Plastic represents a bit of a nodus for the world: as useful as the material is, it can be take a toll on the environment when it isn’t disposed of correctly. Miniwiz, a company founded by architect and structural engineers Arthur Huang and JarvisLiu, is trying to find easier, more practical solutions for recycling and reusing materials like plastic that often times find their way into landfills or the environment.
Take the EcoArk Pavilion in Taipei, for example, which uses 1.5 million recycled plastic bottles throughout its design.
The nine-story structure represents the first fully functional, public building made of Polli-Brick, a building material made from 100% recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Polymer. It is translucent, naturally insulated, and durable and uses a 3D honeycomb self-interlocking structure that eliminates the need for chemical adhesives. Polli-Brick is extremely lightweight and is just 1/5 the weight of standard curtain wall systems.
The EcoArk Pavilion uses Polli-Brick throughout its public spaces, which cover an area the size of size basketball courts. These public spaces are kept cool thanks to a combination of natural ventilation, an exterior waterfall that bathes the structure in water collected during rainstorms, and Polli-Brick’s high insulation properties. The building also uses embedded solar power to run the LED lighting systems at night. All of these aspects mean the building operates with a zero-carbon footprint.
Despite weighing 50% less than a conventional building, the EcoArk Pavilion is fire-resistant and strong enough to withstand high winds.
Originally constructed in 2010 for the Taipei International Flora Exposition, the structure has since been converted into a public museum.
Courtesy Forgemind ArchiMedia, flickr Creative Commons
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
County building aims for the sun, shade
The 187,032-sf East County Hall of Justice in Dublin, Calif., will be oriented to take advantage of daylighting, with exterior sunshades preventing unwanted heat gain and glare. The building is targeting LEED Silver. Strong horizontal massing helps both buildings better match their low-rise and residential neighbors.
| Oct 12, 2010
University of Toledo, Memorial Field House
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Memorial Field House, once the lovely Collegiate Gothic (ca. 1933) centerpiece (along with neighboring University Hall) of the University of Toledo campus, took its share of abuse after a new athletic arena made it redundant, in 1976. The ultimate insult occurred when the ROTC used it as a paintball venue.
| Oct 12, 2010
Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.
| Oct 11, 2010
HGA wins 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota
HGA Architects and Engineers won a 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota for the Willow Lake Laboratory.
| Oct 11, 2010
Rhode Island is the first state to adopt IGCC
Rhode Island is the first state to adopt the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). The Rhode Island Green Buildings Act identifies the IGCC as an equivalent standard in compliance with requirements that all public agency major facility projects be designed and constructed as green buildings. The Rules and Regulations to implement the Act take effect in October 2010.
| Oct 8, 2010
Union Bank’S San Diego HQ awarded LEED Gold
Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building located at 530 B Street has been awarded LEED Gold certification from the Green Building Certification Institute under the standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Gold status was awarded to six buildings across the United States in the most recent certification and Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building is one of only two in California.
| Oct 6, 2010
Windows Keep Green Goals in View
The DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has almost 600 window openings, and yet it's targeting LEED Platinum, net-zero energy use, and 50% improvement over ASHRAE 90.1. How the window ‘problem’ is part of the solution.
| Oct 6, 2010
From grocery store to culinary school
A former West Philadelphia supermarket is moving up the food chain, transitioning from grocery store to the Center for Culinary Enterprise, a business culinary training school.
| Sep 30, 2010
Luxury hotels lead industry in green accommodations
Results from the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2010 Lodging Survey showed that luxury and upper-upscale hotels are most likely to feature green amenities and earn green certifications. Results were tallied from 8,800 respondents, for a very respectable 18% response rate. Questions focused on 14 green-related categories, including allergy-free rooms, water-saving programs, energy management systems, recycling programs, green certification, and green renovation.
| Sep 21, 2010
New BOMA-Kingsley Report Shows Compression in Utilities and Total Operating Expenses
A new report from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and Kingsley Associates shows that property professionals are trimming building operating expenses to stay competitive in today’s challenging marketplace. The report, which analyzes data from BOMA International’s 2010 Experience Exchange Report® (EER), revealed a $0.09 (1.1 percent) decrease in total operating expenses for U.S. private-sector buildings during 2009.
