The unveiling of a conceptual design for a skyscraper that can do “everything a tree can do except replicate” will be one of the highlights of the inaugural World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi next month.
William McDonough – recognised by Time magazine as a “Hero for the Planet” – was recently commissioned by Fortune magazine to come up with a design for a skyscraper office block that would overcome the environmental drawbacks of conventional buildings. Since his firm of architects embarked on the project, he has been approached by numerous companies keen to turn the idea into reality.
“We’re really excited,” said McDonough in an interview, “because everyone in the building world that’s seen it has said ‘can we do this together?’ We’re now looking for a patron that will hire us to get it done.
“Fortune magazine realised that its reading public – which includes a lot of business executives – was very interested in the future of high-rise office buildings. So they asked us to speculate on ‘the building of the future’.
“What we came up with was ‘a building for the present’, something that would be possible today that accommodates the idea of a building that emulates a tree – a building that receives its energy from the sun, that grows food, that builds soil, that provides a habitat for hundreds of species, that changes colours with the seasons, that creates micro-climates, that would purify water. A building that would do just about everything a tree would do except self-replicate.”
McDonough will unveil his team’s ideas in a keynote speech on the first morning of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), which takes place in Abu Dhabi from 21-23 of January.
Following on the heels of this month’s UN climate change conference in Bali, the WFES conference and related exhibition will explore practical and pragmatic strategies and technologies that the world urgently needs to mitigate the threat of global warming.
In the spirit of international co-operation so evident in Bali, senior executives from oil and gas majors like will be rubbing shoulders and sharing the podium with leaders of environmental NGOs – a gathering that would have been hard to envisage even a decade ago. The list of speakers includes: BP’s Vivienne Cox; Total’s Phillipe Boisseau; European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs; Greenpeace CEO Dr. Gerd Liepold; and Jonathan Porritt, founder of the Forum for the Future.
Full details of the executives, ministers and dignitaries speaking at the event – who include the presidents of ??????????????; energy ministers from the UK, Algeria, ?????????; and members of the British Royal Family – can be found on the WFES website at www.wfes08.com.
The inaugural World Future Energy Summit comes at a time of fast-growing awareness that climate change has become a grave threat to the well-being of humankind. This year in particular has been a turning point, with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stating that global warming is “unequivocal” and highly likely to be caused by human activities.
The World Future Energy Summit is part of Abu Dhabi’s response to the need to mitigate climate change, part of which was the launch in the spring of 2006 of the Masdar Initiative. Key elements of this initiative are education, research and investment in the future of energy and environmental sustainability.
WFES 2008 is being held in partnership with Masdar, which has plans to create the world’s first “zero-carbon, zero-waste” city and to develop a national carbon-capture and storage network. Masdar’s ultimate objective is to create a new economic sector dedicated to sustainable and clean energy technologies.
Commenting on the role of architects and construction firms in tackling climate change, McDonough said: “Around 40% of the climate change emissions and waste come from construction and buildings – so we have a crucial role to play. If we can cut the energy consumption of buildings in half, which isn’t that hard to imagine, we can have an effect of 20%, a dramatic amount.
“And if we can do buildings that are energy-positive – that produce more energy than they need to operate – then we’re ahead of the game.”
McDonough’s current design for a futuristic “skyscraper for today” is intended for a temperate, northern-hemisphere climate, but could, he said, be adapted for the desert climates of the Middle East. That is the version he intends to present in Abu Dhabi.
Commenting on the economics of “green” architecture, McDonough said: “Green buildings shouldn’t be seen as something that adds cost, they should be seen as high-performance buildings – high-performance in terms of the productivity of the people that work there, in terms of energy, in terms of materials. Our buildings don’t cost much more than normal buildings but they out-perform them.”
McDonough believes that the sector is poised for “explosive growth”.
“The design professions haven’t been trained in this way of designing – so it’s taken a while for them to catch up with these kinds of strategies. But they’re catching up fast. Pretty soon, you won’t be able to hire a high-quality design firm without it taking this approach.”
McDonough will be available for press interviews following his presentation in Abu Dhabi.
ABOUT THE WORLD FUTURE ENERGY SUMMIT 2008
The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) is a global summit of leadership coming together to discuss key issues around sustainable and alternative energy solutions and technologies. It is held under the patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
The inaugural 2008 summit will bring together the world’s leading innovators, educators, scientists, venture capitalists and experts in the field of future energy – people who are champions and catalysts in creating sustainable solutions.
WFES08 is presented by Masdar in partnership with Turret Middle East.
For more details, visit www.wfes08.com.
ABOUT MASDAR AND THE ABU DHABI FUTURE ENERGY COMPANY
The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC) is Abu Dhabi’s vision and investment in the future of energy and environmental sustainability — a private joint stock company established and wholly-owned by Mubadala Development Company. ADFEC drives the Masdar Initiative, a multi-billion dollar, multi-faceted response to the need for a global focus on the development of advanced energies and sustainability-related technologies.
Masdar is designed to ensure that Abu Dhabi grows its share of the global energy market by fostering the development and commercialization of advanced and innovative technologies in renewable, alternative and sustainable energies for a cleaner, safer environment and future.
Masdar has partnered with the world’s most prominent companies, educational institutions and investment firms to lead and advance a global strategy of international knowledge and capability to change the way the world understands energy and create a historic, global shift to new energy sources and sustainable resource utilization.
Masdar is comprised of six strategically designed and focused units:
MASDAR INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – in partnership with the MIT, will offer Masters and PhD programs in science and engineering focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies.
MASDAR RESEARCH NETWORK – a unique collaborative network of world-class scientists and post-doctoral researchers linking the MASDAR Institute and seven leading global scientific research institutions in three continents.
INNOVATION & INVESTMENT – the investment and commercialization vehicle for advanced energy and sustainability technologies.
SPECIAL PROJECTS – develops capital-intensive projects including large-scale manufacturing and deployment of new energy technologies and systems.
CARBON MANAGEMENT – spearheads the development of multi-sector greenhouse gas reduction projects.
MASDAR ZONE DEVELOPMENT – a unique, integrated “Green Community” in the heart of Abu Dhabi hosting Masdar and a carefully selected pool of international tenants who will invest, develop, and commercialize advanced energy technologies.
ABOUT TURRET MIDDLE EAST
Turret Middle East is a leading organiser of conferences and exhibitions in the MENA region and a foundation partner of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company. The company organises some of the region’s biggest events ranging from trade exhibitions such as ADIPEC, Gastech, and the World Future Energy Summit to consumer shows such as the International Fine Art and Antiques Fairs and Taste, a gourmet food event.
