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Journal 20: The solar socket in the window

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Today, I was talking about a new charging method with a friend, and I found an interesting concept of a solar charging device. Although it is still a concept and not yet in mass production, it is likely to be promoted in the future. This is a portable charger or converter based on solar energy charging, which can convert solar energy into electricity for the use of mobile devices charging. At the bottom is a suction cup that can be attached to a window. The suction cup is wrapped around the solar panel and can be charged by simply sucking it on the window on a clear day. The purpose of the design is to make it easy for people to charge their electronic devices even when the use of electricity is limited, and it is allowed to replenish power anywhere in the daylight. But in my opinion, this design concept is not only convenient for people, from the point of view of sustainability, but it can also reduce the energy consumption of manual power generation devices. In addition, as far as I
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Journal 19: Recycles Water Shower

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 As far as I know, showers account for one-third of the average water consumption of a person. According to the data, a typical 10-minute shower produces nearly 40 gallons of water. But a new concept from Orbital Systems, a Swedish firm, aims to reduce that volume to about 1.5 gallons. The new concept refers to collecting used water through the design of shower pipes, then purifying the water to potable grade and putting it back through the same shower head for reuse. This recycling system not only reduces the amount of water used but also reduces energy consumption by 80 percent because the recycled water does not require much reheating to maintain its temperature. This not only reduces the consumption of water but also reduces the consumption of electricity. In my opinion, through this design, a series of refits can be carried out in places where users do not need to consider energy saving, such as residences or hotels, which do not save energy. While helping the city to save energy
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Journal 18: Electricity-Free Heater - The terracotta heater

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  The Terracotta Heater is a device that can store and slowly radiate heat without using any electricity. The bottom of the device accommodates up to four candles, which are located under its metal grill. Two domes with enclosures allow warm air to circulate upward and into the space. Because it can store heat, it can give off warm heat even after the candle is out. If the heat is spread directly into the room, it will quickly move to the ceiling and be lost within the room. Instead, the dome heats the surrounding space by two to three degrees within 30 minutes of being lit. It is ideal for small space heaters in cold weather. It is worth mentioning that the heater can even be made by itself. On the premise of keeping the economic cost low, it has reduced the energy consumption caused by maintaining the indoor comfort to a certain extent, and has achieved a small range of energy saving and emission reduction.
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Journal 17: Paper straw

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  Recently, I discovered that the straws in fast-food restaurants have become paper straws.As far as I'm concerned, this is a good environmental measure because I'm under the impression that plastic straws are used a lot and are mostly used for single-use. And the recycling value of plastic is very low, resulting in a small amount of recycling. On average, as many as 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute oceans and beaches each year, according to the data. As far as I know, plastic straws can take hundreds of years to break down completely and last up to 200 years in landfills. They are likely to become entangled in the ocean, where they break down into smaller microplastics that are eventually absorbed by fish and marine life. Unlike plastic, paper straws break down back to the ground in two to six weeks. Paper straws, on the other hand, are fully biodegradable and compostable. If they do fall into the ocean, they will begin to break down naturally in as little as three days. Of
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Journal 16: Carbon neutrality

 Recently, I was talking to a friend about carbon neutrality, but I didn't quite understand what it meant. So I conducted a series of studies, and in my opinion, carbon neutrality can be seen as an important goal and one of the main visions for a sustainable city. This refers to equalizing CO2 emissions so that if the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted is equal to the total amount avoided or removed, then the two effects cancel each other out and the net emissions are "neutral." So how do you avoid it? At the moment, countries are moving away from carbon-intensive industrial processes and towards energy and industrial processes that produce fewer greenhouse gases, so as to make the transition with as little impact as possible on the current economy. And make great use of natural energy. Examples are hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar energy. Although both renewable and non-renewable energy production will produce some form of carbon emissions, the carbon emissions f
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Journal 15: Central Park in New York

