Comcast Center Building Philadelphia: Greenery Architecture - Research Paper Example

Comcast Center building Philadelphia: green architects In the current building technologies, energy performance in buildings is one of the most important aspects that modern designs have tried to achieve. This has been aimed at reducing the rapidly increasing energy burden. Building technologies with efficient energy utilization have been designed in the construction sector, with high level utilization of renewable energy or significant saving on convectional energy. Several governments have put in place regulations aimed at cutting the carbon dioxide levels in domestic and residential energy usage. The Europe Union has passed resolutions that seek to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050. Therefore, it is important to put up measures during construction of both domestic and commercial buildings to reduce conventional energy usage. Campbell (232) explains that the EU aims at drastically reducing the energy requirements from conventional energy sources. The ratification of the paper ‘Meeting the Energy Challenge’ aimed at encouraging constructors to design more technologically advanced buildings that would reduce the above energy utilization in commercial household buildings. The Comcast Center building Philadelphia is one case that clearly portrays the design of green architects and designs aimed at enhancing energy efficiency and encouraging the ‘green building’ culture in commercial and domestic designs. The main features that describe the Comcast Center as an extemporary building in green architecture is the testament of the builders to enhance environmental sustainability. From the dramatic 120 foot high winter garden, erosion control, water and storm water storm management vegetative garden and lighting efficiency are just some of the features that make Comcast centre a green building (Liberty Property, n.d).The Comcast building due to its leadership design in green building has received the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), to become the tallest LEED-certified building in the country. The building that has been designed by Liberty Property Trust and Corporate Office Properties Trust stands out due to unique features and highly efficient design that ensure sustainable energy use. According to Staff Writer (2009), some of the important features that make Comcast green building including the usage of 40% less water than a typical office building, with extensive features that can save more than 3 million gallons of drinking water annually. The waterless urinals in the building save up to 1.2 million gallons of water each year. The extensive water efficient features in design ensure that water is conserved and used for other important requirements. Water efficiency in buildings in the current global world where water usage has exponentially increased and fresh water reserved dwindling gradually; there is a need and concern for buildings to put in place features that would ensure the precious commodity is conserved to the optimum level possible. This has been achieved in Comcast Center through extensive features that are either waterless or the tapping and usage of rain water that is most cases left to waste (Liberty Property, n.d). This makes the building a green design and architecture, with features that enhance resource utilization. Yudelson (238) argues that a building that attains the green building status has to have all systems inherent in using much less resources as compared to conventional buildings of the same size and use. The design and materials used in construction according to Yudelson have a large bearing towards making a building green in sustainable architecture and building. There is a need of the architecture to engage the contractor well in advance so as to conceptualize each stage of the building accordingly. The Comcast center building portrays these requirements to have been met well in the design stage. The City Of Philadelphia (2009) elaborate that the Comcast Center qualifies to be green building by having the highest amount of green roof space in the country. The construction of Comcast Center involved detailed partnership between the client, architecture, contractor and the Philadelphia city staff who strategized, planned and assisted in making the green building. The Liberty Property argues that the green roof is unique in the country. The winter garden saves consisderable amount of cooling energy, getting rid of extra hot air and cooling where people travel instead of providing the cooling effect opt the nine story atrium. In summer, the winter garden utilizes fans on its roof to get rid of hot air and is equipped with floor vents to deliver air condition to only the floors that are occupied. The use of under floor water loop to cool winter garden and the 6th floor atrium floor in summers, and its warming during winter makes the building green roofing one of its kind globally. The ability of the building to naturally regulate heating and air conditioning eliminates the use of conventional energy that would be used to enhance air condition, by large margins. The Delaware Valley Green Building Council, DVGBC (2009) further explain that Comcast Center keeps the urban Philadelphia cool, by placing parking spaces underground, shading the exposed plaza surface with trees and eliminating the absorbing asphalt. These factors are responsible for urban heating and through the strategic green design of Comcast Center; the building significantly reduces the urban heat island effect. Therefore, building does not only reduce energy utilization in cooling within it but has been regulating the urban heating concentration in the surrounding area, thereby benefitting the surrounding buildings. The Philadelphia Business Journal (2009) explains that the green impact of the Comcast Center building is attained though an intelligent choice of materials that makes up the building. In addition to reducing the heat island effect caused by pavement, the building has low E-coating on the curtain wall glass that blocks up to 60% of heat, while allowing about 70% sun’s visible light. The building to the best extent possible is designed to rely in natural lighting and reduce reliance on conventional energy sources in lighting. Transmission of day light to offices not only reduces the energy used in lighting, but reduces the heat accumulation in rooms making them as natural as possible. Through this, energy conservation in Comcast has been reduced by 70%, compared to a normal building of its size. Recycling is another factor that makes the Comcast Center an ideal green building. The building is fully constructed with materials with high levels of recycled content, and those that are sourced and made locally (DVGBC, 2009). The use of recycled materials increases the market for recycled materials thereby eliminating tones of wastes from the environment. The use of locally available materials ensures that transportation is minimized to the best level possible and this eliminates environmental pollution that results from vehicle transportation. The building has used products 80% of which have been certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), which means that the building in its design and construction supports and advocates for sustainable harvesting of forests to make them available to future generations (Liberty Property, n,d). To enhance environmental sustainability, Comcast Center management has been implementing a comprehensive recycling program for occupants. The provision of green janitorial services in the building would ensure that occupants enjoy the highest quality of fresh air possible. This is in addition to the management making sure that the quality of indoor air adheres to the nationally recognized Green Seal Standard that requires the use of low contaminants and reduced toxin cleansing products and practices in the building. This would be enhanced through the use of low VOC paints, sealants adhesives, composite, carpets and other finish materials. The use of carbon dioxide censors in the building ensure that fresh air is directly supplied to each area s required and flushing in 100% of fresh air to reduce employee fatigue and this would improve employee productivity. These features make Comcast Center not only an office space, but an ideal green building in the current green building architecture and design The need to come up with green technologies that ensure environmental sustainability ahs led the architectures to improve their design to ensure that buildings are environmentally sustainable to the best level possible. The design and construction of Comcast Center in Philadelphia portrays a case of intelligent architectural work that is geared towards sustainable energy use as well as conserving other resources such as water. The building by obtaining a LEED Platinum certification portrays the extent to which design has adhered to standards of developing high performance and sustainable green buildings. This makes the building an ideal green building design today. Work cited City of Philadelphia. High Performance green buildings. Mayor’s office of sustainability, 2009. http://www.phila.gov/green/greenbldgs.html 26, Oct. 2011 Delaware Valley Green Building Council. Comcast Center Philadelphia. DVGBC, 2009. http://www.dvgbc.org/green_resources/projects/comcast-center-1701-jfk-blvd-philadelphia-pa-19103 26 Oct. 2011 Liberty Property. Comcast Center Environmental facts http://www.libertyproperty.com/pdfs/Comcast-Center-Sustainability.pdf 26, Oct, 2011 Staff Writer, Comcast center gets LEED certification. Philadelphia Business Journal, 2009, April 23. http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2009/04/20/daily22.html 26 Oct, 2011 Yudelson, J., Green building through integrated design. CA: McGraw Hill, 2009. Read More