 |
| Photo courtesy of IBA_Hamburg |
Buildings are going green in a
completely new way. The first algae powered building has been constructed in
Germany. It is named the Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) House and was designed
by Splitterwerk Architects, Arup and Strategic Science Consultants. The algae,
taken from the nearby Elbe River, is inside of 129 large louvers that are fixed
onto the southeast and southwest building facades, and are there for heating
and cooling purposes.
The rectangular louvers are tanks
that house the algae as well as a water solution that provides the algae with
the proper nutrients. The louvers help shade the building during the summer to
keep it cool, and the biogas from the algae is burned and used for heating
purposes. It took three years to design and about five million to construct. The
hopes for the BIQ House are for it to serve as a precedent for different types
of energy efficient buildings that can be relatively cost effective. For more
information on the specifics of how the BIQ House operates, visit Phys Org and IBA_Hamburg.
No comments:
Post a Comment