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 Today, I read a paper about the relationship between architecture and politics. It details why New York City decided last year to set aside a lot of downtown land for Central Park. I admire the vision of the New York government at the time, this is because, for thousands of years, squares have appeared in cities as commercial Spaces, not parks. Because nature, which is considered dangerous, is kept out of the city. Until the 19th century, the rapid development of urbanization led to the deterioration of the inner living environment of the city, which made people realize that the city needed a bigger park rather than some grass and flowers. As a result, the Central Park project is part of a campaign to make the city greener and cleaner. Now, Central Park has been helping to make New York more sustainable and healthier for its residents since its completion. It's estimated that there are 18,000 trees in New York City's Central Park, and one mature tree will absorb more than 48 p
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Journal 14: 5th generation wireless systems（5G）

With the development of technology, 5G has begun to gradually replace 4G at this stage. Its performance target is high data rate, reduce latency, save energy, reduce cost, improve system capacity and large-scale device connectivity. Such data transmission speed, which is far higher than 4G, can help cities develop more sustainably. 5G is an energy-efficient "green" technology precisely because it is so much faster than 4G. It is estimated that 5G will support 5,425GB of data at 1,000 watts of power, while 4G will only support about 200GB. It can be seen from the data that although 5G base stations consume more power overall than 4G, they are about 25 times more efficient than 4G. Therefore, when 5G is fully integrated into cities, it will not only facilitate people's lives but also indirectly reduce the city's carbon emissions because it consumes less electricity. In addition, 5G will be applied to all aspects of society and promote the informatization and digitalizat
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Journal 13 : Geothermal heat pump

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 The Geothermal heat pump system, and efficient renewable energy technology, has been widely accepted in residential and commercial buildings. Geothermal heat pumps are used for space heating and cooling and water heating. The advantage of ground source heat pumps is that they concentrate heat that occurs naturally, rather than generating heat by burning fossil fuels. Geothermal heat pumps can be used to provide domestic hot water when the system is running. Many residential systems are now equipped with thermostats, which transfer excess heat from the compressor of a geothermal heat pump to the house's hot water tank. When the local heat pump system is not working, the desuperheater does not provide hot water in spring and autumn. But because geothermal heat pumps are so much more efficient than other forms of hot water, manufacturers are starting to offer "full demand" systems, which use a single heat exchanger to meet all a home's hot water needs. These facilities
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Journal 12: Shanghai Central Tower

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  As the landmark of Shanghai, the Shanghai Tower is also the second tallest complex in the world.Its design not only meets the requirements of construction but also focuses on the exploration and research on the innovation of sustainable development technology of architecture. As a landmark building, the shape of Shanghai Tower is one of the most concerned aspects by designers and investors. However, the spiraling shape is not only for its shape to conform to the fashionable and elegant urban characteristics of Shanghai, but also for a kind of architectural sustainable innovation. After wind tunnel tests, the building rotated 120 degrees.This can reduce wind load by 24% and reduce the steel structure by about 20,000 tons.While reducing the building's exposure to typhoons, it also reduces the carbon footprint of building construction. In addition, the double-layer curtain wall system of the building facade can greatly filter out the outdoor heat energy, thus reducing the energy con
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Journal 11: Sustainability city – Singapore

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  Singapore is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with a population of less than 500 square kilometers and a population of over 5 million.In the last century, when government managers were committed to building Singapore into a world tourist city, Singapore has become a world-famous green city with decades of development. The first is urban water. Two-thirds of Singapore's land area is a catchment, where water is stored in 17 reservoirs, including the coastal basin at the heart of the city. In addition, urban wastewater can be collected and treated to produce enough water to drink, which can meet 30 percent of a city's water needs.To some extent, this enables the urban water supply system to be recycled without excessive waste of water resources. On the other hand, the Singapore government plans to build a new "smart" city -- Tengah for the city. In order to ensure that the community can provide residents with a comfortable living environment in th
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Journal 10: Low E Glass

