Top 10: Most Sustainable Buildings

Share
The most sustainable buildings helping to reduce emissions include The Edge
The most sustainable buildings helping to reduce emissions and promote sustainable living include Bosco Verticale, One Central Park and The Edge

To reach the Paris Agreement’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050 to prevent catastrophic climate change, we must adapt the ways we live and work.

Every organisation and individual uses buildings to work and relax, but they can have a negative impact on the environment

Across the globe, innovations in building technologies are making a difference to how companies and people can exist in harmony with nature.

We’ve ranked 10 of the most sustainable buildings in the world.

10. Taipei 101

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Owned by: Taipei Financial Centre Corporation

Floor count: 101

Construction completed: 2003

Taipei 101 at twilight (CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed)

Taipei 101 was the world’s first skyscraper to exceed the height of half a kilometre, and remains the eleventh tallest building in the world. 

The building won a Platinum LEED certification for energy efficiency and environmental design. 

Designed to be energy efficient, recycled water is used for 20-30% of the building’s needs which can decrease the diversion of freshwater from sensitive ecosystems. 

The building also has double-pane windows that block external heat by 50%, reducing power consumption for air conditioning and temperature control in the hot environment. 

9. Shanghai Tower

Location: Shanghai, China

Owned by: Yeti Construction and Development

Floor count: 133

Construction completed: 2014

Shanghai Tower

Shanghai Tower is one of only four completed ‘megatall’ skyscrapers, standing at 632 metres tall and home to offices for companies including JPMorgan, Alibaba and Allianz.

Designed by Gensler, it has a tiered design that provides high energy efficiency and nine separate zones for office and retail use.

The building’s ‘outer skin’ allows natural light to enter whilst cutting down on air conditioning needs to reduce energy consumption. It also reduces wind load on the building allowing the construction to use 25% less structural steel than a conventional design of a similar height.

8. Torre Reforma

Location: Mexico City, Mexico

Owned by: Fondo Hexa

Floor count: 57

Construction completed: 2016

Youtube Placeholder

The Torre Reforma resembles the form of an open book encased by a glass facade with a panoramic view of Chapultepec Park.

Holes in the glass facade provide natural ventilation, increasing the efficiency of air conditioning systems and requiring less energy use. Due to the country’s hot climate, almost all buildings require careful temperature control.

Pavements around the building were expanded to give priority to pedestrians over vehicles and make the building more accessible. Avoiding commutes to the building by car can reduce carbon emissions.

7. Pasona Urban Farm

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Owned by: Pasona Group

Floor count: 9

Construction completed: 2010

Pasona Urban Farm, designed by Kono Designs

The Pasona Urban Farm came from the renovation of a previous building. It added a double-skinned green facade, a rooftop garden and urban farming facilities to the building.

The office space boasts over 200 species of plants including fruits, rice and vegetables that are harvested and served at the cafeterias in the building. This reduces the amount of food that has to be transported into the city.

The building was designed to bring together the concepts of agriculture, health and eco-friendly to realise symbiosis with nature and recycling of resources. 

6. City Hall

Location: London, England

Owned by: Greater London Authority

Construction completed: 2012

London City Hall

Previously known as The Crystal, London’s city hall was originally built and opened by Siemens to showcase a permanent exhibition for sustainable architecture.

It was the first building in the world to reach the highest sustainable award level with an ‘Outstanding’ BREEAM rating alongside a LEED Platinum sustainable construction award.

The building is equipped with ground source heat pumps, solar photovoltaic and thermal panels, a 60,000 litre rainwater tank and carpets made from recycled fishing nets. 

Its building management system has more than 2,500 KNX connected devices to increase efficiency through automation.

5. Bank of America Tower

Location: New York, US

Owned by: Bank of America

Floor count: 55

Construction completed: 2009

The top of Bank of America Tower (CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed)

Designed by Cookfox and Adamson Associates, the Bank of America Tower is the eight tallest building in New York City standing at 370 metres tall.

The building contains 2.1 million square feet of office space and was the first commercial skyscraper in the US to attain a LEED Platinum certification. 

