ROOFS

MVRDV’s Tainan Market Blends City With Countryside

Completion is expected in late 2020

10 March 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, Green Building

The Tainan market, a wholesale fresh produce market in Taiwan, will soon get a new home. Designed by MVRDV, it will be housed beneath an undulating green roof that has been designed to reflect the natural vistas of rolling hills that surround the city and will become a destination for those who want to use the artificial “hill” as a vantage point over the surrounding landscape.

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The building itself has open sides, thus retaining the feel of an open marketplace. But the roof that protects it from inclement weather will be much more than just that. Terraced gardens separated by walkways and punctuated with benches that invite relaxation will be among the amenities that visitors can enjoy.

The gardens themselves will reflect the character of the market, with various food and ornamental crops being grown on the terraces. Crop selection for each area will be based on orientation and microclimate.

Tainan Market Completion is Expected in Late 2020

A four-story structure houses the market’s administrative offices and an education center where the area’s agricultural crops are exhibited and explained.

The entire construction project is being undertaken by local firms and completion is expected in late 2020. Commentators say that the green roof’s undulating design will be in keeping with the scenic beauty of the area and that the market will provide a visually pleasing and functional link between city and country.

Green Roof Tainan Market by MVRDV in Taiwan — Green roof terraces on Tainan Market (MVRDV)

“Tainan, in my opinion, is one of those towns which is so beautiful to me because maybe most of its nature, agriculture fields, farms, sea, and mountains”, says Winy Maas, co-founder of MVRDV. “Tainan Market, can become a building that symbolises this beauty as it compliments both landscape and its surrounding environment. It is completely functional and caters to the needs for auctioning, selling and buying goods, but its terraced roof with its collection of growing products will allow visitors to take in the landscape while escaping from bustle below.’’

Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography to be Housed in Award-Winning Green Building

About 60 percent of the building is situated below ground level, and the curving roof will be landscaped as a unique outdoor space for park and museum visitors

05 March 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Featured, Green Building

Since 1872, Budapest’s Museum of Ethnography has been housed in various locations around the city, but its current location, a Renaissance Revival building that was formerly the Hungarian Curia, has become too cramped.

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Now, as part of its “Liget Budapest” Project, the city is completing the construction of an award-winning, purpose-designed building to house the museum in the City Park. The new location is no break with the past. The museum’s collection was first displayed here in 1896 during the National Millennium Exhibition. However, the acclaimed building will look to the future with a design that is anything but old-fashioned.

Purpose-Designed Building in Harmony with Park and City

For the first time, the Museum of Ethnography’s collection of 250,000 artefacts will be showcased in a space that was designed with the collection and the visitor experience in mind. The design, local winner of an international competition in 2016, is the brainchild of Napur Architect and features gently curving, bowed lines that unite the building, park, and surrounding city.

Birds eye view of Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

There will be little to no loss of public green space. About 60 percent of the building is situated below ground level, and the curving roof will be landscaped as a unique outdoor space for park and museum visitors. A park entry guides them to the lowest point of the curve, which acts as a public square with a sculptural focal point. The rising slope of the green roof presents further space for outdoor relaxation on both sides.

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Above ground, the building’s emphasis is on transparency and a light, airy effect. The textured façade demonstrates patterns that evoke the area’s history as well as its present-day culture. The interior includes interactive exhibition spaces, lecture halls, work and study space, and a café.

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Napur Architect’s design was unanimously chosen for the museum based on the physical and aesthetic quality of the building, the technological and functional solutions to be employed, its sustainability profile, it’s suitability in context, and its overall cost.

In addition to this success, MIPIM Awards judges voted the museum Best Mega Futura Project for Europe and the design beat 1,700 other entries to win the World’s Best Architecture Award at the 2018 International Property Awards.

Flagship Design for Park Project to Provide Dramatic Park Entryway

Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Budapest’s central park project will include rehabilitation of the park as a whole. It already houses the museum of fine arts, museums of agriculture and transport, a zoo, an ice rink, and thermal baths. A “House of Hungarian Music” venue designed by Sou Fujimoto will form part of the park upgrade, as will a new National Gallery designed by SANAA.

The Museum of Ethnography is currently under construction and is expected to open its doors this year. All work on the Park and its amenities is expected to be complete in 2020.