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  As an architectural design student, low-E glass is one of the types of glass often chosen during the design process. Compared to standard 3mm glass, up to 70% heat loss and 77% heat absorption can be prevented by using a Low radiation coating and a suitable frame. This means the glass coating allows less heat to pass through the glass. There is a very thin coating on the glass, but you can't see the color difference. Energy-efficient glass allows light to pass through while blocking heat-producing ultraviolet rays. This reduces the number of manual cooling methods needed to keep the room at the desired temperature, Like a modern apartment and office buildings in pursuit of the broad vision and have sufficient daylighting, glass curtain wall and large glass Windows and doors design strategies, and because of that, low-e glass can save these buildings in hot summer in order to maintain indoor comfort and energy consumption, reduce carbon emissions by buildings, to promote the susta
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Journal 9: Pipeline daylight lighting system

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  There are a lot of houses because of the size of the problem, there will be bad lighting, if the light is used to supplement the light, it is a waste of energy. So Solatube, an Australian company, has designed a duct-type daylight lighting system to get the light out of a house. The system adopted the introduction of the solar lighting system, so no need to pay the electricity bills can realize all-weather lighting, keep indoor illumination uniformity, the roof of the solar collecting hood through internal prism unit, it can no matter from which Angle irradiation of the sunlight, all refraction into the bottom of the aluminum light transmission pipe, its internal efficient reflective film ensures that even if the sun continues to turn the pipeline, 99.7% of the light can also be transmitted to the interior, achieve the purpose of lighting, and the lighting system can also depending on the outdoor weather, through internal leaf fan device to adjust the system into the light, This ensu
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Journal 8: Madreselva Building / Vicca Verde

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  The Madreselva Building in Peru is a low-cost sustainable ecological Building designed by Vicca Verde in 2014. The building is located in the heart of the city, which is often lacking in greenery in modern cities, and this was one of the issues to be considered at the beginning of the project. The project takes into account the efficient use of materials and resources, and the local wood is specially treated to meet the requirements of being built as a tall building. In addition, it is environmentally friendly from the beginning of construction to the end of its life. This is helped by the use of recyclable materials that have a low environmental impact. Moreover, the rainwater collection system of the building can be used to irrigate the green plants around the building and realize the internal circulation system of the building. As a result, the design not only enhances the quality of life of the building, but also enables it to function well in low cost maintenance conditions. In
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Journal 7: Catalyst Building / Michael Green Architecture

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  MGA is known for implementing high-rise timber structures, and Catalyst Building is their Spokane in the U.S. project. Completed in 2020, the project is the first office tower in the state of Washington to be built with cross-laminated timber. It is seeking zero energy and zero-carbon certification from the International Living Future Institute, making it one of the largest buildings in North America to meet both criteria. The project team's goal was to design and construct a large wooden building that could potentially exceed the performance of steel and concrete. The CLT panels used in the building were sourced from the local working forest, harvested with reasonable ecological practices, and manufactured 15 miles from the site.  A life cycle assessment (LCA) of the building concluded that the carbon storage of the wood almost offset the carbon impact of the building. The project proves that sustainable results and new construction methods can be combined with more traditional
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Journal 6: Sequis Tower / KPF

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  Sequis Tower is KPF's Tower project in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia. Completed in 2019, it received a LEED Platinum Award. The building is a sustainable project both for itself and for the surrounding community. First, the tower design emphasizes the importance of the pedestrian experience at ground level. By pulling the traffic flow of the site below the slope and raising the parking space, the design frees up the ground for more green areas. On the other hand, in order to reduce the high energy consumption due to thermal comfort due to Jakarta's hot climate, Sequis Tower has integrated a variety of sustainable design strategies that deliver 36% higher performance than LEED benchmarks. The efficient building system, coupled with the progressive radiator array on the tower facade, allows the tower to be viewed as an energy efficient tower. It can minimize energy consumption and solve solar radiation. To sum up, Sequis Tower not only achieves energy saving through itself, but a
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Journal 5: Oceanix City/ Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

