Archives for April 2019

Vincent Callebaut’s “Foam of Waves” Wins Bit To Sustainably Revive Aix-Les-Bains’ Ancient Thermal Baths in France

Urban Farming - Vegetable and Fruit Production On Roofs, Balconies And Shared Gardens

17 April 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, Green Building

The architecture firm Vincent Callebaut Architecture of Paris-based ecological architect Vincent Callebaut, won a prestigious competition to revive the ancient National Baths of Aix-les-Bains.

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The proposal of the firm called “The Foam of Waves” was selected to give the defunct ancient baths a sustainable and vibrant restoration. The project introduces an energy-generating model that supports the recommended carbon-neutral protocol of COP 21.

According to Callebaut, “The whole architectural project is the carrier of the new paradigms of our society. It offers future residents and visitors the opportunity to adopt new lifestyles that respect the environment, health, and urban well-being in order to simply live better. It is a resilient architecture, innervated by nature. It is an ode to biodiversity, renewable energies and the circular economy that advocates the construction of post-carbon, post-fossil, post-nuclear and even post-insecticidal cities.”

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The main focus of the “Foam of Waves” is the restoration of the Revel, Princes, and Pellegrini structures while ensuring that proper respect is given to the actual Roman ruins. The architects of the firm designed a program for attracting not just the locals, but investors and tourists as well. It comprises a mixture of residential, educational, tourist, urban agricultural, and commercial spaces that will inject an energetic vibe to the area. Its scope involves more than 180 green sky-villas, a rooftop restaurant, wellbeing center, and an aquaponic farm to name a few.

Vincent Callebaut Wins Bit The Foam of Waves to Revive Aix-Les-Bains' Ancient Thermal Baths in France - green balconies — (Vincent Callebaut)

Vincent Callebaut Wins Bit The Foam of Waves to Revive Aix-Les-Bains' Ancient Thermal Baths in France - two balconies — (Vincent Callebaut)

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The proposal of Callebaut is a structure with many stories and abundant in foliage with green terraces in a waveform. There will also be over 25,000 energy-producing endemic trees, plants, and shrubs covering it. Callebaut explains that “It’s about both preserving the best of each identifiable era to build the future of Aix, and tracing the evolution of thermal practices related to the progress of medicine.”

Aside from serving as a sustainable park opened to the public, the wellness-focused facility also aims to restore people’s interest in the rich cultural history of the town. On the other hand, the purpose of the green apartments, which are situated in the new building’s eastern part is 25% social housing and 75% free housing.

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Known for his green, sustainable, and eco-friendly architecture, Vincent Callebaut aims to decrease the building’s energy requirement by maximizing its envelope through the use of external insulation. This in return will not reflect the extreme seasonal temperature shifts. Therefore, the structure’s overall inertia, airtightness, and insulation are the core components in the excellent design of the entire project. Furthermore, to ensure construction durability and safety, the architect will use biobased materials for acoustic and thermal insulations.

“Our goal is to revive orchards and help recreate jobs in the region, reveal the intrinsic heritage qualities of the building and highlight them with contemporary architecture that assumes its era,” Callebaut explains. “Then, we act as futurists to propel the Ancient National Baths towards the 21st century in terms of uses, technological and social advances, and innovative and sustainable constructive principles,” he added.

The expected completion of the project is in 2023.

https://ecourbanhub.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=11223&action=edit&classic-editor — (Vincent Callebaut)

Vincent Callebaut Wins Bit The Foam of Waves to Revive Aix-Les-Bains' Ancient Thermal Baths in France - solar panel roof — Solar Roofs (Vincent Callebaut)

Vincent Callebaut Wins Bit The Foam of Waves to Revive Aix-Les-Bains' Ancient Thermal Baths in France - side view — (Vincent Callebaut)

Vincent Callebaut Wins Bit The Foam of Waves to Revive Aix-Les-Bains' - urban farming fruit list — Produce your own fruits and vegetables on balconies (Vincent Callebaut)

Vincent Callebaut Wins Bit The Foam of Waves to Revive Aix-Les-Bains' Ancient Thermal Baths in France - balcony structure — (Vincent Callebaut)

Vincent Callebaut Wins Bit The Foam of Waves to Revive Aix-Les-Bains' Ancient Thermal Baths in France - balcony view — (Vincent Callebaut)

FasRaP – How A Stick Wrap Can Extend The Lifespan of Concrete

Concrete pillars wrapped in "it" were able to take on an extra load of 80%

16 April 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, SCIENCE & STUDIES

In the near future, it probably becomes easier to repair and prolong the lifespan of existing structures by protecting its concrete pillars by wrapping them with a stick wrap.

