🌆 Skyscraper in Taipei has a vertical forest in order to absorb carbon

Our “built environment” is responsible for nearly 40% of the world’s carbon footprint. In order to save our planet, future buildings must have the smallest negative environmental impact possible. Thankfully Vincent Callebaut Architectures aims to achieve just that with the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan tower.  

The Tao Zhu Yin Yuan tower is a LEED Gold certified (one of the world’s leading green building certifications) high rise building located in Taipei, Taiwan. This award-winning project has a vertical forest created to act as an “anti-global warming carbon-absorbing ecosystem”. The building will contain 23000 trees, shrubs and plants located on the building's terraces, balconies and ground floor. The architects believe the tower's annual carbon-absorbing capacity will be able to reach about 130 tons.

The highrise building is a residential complex consisting of 20 floors of apartments and looks a lot like the double-helix structure of DNA. The Optimist Daily writes “From the base to the top, each column-free floor successively rotates by 4.5 degrees, resulting in a 90-degree difference from the base to the top.” The Tao Zhu Yin Yuan tower is planned for completion by the end of 2021.

In order to meet the LEED Gold standards, the building has a double skin facade and solar panels on the top of the building, ensuring the building is powered with green, renewable energy. The tower also incorporates natural ventilation chimneys, LED-lighting and rainwater recycling systems. The architects explained to InHabitat:

“A building should be a song of the earth and co-exist with the environment. A carbon-absorbing Vertical Forest building is no doubt the most profound foresight for the buildings of future cities. Tao Zhu Yin Yuan puts fighting global warming into practical action, shows love for the trees and forests, interprets in depth through space, and carves the sustainable faith."

Picture from The Optimist Daily.