ISRAEL21c tours the new Porter School of Environmental Studies building in Tel Aviv, Israel’s first LEED Platinum edifice. A strange-looking capsule made of curved bamboo strips (sustainably harvested, of course) pops out from a south-facing wall of sun-collecting tubes. The intention of building such an odd accessory into Israel’s latest and foremost “green” building for the Porter School of Environment Studies at Tel Aviv University really was to scream “look at me” as thousands of Israelis make the daily commute into or across Tel Aviv. Built atop the highest part of Tel Aviv on a precipice that hangs over the city’s main artery, the Ayalon Highway, the new edifice — Israel’s first LEED Platinum-certified building — sits outside the main belt of the campus beside the university’s unusual Urban Safari. While it was once a dumping ground, today this is prime real estate close to the train station. To deal with the intense heat of the sun, the building is in three layers to shield people working in its labs and offices. A series of enclosed patios are for public expo rooms. Solar tubes collect energy from the sun and simultaneously shade occupants from its rays. The tubes, in fact, generate about 30 percent of the energy used by the school. Water in the tubes gets heated, and up on the roof this heat drives turbines that create power. On the wall with the solar tubes hangs an egg-shaped capsule where students and teachers can “float” new ideas. The capsule is more than a pretty nose on the face of the building. It is like an egg ready to give birth to new ideas. The central lobby is a buffer zone with vaulted ceilings illuminating passive light and cooling features that transfer seaborne air around the building at certain times of the day. Cool water pipes underfoot circulate another layer of cool air around the building. The third segment of the building to the north has few windows opening to the south in order to conserve air-conditioning energy. The office windows face the north, and the rooms were built smartly so that movement and light sensors will automate air-conditioning and artificial lighting when needed. A green home of dreams Much thought went into the construction of the building, from sensors in the wetlands to choice of plants for the green roof to transferring waste energy to water piping in the floors to cool or heat the building, depending on the weather. Even the concrete is from a sustainable source, Itzhak Ben Shalom tells ISRAEL21c.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:03:19 +0000