Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness. - Frank Gehry

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Focus week 4 - Ecobuild



With over 48,000 people attending Ecobuild last year, a lot was expected this year. Ecobuild is huge exhibition based on the future of design construction in the built environment. It is a place where companies show off their new sustainable technology to designers, architects and to people who have a particular interest in the sustainable movement.

A lot of attention was focussed on renewable energy, with many of the stalls in north part of the Excel promoting solar energy. Landscape architecture has benefited from this, for example using solar energy in landscapes to power lighting. However is this the strategically best way to incorporate renewable energy in landscapes?

Tidal Energy (in a smaller form) on a landscape can add a water feature (which is always pleasant) and also provide energy, which can be stored in a dynamo to help power lighting.

The extra advantages would be: (1) water being incorporated in the site. (2) having a more reliable source of constant energy (as sunlight is not always available for solar energy)

Surely it has to be agreed that energy from the constant movement of water is not seen very often at all even though it has greater advantages to solar energy!

All in all, it was great to see the new technology involved renewable energy! Sustainability is becoming more and more important, and rightly so!


More to come!



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