I recently read about an architectural theory and plan that would leave a new multi-story office building to consume little more than 100 kilo-watt hours of energy per year. At first that meant nothing to me, but reading on it was made clear that the average building of similar size typically uses up to two or three times that much energy. How amazing is that? We could use a fraction of the energy that we are now if this worlds. This is all theory of course, or rather, a new idea that is being tested right now. What new idea could possibly cut down on such a significant amount of energy consumption? Well, the main innovation involved is the addition of 180 vertical ventilation flaps that are connected to a weather station on the roof and from sensors placed along the building that report the temperature and air pressure and even measure the amount of sunlight. A main way of keeping a building cool and conserving energy is to use the cooling and heating systems as much as little as possible. Which, logically, would require a greater source of outside airflow within the building. Letting air into the building generally means opening the windows and letting the wind through. This can cause some problems within the building, papers flying all over, knocking things off of desks and tables. These breezes are caused as the air pressure around the building shifts. The vertical ventilation columns around the building will shift to control air the air pressure and the changes in air pressure around the building. Allowing fresh air in, but no strong winds.
If this works, if it is possible for us to use up to a third the energy that we do now in our office buildings, the total amount of energy that we save could have a huge impact on the environment. The energy saved in not using the heating and cooling systems could be used in many other areas, such as research to find better technologies to improve the life of those around the world. This green technology would, if it indeed works, not only be saving the energy of one building, but it would be a huge step towards making all buildings more environmentally friendly.