The innovative technology called FasRaP or Fast Wrapping Fibre Reinforced Polymer was developed by the engineers and scientists at Nanyang Technological University Singapore, and companies Prostruct Consulting Pte Ltd, and JTC through a joint venture.

Urban cities will find this ready-to-stick wrap extremely useful when rehabilitating infrastructures like bridges and buildings which are debilitating due to age.

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Readily available glass fibers are used at creating FasRaP. However, a unique proprietary resin, which the materials scientists at NTU developed, was added to it serving as the wrap’s adhesive.

Using FasRaP can save both the company and workers valuable effort and time. The resin glue can be pre-applied in factories since it will not harden unless exposed directly to light. It can then be packed into a roll of ready-to-stick wrap just like double-sided tapes.

Saving Manpower

“Our invention allows companies to save on manpower costs, increase efficiency and make structural reinforcement much easier to execute. This will help them to meet future building standards and prolong the life of older buildings and structures as Singapore and other urban cities age,” said Assoc Prof Ng Kee Woei, lead project investigator from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.

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Once on the production site, it can be instantly applied on pillars and walls. It is possible to complete the entire job by just three workers. On the other hand, the available FRPs out there on the market today requires at least six people to install since standard resins must be applied manually on-site.

In addition, prefabrication of FasRaP with the resin in factories means that its conditions are closely observed and managed to ensure the quality is consistent, which is not in the case for resins manually applied on site.

Various tests showed that FasRaP is just as powerful as conventional FRPs. It also showed that concrete pillars wrapped in it were able to take on an extra load of 80% as opposed to bare ones without any sort of support.

According to the Group Director of Engineering at JTC, Mr. Calvin Chung, they combined their experience of engineering with the research expertise at NTU, and the understanding of Prostruct in the industry so that they “can address real challenges faced by the construction industry such as manpower constraints and quality control.”

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>>>News Outlets Misinterpret US Bird-Building Collision Study – But the Problem is Real

News Outlets Misinterpret US Bird-Building Collision Study – But the Problem is Real

11 April 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, SCIENCE & STUDIES

A sensational news story stating that up to a billion birds die in collisions with skyscrapers in the US every year recently made headlines and has been repeated around the world. However, the reality, though not as shocking as the headline, is nevertheless of concern.

The false impression that high-rise towers slaughter birds by the billion comes from casual reading of a study finding that between 365 and 988 million birds die in building collisions in the US.

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But what the reports failed to note was that the finding points to high-rises as presenting the lowest threat to passing birdlife. Instead, low rises and residential homes produced the largest amount of avian casualties, with high-rise towers killing less than one percent of the total.

Bird Migration Poses Added Risk

However, although high rises may not be nearly as deadly to birds as the headlines declared, there’s no doubt that the mere existence of buildings poses a threat to many species. Regretfully, some of these may be rare or threatened as the US study found. Five species with vulnerable conservation status were found to represent a disproportionate amount of building collisions.

At the same time, the researchers warn that many of the data sets studied were accumulated during migratory seasons and that new data covering other times of the year would provide more accurate results.

It is true the birds are drawn to cities during their migrations. Ornithologists explain that many diurnal species prefer to carry out nocturnal migration flights, and that they will be drawn to the bright lights of cities, potentially leading flocks through airspace that’s crowded with buildings.

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A separate study found that local songbirds might make “flight calls” when they are exposed to light at night, luring flocks in migration towards built-up areas.

Bird-Friendly Measures Implemented at Government Level

Defining the extent of the bird-building collision problem may be tricky, but the researchers say it’s important to raise awareness. They hope to see more bird-friendly measures implemented in cities. For instance, in New York State, government buildings must now douse their lights during the night if bird migration is in progress. Using patterned glass or just making lighting dimmer could also help to mitigate the problem.

Thanks to rising awareness of bird-building collisions, a new law, the Bird-Safe Building Act, will require new government buildings to incorporate bird-safe features.

London Air Pollution Responsible for About 1,000 Hospital Cases Every Year

Asthma attacks are the leading cause of children needing hospital treatment in the UK

09 April 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Climate, Featured

By means of a study, researchers from King’s College London and Imperial College London report that about 1,000 London citizens every year are hospitalized as a direct result of air pollution. Those suffering from respiratory conditions like Asthma and COPD are at risk, and about 25 percent of the hospitalizations are reported to involve children under the age of fourteen who are asthma sufferers. Older citizens living with lung conditions like COPD were also shown to be a high-risk group, particularly among those over the age of 65.

