shown at CeBit in Germany, includes solar panels that produce energy from the ambient light in a room – because it was engineered to use very little energy, no additional power sources are needed.

Another major breakthrough behind the concept is that the thin screen can display images and information while allowing objects behind it to be visible;

The screen is also transparent, so while you’re seeing images on the screen, you’re also seeing whatever is behind it.

This means that it could be used in storefronts, as digital window blinds or even in car windshields.In addition to your favorite TV shows, it can also project photos or any other data and features ten-finger touchscreen technology.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is powered with solar-energy and is operated by the use of a remote control.

Dr. Saud Abdul Ghani, head of engineering at Qatar University, told a local Arabic newspaper that the solar-powered machines can also be used at beaches and parking lots and remotely maneuvered by a cell phone.

Qatar beat out the U.S. in December for the right to be the host of the World Cup, despite concerns about the heat, which can soar to 120 degrees in the summer.

Organizers from the oil-rich country vowed to install air conditioning even in outdoor stadiums, but until the “artificial cloud” announcement, it was unclear how they planned to protect players on the field from the sun.

The cost is estimated to be in the range of $500,000, but Dr. Ghani believes that will fall and the usefulness of the clouds will extend well beyond the World Cup.

With this project, the PlanetSolar team has two objectives. Firstly, to show that current technologies aimed at improving energy efficiency are reliable and effective, and secondly to advance scientific research in the field of renewable energy.

PlanetSolar has already made technological developments possible in many fields, such as the production of composite materials and structures, and also the production and storage of solar energy (or electricity).

Each stage in the project and each day that PlanetSolar sails will enable science to progress.

Conserving our planet by promoting solar energy, energy efficiency and eco-mobility is at the heart of this project. This is a great opportunity to advance our knowledge. Our initiative will also inform the general public and make them aware of the importance of renewable energy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

PlanetSolar’s aims in a nutshell:

• To demonstrate the potential of renewable energies and photovoltaics
• To show that we already have the technology required for sustainability
• To take part in the technological development of renewable energy and advance scientific research
• To inform the public and make them aware of the importance of renewable energy
• To make the best possible use of energy efficiency
• To show that the economy and ecology can and must work toge

Today, more than 100 people are working for the PlanetSolar project around the world. Via PlanetSolar

The streamlined solar stones are manufactured using a process that produces less CO2 and uses less energy than traditional pavement, making this energy-generating material even better for reducing the environmental impact of building projects.

Though the pavement is not suited for vehicular traffic, it is well suited for human traffic and can support furniture as well, in case you’d like your back patio to power your home.

The tiles are made of ceramic and glass, and though Butech and Onyx seem to be confident in their ability to sustain wear and tear.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Onyx Solar and Butech have already collaborated on a ventilated photovoltaic glass facade for buildings that is already in use around the world.

The companies are hoping to that their new photovoltaic paving stones will hit the market by the end of this year, however, not much information on its specifics are available. They won’t let on to how much energy the tiles will generate, how they are constructed, or how much they will cost. Via inhabitat

The building, located in the famous rue Beaubourg close to the Pompidou museum, is being renovated in an environmentally friendly way.

Credit: Reuters/Benoit Tessier

“Luckily, the building is connected to the metro through a staircase,” Francois Wachnick from Paris Habitat told Reuters.

The calories emitted by passengers, around 100 watts per person, combined with the heat from trains moving along tracks and the underground location of the metro mean that corridor temperatures are 14-20 degrees Celsius all year around.

The project, which is based on geothermal technology, aims to draw heat from subterranean passages and move it to heat exchangers before supplying heating pipes. The system will complement district heating.

The project should slash carbon dioxide emissions by a third compared to using a boiler room connected to district heating, Wachnick said.

A tender for the experimental project, which is expected to heat 17 flats, will be launched before the end of the year, and work is expected to start in 2011.

But the system, which Wachnick said is also being carried out in Austria, will not be generalized in Paris because of costs and the need to build passages to convey the heat from the metro to buildings.

“We were lucky to find a passageway that allows us to collect the heat directly from the metro, without having to pay to build one, otherwise it would have been impossible,” he added.

The innovative system, dubbed Aquasar, is expected to decrease the carbon footprint of the system by up to 85% and estimated to save up to 30 tons of CO2 per year, compared to a similar system using today’s cooling technologies.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via A Smarter Planet — Aquasar Supercomputer (via jgluckibm) In an….

The MS Beluga SkySails, the world’s first cargo vessel with the SkySails towing kite system, is being used for commercial transport for the first time.

It will carry cargo from Bremen to Venezuela on behalf of DHL Global Forwarding, the ocean and air freight carrier of the Deutsche Post World Net Group.

The vessel features a new wind propulsion system with a towing kite measuring up to 320 metres, that provides additional thrust for the ship at sea, a sustainable solution for reducing fuel consumption, costs and emissions.

Depending on wind conditions, fuel costs can be lowered between ten and 35 percent.

A small, 87-metre-long freighter would thus save an average of 280,000 Euros in fuel costs per year.

Click here to view the embedded video.

http://www.skysails.info/english/company/

Movement on the gym’s stationary bikes contributes power to batteries, which generates electricity for the TV and stereo

The Green Microgym in Portland Oregon captures the energy produced from gym goers working off those holiday calories.

This gym and its original concept makes you feel very good at the end of your work out: you burned those extra-calories and released stress and you also reduced your footprint.Gyms are some of the biggest energy suckers, with their treadmills, bikes, elliptical machines, and flat-screen TVs. Not the Green Microgym.

They use humans to power the equipment through their exercise. Movement on the gym’s stationary bikes contributes power to batteries, which generates electricity for the TV and stereo. The Human Dynamo spin bikes can generate 350 watts of continuous and useful energy^[1].

The energy output is relatively small, but Adam Boesel, the gym’s owner, has visions of bigger, greener ideas. “Our goal is to someday create 100 percent of the electricity we use in the gym,” he told ABC News. “The short-term goal is to get all of the electricity we can out of the machines.” ^[2]

The gym’s features include SportsArt EcoPowr treadmills which use 30% less electricity than others, solar panels that generate an average of 8 kilowatt hours per day and a 4-person machine with hand cranks and foot pedals which can generate up to 100 watts of electricity an hour^[1].

Video The Green Microgym

Click here to view the embedded video.