Roof of Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Ground view of Hungary’s Museum of Ethnography designed by Napur — (NAPUR Architect Ltd. – Render: Axion Visual)

Testing The Ski Slope On Copenhagen’s Waste-To-Energy Plant

The world’s longest artificial ski slope at 600 meters

14 January 2019 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2019, Energy, Featured

A state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plant that hosts a recreational ski park on its roof? Where else but Copenhagen. With Denmark having already established themselves as an important player in sustainability, this highly anticipated offering from renowned Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is certainly something to crow about.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von Bjarke Ingels Group (@big_builds) am Jan 8, 2019 um 7:24 PST

Set atop the Amager Resource Centre (ARC), Copenhill urban mountain redefines urban sustainability. It hosts the city’s first ski slope and is a welcome new playground and a major new tourist attraction.

Dramatically altering the skyline, Copenhagen’s new architectural beacon is visible from most of the city. In addition to boasting the world’s longest artificial ski slope at 600 meters, it also features the tallest climbing wall up one face of the ‘mountain’ at 90 meters. The park will also have forested areas for hiking and mountain biking, a viewing deck and a full-service restaurant. So residents and visitors to the city have reason to be excited.

The building itself is nothing short of spectacular – a futuristic, geometric design with aluminum and glass paneling. Built on Amager Island, a popular destination for extreme-sports enthusiasts, the building will be one of the city’s tallest at 100 meters. At 1.02 million square feet, it’s been aptly dubbed Amager Bakke (Amager Hill). Altogether, it’s a ground-breaking initiative in the realm of how architecture can respond to sustainable issues and a landmark in environmental design.

The roof park development is in line with BIG’s philosophy of ‘hedonistic sustainability’ and this project proves that saving the planet and having fun at the same time is an achievable objective. The latest in Copenhagen’s many greening projects, it’s another step forward in the city’s goal of becoming the world’s first, carbon-neutral capital.

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Bjarke Ingels Group testing Ski slope in Copenhagen atop Amager Resource Centre — CopenHill urban mountain image by Alexander Vissing

Bjarke Ingels Group - Ski slope in Copenhagen atop Amager Resource Centre — CopenHill urban mountain image by Alexander Vissing

Copenhagen must remove 928,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to reach its 2025 target, and the plant is expected to remove 33,000 tons.

Opened in 2017, the power plant is one of the most technologically advanced waste-to-energy plants in the world. The playful design of the building showcases an innovative new approach to urban resource management, which can be welcomed for its many benefits to the community.

The plant uses a state-of-the-art catalytic filtration system, the first of its kind in Denmark. It can burn 35 tons of waste per hour while cutting emissions by 99.5%, which makes it capable of converting 400 000 tons of waste each year. All the while also providing heat to 150 000 households and low-carbon electricity for 550 000 people.

I want my colleagues in other cities to know that waste incineration works; the technology is there. And it’s very good for the economy.

Lord Mayor Frank Jensen

A further playful touch, the plant release’s giant ‘smoke’ rings from an oversized smokestack. This is activated whenever one ton of fossil CO2 is released. As the incineration process is nearly pollution free, the ‘smoke’ rings are actually composed of water vapor and serve as a playful reminder of the impact of consumerism and the building’s underlying function.

With the ski-slopes recently tested, the project is due for completion in early spring and aims to attract 65 000 skiers per annum. Meanwhile, local ski-enthusiasts stand by in anticipation for the chance to hurtle down the slopes of their very own ski-park.

Solar Panels Mandatory For New Homes in California as of 2020

“Zero net energy isn’t enough. If we pursue (zero net energy) as a comprehensive policy ..."

12 May 2018 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2018, Energy, Featured, Green Building

Every new home in California will soon have a solar panel installed for tapping this source of renewable energy. Would that mean a cleaner environment and lesser fossil fuel consumption? The California Energy Commission has planned to mandate that every new home in the state in 2020 has a solar panel installed on the roof. The commission voted in this favor and approved it – solar panel installations will become a common sight on all the new constructions.

#CalEnergy adopts standards requiring #Solar systems for new homes, first in the nation: https://t.co/PS2K5BrscM ??⚡
— CA Energy Commission (@CalEnergy) 10 May 2018

The newly proposed rules also push to use electricity over natural gas and increase battery storages. These apply to all the new residential constructions that get a permit after Jan 1, 2020. The only exceptions will be houses with small roofs that cannot accommodate a solar panel or the ones that do not receive any sun because of being shaded by buildings or trees.