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In addition, the researchers point out that Asthma attacks are the leading cause of children needing hospital treatment in the UK, and that air pollution could be triggering as many as 10 percent of the cases requiring hospitalization of children. The report highlights air pollution in London as a health crisis that is causing permanent damage to children’s lung development and that is estimated to cost the capital billions per year.

The research was sponsored by London Mayor Sadiq Kahn, who hopes to draw attention to city air quality problems and who is responsible for the city’s new Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) which was inaugurated in April. There are also plans to keep the public informed of air pollution hazards with signage in public places alerting commuters to air pollution forecasts.

“As someone who developed adult-onset asthma over the last few years, I know from personal experience that London’s toxic air is damaging people’s health,” the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said. “This study is a stark reminder that air pollution disproportionately affects the most vulnerable Londoners and I’m doing everything in my power to protect children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions from our filthy air. That’s why next week I’ll be launching the world’s first 24-hour seven-day-a-week Ultra Low Emission Zone in the central London Congestion Charge zone, which will help clean our air and reduce harmful road transport emissions in central London by an estimated 45 percent.”

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The ULEZ will require much lower emissions from vehicles entering it and additional measures will include the introduction of Low Emissions Bus Zones as well as additional strategies like providing electric charging stations for cars. Collectively, these interventions are believed to be capable of reducing Central London emissions by 45 percent.

Air quality at schools enjoys a focus in the plan after a finding that 451 London Schools were located in areas where pollution reached levels that could be classified as toxic. Supporters of the ULEZ say that its implementation will directly affect these schools, bringing pollution down to “acceptable” levels. The city as a whole, they say, will fall within legal pollution limits for the first time since they were set.

Dr. Penny Woods, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “It’s important to note not everyone who is affected by air pollution ends up in hospital – thousands with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will avoid leaving the house because the air makes it that much harder to breathe. This isn’t fair, and it’s not right. We need to see tough measure put in place to make the air safe for Londoners – and everyone across the UK – to breathe.”

Self-Sufficient Floating City From BIG Pays More Attention to Rising Sea Levels

Due to BIG, the first cities are "calibrated for the most vulnerable tropical and sub-tropical regions around the globe"

09 April 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, New Urban

Imagine you would create your own design draft of a sustainable floating city without limitations. You shouldn’t focus too much on affordability, feasibility or maintenance costs. Pay more attention to issues like sustainability, well-being, green space or ways how to make life on these floating city islands self-sufficient. Would it look like the latest design from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)?

With the following project, BIG is dealing with the challenge of rising sea levels which threaten our cities. Can you imagine Sydney, Shanghai, Durban, or New York being under water? Due to the fact that many coastal cities will very likely be affected by erosion and flooding, the environment in which many people live might be destroyed and lost one day.

BIG faces this challenge and designed an alternative living environment which is immune to the rising sea level. Their “world’s first resilient and sustainable floating community” is a new way of urban living, just floats on the water and houses up to 10,000 people together on many single floating islands which together form a unit. The entire system is self-sufficient and offers mixed-use spaces for working, living and gatherings. Concepts like urban farming, sharing communities, renewable desalination or zero waste systems are part of the idea. Transportation is organized by electric vehicles or electric boats.

under water view of Floating city and community by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Oceanix — Underwater view (BIG – Oceanix)

Floating city and community by night from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Oceanix — BIG’s floating city by night (BIG – Oceanix)

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Productive and Communal edges at Floating city and community by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Oceanix — Productive and communal edges for a floating hexagon (BIG – Oceanix)

This modular system is flexible when it comes to the configuration in order to meet the requirements of the community. According to BIG’s plan, each floating hexagon-platform with a diameter of 156 meters and an edge length of 75 meters houses about 300 residents. Flexible productive and communal edges which can be added to an edge of a hexagon offer leisure opportunities, gathering spaces, green space, water access or productive features like farmland or wood. Further satellite islands enable to fish or generate renewable energy. The heart of a clustered floating community of six hexagons is a protected harbor. Only small four to five-story buildings are placed on the islands.

Due to BIG, the first cities are “calibrated for the most vulnerable tropical and sub-tropical regions around the globe”.