New French law mandates green roofs on all new commercial buildings
According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are key environmental benefits to green roofs, including temperature reduction and energy efficiency.
Architecture & design
“Carbon-absorbing” vertical forest skyscraper nears completion in Taipei
Located in the financial district of Taiwan’s capital, the award-winning vertical forest building was created by the architects as an “anti-global warming and carbon-absorbing ecosystem” and will feature approximately 23,000 trees, shrubs and plants along the ground floor, balconies and terraces.
World’s first 3D-printed school planned for Madagascar
The school is a pilot project and, looking to the future, Thinking Huts hopes to expand the idea to provide more schools elsewhere in Madagascar, and even throughout in the world.
Saudi Arabia is building a zero-carbon city in a 100-mile straight line
The unconventional city will feature “zero cars, zero streets, and zero carbon emissions,” according to a statement by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Boston is building the world’s largest Passive House-certified office building
Boston’s Financial District will soon welcome the groundbreaking Winthrop Center, a year-round, mixed-use gathering space with a suite of impressive eco-friendly credentials.
Greenery-covered high-rise will have more trees than a nearby park
With over 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants on its exterior, the Urban Forest will boast more trees than a nearby park in Brisbane, Australia. The project is hailed as one of the world’s most densely-forested greenery-covered buildings by designer Koichi Takada Architects.
World’s largest hybrid timber tower to be built in Sydney
According to BVN, this tower is “is one of the most hopeful technologies in moving the construction industry toward real solutions to the global climate crisis.”
The Panama Canal officially opens
France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914.
The Suez Canal official opens, connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas
The Suez Canal primarily benefited the sea trading powers of the Mediterranean countries, which now had much faster connections to the Near and Far East.
Shah Jahan completes construction of the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (U.S. $827 million).