 Sustainable, green building is growing in popularity and practice around the world. Green building utilizes a lot of concepts. Energy efficiency is often at the top of the list, followed by the use of some sort of green materials, such as recycled or sustainable materials. Then, there's the stuff that goes into the building, such as low volatile organic compound (VOC) paint, sustainable floors like bamboo hardwood floors and organic cotton sheets and linens on the beds. There's also the source of energy that electrifies the building, such as implementing the use of solar photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and geothermal energy.
One of the newer and emerging concepts EnviroCitizen.org has discovered in green building is the reuse of an existing structure. Even the greenest new building still uses a lot of materials to build. If a developer reuses an existing structure, far fewer materials are needed to renovate the structure than would be needed to build a new structure. Many developers are embracing this concept, especially considering the fact that it often costs a lot less to complete a renovation project than it does to build a new one.
One such developer, Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter, is a huge supporter of the idea of reusing existing structures. This architectural firm based in Denmark, transformed an old water tower into student housing and a youth center. The water tower had been unused for decades until a few years ago, when Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter won a contest to renovate it. The project was completed in 2006 and remains one of the greatest examples of green renovating. You really have to see it to understand how green, modern and wonderful it is. It's a ten-story structure that hardly resembles a water tower. There are multi-faceted protrusions that increase the living space and draw more light into the units. The utilization of natural light reduces the energy costs and consumption of residents! The top five floors are for student housing, while the bottom five floors are for the youth center which includes several large rooms. The tall windows of the youth center allow daylight to extend the benefits of natural light to the youth center as well. This converted water tower is a great example of reusing an existing structure. There is great value in reusing anything that can be reused. With billions of people on the planet and the population growing rapidly, it's important to change the way that we think about progress and development. There is a finite amount of materials available to us and reusing things is an innovative, realistic way to live sustainably.
EnviroCitizen.org believes that Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter's conversion of a water tower into student housing and a youth center is the perfect example of how we can unleash the power of human potential to create the kind of sustainable life that we need to lead.
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