The building’s energy efficiency features increased construction costs by 6.5% but are projected to save US$3m per year in energy costs and increase productivity by US$7m annually. 

4. Bullitt Centre

Location: Seattle, US

Owned by: Bullitt Foundation

Floor count: 6

Construction completed: 2012

The Bullitt Centre

Opened on Earth Day 2013, the Bullitt Centre is designed to be the greenest commercial building in the world.

In its first 10 years, the building has generated 30% more energy than it used from the solar panels on its roof, making it one of the largest net positive energy buildings in the world.

The building has no parking spaces, opting for bike racks instead, and has 26 geothermal wells that extend 120 metres into the ground to help stabilise its temperature. 

3. Bosco Verticale

Location: Milan, Italy

Floor count: 11

Construction completed: 2012

Bosco Verticale (CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed)

Bosco Verticale means vertical forest, and these buildings certainly live up to the name. Designer Stefano Boeri describes them as: “a house for trees inhabited by humans”.

These two residential skyscrapers reach 116 metres and 84 metres tall and contain an 11 storey office building.

The skyscrapers contain over 90 plant species including tall shrubs and trees that are distributed on the facades. 

The 20,000 trees and plants in the buildings convert approximately 20,000kg of carbon each year. This vegetation is equivalent to that found in one hectare of forest.

The plants are irrigated using a centralised maintenance drip irrigation system that uses reclaimed graywater produced by the building.

The buildings use heat pump technology to reduce heating and cooling costs and emissions. 

2. One Central Park

Location: Sydney, Australia

Owned by: Frasers Property

Floor count: 34 and 12

Construction completed: 2013

One Central Park (CC BY 3.0 Deed)

One Central Park is a mixed use dual high rise building developed by Frasers Property and Sekisui House as part of the Central Park urban renewal project in Sydney.

The base of the towers contains a six level retail shopping centre with over 40 retailers and a 13 screen cinema.

The building received a 5 Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia.

One Central Park’s vertical hanging gardens stretch more than 50 metres high, making it the world’s tallest vertical garden. It contains over 35,000 plants across 23 green walls.

The property has a cantilever heliostat to reflect sunlight to the gardens and atriums below using a series of motorised mirrors.

Its recycled water network houses the world’s largest membrane bioreactor water facility, designed to service 4,000 residents and more than 15,000 visitors and workers daily.

The water network uses a variety of sources including rainwater, storm water, groundwater and sewage. 

1. The Edge

Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Owned by: Edge

Floor count: 14

Construction completed: 2014

The Edge, designed by Edge

The Edge is home to a number of companies including offices for Deloitte, Salesforce and Henkel.

Rated as the most sustainable office building in the world, it received the highest ever BREEAM score for an office building of 98.36% in 2014

It uses solar panels and below ground thermal energy storage to produce more electricity than it consumes.

Rainwater collected from the building’s roof is used to flush its toilets and water its gardens.

Ceilings in The Edge contain around 28,000 sensors that provide real-time data on CO2 levels, humidity, motion, temperature and light.

The building’s ethernet powered lighting system is 80% more efficient than conventional lighting and can be controlled by a smartphone app.

The smartphone app also makes it possible for coffee machines to recognise individuals and dispense their favourite coffee, and can change the temperature and environment of each room based on the person’s preferences.

The Edge is heated and cooled by an aquifer thermal energy storage system that uses hot and cold water in wells to control temperature.

******

Make sure you check out the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Sustainability LIVE 2024

******

Sustainability Magazine is a BizClik brand

******

Share

Featured Lists

Top 10: Sustainable Brands

In association with Novata, the most sustainable brands taking action to improve the planet include Patagonia, McCormick & Company and IBM

Top 10: Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

Hershey, Amazon and Cisco are among those leading the charge in diversity and inclusion initiatives to enhance workplace equity and representation

Top 10: Ethical Investment Companies

The top companies prioritising ethical investments such as green energy & circularity projects include Vanguard, BlackRock & Global State Street Advisors

Top 10: Women in ESG

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)

Top 10: ESG Leaders

ESG

Top 10: Sustainability Influencers

Sustainability