According to Andrew McAllister, one of five state energy commissioners who is going to voting for this standard said, “Zero net energy isn’t enough. If we pursue (zero net energy) as a comprehensive policy, we’d be making investments that would be somewhat out of touch with our long-term goals.” He adds: “Under these new standards, buildings will perform better than ever, at the same time they contribute to a reliable grid. The buildings that Californians buy and live in will operate very efficiently while generating their own clean energy. They will cost less to operate, have healthy indoor air and provide a platform for ‘smart’ technologies that will propel the state even further down the road to a low emissions future.”

It was the commission’s goal since 2007 to make new homes net zero in energy consumption such that they generate enough solar power to offset their total energy requirements (be it electricity or natural gas) in a year-long period. At that time, the state energy commission said, “newly constructed buildings can be net zero energy by 2020 for residences and by 2030 for commercial buildings.” But now the new provisions no longer advocate net-zero energy. The officials now believe that the previous goal is now obsolete as it is not cost-effective.

Further Rise of California’s Housing Costs?

According to C.R. Herro, Meritage’s vice president of environmental affairs, the installation of solar panel would increase the construction costs by $25,000 to $30,000. Over a 25-year period, which is the life of a solar panel, an owner can save $50,000 to $60,000 from the energy-saving. If we go for net zero standards, it would mean an even increased cost. At the same time, the solar energy is only consumed during the daytime. At night, people still use lights, televisions and air conditioning, the power for which is supplied by the grid and gas-powered electricity generating plants, which leaves its carbon footprint. So the additional solar energy is not at all worth it.

ModRoof – Modular Roofs For Low-Income Housing Made of Recycled Waste

ModRoof's system for low-income housing solves existing roofing problems

20 April 2017 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Featured, Waste

It’s everyone’s dream to have a roof over their head. However, that roof can turn into a nightmare if it’s one which leaks, breaks or heats up the interior to dangerous levels in a hot climate like that of India. A new low-cost and eco-friendly roofing system, called ModRoof, is driving many such nightmares under cover for those Indians who live in poverty in urban slums. And there’s a good chance the roofing system will soon include solar panels, too.

Solving Existing Roofing Problems

Up till now, Indians living in poverty-stricken areas have mainly been making use of metal or concrete sheets to cover their houses. However, dwellers in these units claim they face major problems, including severe heat because of lack of insulation; and deterioration leading to leaks, when using metal or concrete sheets.

Noise levels and leaks are at their highest levels during the monsoon season. Concrete slabs are occasionally chosen as the most workable option but are considered too expensive and difficult to install for most people in small villages or slum areas.

Leakage test ModRoof from ReMaterials — Leakage test (ReMaterials)

According to ModRoof’s manufacturers, start-up company ReMaterials, their new modular roof system deals with many of these problems by being strong, waterproof, fireproof – and likely to last for 20 years. It is also claimed to be quieter and more effective during monsoons, as well as more affordable than concrete slabs.

Recycling Waste Into Modular Roofs

So what makes up ModRoof? Agricultural and cardboard waste, locally-sourced from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, are the primary materials. These are recycled into modular units which are designed for ease of transport and installation – and so only individual units need replacement should there be damage. The flat rectangular units, which come standard in aqua, are joined together on site, and are supported on beams.

Installation of ModRoof from ReMaterials — ModRoof installation (ReMaterials)

Working in Indian villages and slums on housing and solar energy installations inspired Hasit Ganatra, a University of South California engineering graduate, and now co-founder of ReMaterials, to come up with this more affordable and effective roofing system.

Solar Panels Part of ModRoof’s Future Plans

Around 70 installations have been made in Ahmedabad so far, but the company says it is ready to leave start-up stage and go for wider markets – perhaps, entering markets in other developing countries, like Brazil, Morocco or Mexico.

ModRoof is also not stopping with just covering houses. The company is also intent on providing a source of power to those in rural and low-income areas. ReMaterials has already developed a way to incorporate solar panels in its roofing units so that those living under them will be able to charge cell phones and power LED lights.