6 Teens Designed This World's Most Green Building To Help Fight Climate Change & Overpopulation

Climate change and the population explosion are two major problems plaguing all of humanity, putting our future as a species in danger.

Now, six teenagers have come together to design buildings they believe can help fix both problems.

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Six teenagers from five countries – Romania, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Norway – have teamed up to design a building of the future, one that addresses the need for efficient housing as well as green buildings. It was recently selected as the winning concept for a competition by the New York Academy of Sciences and United Technologies Corporation to create sustainable buildings.

One of the features of the building is that, the walls combine concepts behind both green infrastructure and solar panels. A network of vines coat the north-south facing walls, which will work as air purifiers and insulation, while the east-west walls have solar panels to generate power. In addition, the exterior walls are tilted at a 75-degree angle to optimize the amount of surface are exposed to sunlight. The roof is also covered in adjustable solar panels that can be tilted to the best angle to capture sunlight.

 

But wait, there’s more. The building is also almost entirely self-sustaining as far as resident’s water needs are concerned. A central tank captures water used from kitchens and bathrooms, instead of only relying on a fresh supply. While wastewater from toilets and faucets is flushed away, water from other sources like showers are captured, treated and purified to remove pathogens, and recycled to toilet flushes and the like. Recycled water that isn’t used for this can instead water the green walls of the building. Altogether, this cuts the building’s water usage by as much as a third.

As part of the concept, the functioning of the entire building will be governed by a “home assistant”. This connects with various sensors to adjust temperature, light intensity, and other comforts that use electricity based on a flat’s occupancy. It also measures energy usage patterns and gives residents a “green score”. The students believe that competition would encourage more green practices.