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  Oceanix is a utopian city designed by BIG and presented last year at the United Nations High-Level Roundtable on Sustainable Floating Cities, which was jointly organized by Oceanix and MIT, the Explorers Club and UN-Habitat.It proposes a solution to rising sea levels in which cities become floating platforms and are completely self-sufficient. This is a utopian project that has not yet been launched and only has a plan, but if it is successfully completed, it will be a completely sustainable and self-sufficient green sea city, which in my opinion is likely to become a trend in the future.First, Oceanix City will only use renewable, clean energy from the sun, wind, waves and ocean currents.The building will be low-rise and taper off at the top to create shadows and provide as much space as possible for solar panels. And it will use a zero-waste system. Freshwater autonomy will be achieved through rainwater collection and gray water recycling/reuse.The low edge of the platform provides
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Journal 4: Central park Sydney

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            The facade of Central Park, image from google image. Central Park is a mixed-use twin super-tall building located in the heart of Sydney.  The building itself consists of two residential apartment blocks, an east-west tower, and a six-story retail shopping mall at the base of the tower. Additionally,  In 2013, One Central Park was awarded a 5 Star Green Star. At the heart of Central Park is a commitment to sustainability and self-sufficiency, embodied in the area's two initiatives: a low-carbon third-generation power plant and an internal water recycling plant. Central Park is expected to utilize its own low-carbon natural gas power plant, which will provide thermal energy for residents and employees. The first phase of the measure involves a two-megawatt third-generation energy plant, to be completed by November 2015, which will operate on natural gas and have the capacity to generate carbon thermal energy for 3,000 homes and 65,000 square meters of residential heating
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Journal 3: The Sustainable City Dubai

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       The property in sustainable city Dubai .  Image from: Bayut  Concerns about climate change, renewable energy, clean air, and water continue to raise concerns about sustainable urban planning.  The Dubai Sustainable City is another step in Dubai's eco-friendly project in the wake of climate change.  The aim is to create a self-sustaining community for future generations.  It is an energy-efficient community with fresh air and cleans water that does not compromise the life experience of future generations. Located on 113 acres, Dubai's Sustainable City consists of five housing complexes, including 500 villas. For each housing cluster, there is an urban farm that connects to the rest of the community. Residents are free to grow their own vegetables and benefit from locally grown vegetables. Both domestic and agricultural water comes from the urban water recycling system. In addition, all houses have insulated walls to save energy and keep the temperature inside. Solar panel
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Journal 2: Chaoyang Park Plaza, Beijing by MAD Architect

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       Photograph by Iwan Baan from ArchDaily Located in the heart of downtown Beijing, next to Chaoyang Park, the building takes traditional Chinese landscape art as its inspiration and reimagines the relationship between large buildings and the site in the heart of the city, recreating the natural and spatial forms of the traditional landscape.  Ma Yansong's "landscape" is not only dedicated to the expression of architectural form but also responds to the environment to a certain extent.  With LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council, they experience the building's ventilation system and facade material selection. Ventilation system analysis diagram, source: ArchDaily 1. Ventilation system: Each Chaoyang park plaza tower outside the ridgelines are part of the ventilation system of each floor, Chaoyang park, even the lake brings to the building plenty of natural wind, when the wind blows the building, outside of the natural wind is tower ridge line
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Journal 1: Kamuthi Solar Project

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        Image: Kamuthi Solar Project, source from: Greencitytimes India was the first country in the world to establish an official government agency for non-traditional energy, the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. India has been trying to find more sustainable sources of energy since the 1980s. The mission of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is to "increase the share of clean energy, increase its availability, improve its accessibility, increase energy affordability and maximize energy equity", with India aiming to provide solar power to more than 60 million Indian homes by 2022. The Kamuthi Solar Project is a solar photovoltaic (PV) farm capable of providing 648 megawatts of power. It is located in the town of Kamuthi, Ramanathapuram, India. It has more than 2.5 million individual Solar PV modules on 2,500 acres. The Kamuthi solar project provides energy to about 300,000 homes. Moreover, the project cost $710 million and became operational in 2016. Grow
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