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Major projects can be innovative in design while also addressing sustainability, occupant wellbeing and specific challenges related to their local environment.

Here are five examples from around the world that highlight how unique design can blend with energy efficiency and environmental stewardship, thus serving as a model for others.

Airports can be utilitarian structures for the most part, aside from the occasional glass wall or art features. However, Portland International Airport (PDX) dares to go further than most air transit facilities in several ways.

In 2015, Portland initiated a $2 billion redevelopment project called , with the objective of expanding airport capacity, improving resiliency and enhancing the traveller experience.

The centrepiece of PDXNext is TCORE, the Terminal Core Redevelopment project.

Phase one was completed last August. Aging systems and infrastructure were replaced, seismic resiliency upgrades made and a revamped passenger terminal opened, featuring a stunning mass timber roof with nearly 400 glulam beams made from locally sourced wood.

Beyond its stunning design, sustainability is a key objective. A proposed open-loop ground source heat exchange system for heating and cooling has been proposed, potentially cutting the airport’s fossil fuel use by 95 per cent.

Together with two-thirds of the terminal’s interior lighting coming from natural daylight and despite a 40 per cent increase in building size, overall energy use will be reduced by half, to engineering firm PAE. Biophilic elements are also central to the terminal redesign, with numerous green spaces featuring live trees and foliage integrated throughout the facility.

The University of Southampton’s (U.K.) recently approved a three-storey, 3,400-square-metre life sciences laboratory designed to integrate with the location’s natural setting using trees, hedgerows, ornamental shrubs and wildflowers. The sloping green sedum roof “will enhance biodiversity, improve air quality, and provide an exciting outdoor environment expressing the connection between science and nature,” the university .

Sustainable building materials with low environmental impact, high-performance glazing, advanced insulation, rooftop photovoltaic panels and ultra-efficient heating, ventilation, air conditioning and water systems will all contribute to the building’s low carbon footprint and a 10 per cent biodiversity net gain.

In Egypt, high local ambient temperatures and a location close to Sphinx International Airport resulted in global design firm Gensler conceiving an innovative solution for stadium in keeping with local height restrictions.

“The sunken bowl leverages cooler earth temperatures to reduce ambient heat, achieving sustainability through smart, passive design measures,” Gensler .

The new US Coast Guard headquarters in Washington D.C., an 11-storey, 1.2-million-square-foot project is an example of design, a term used to describe the application of nature’s strategies to produce sustainability.

With the objective of achieving LEED Gold certification, the landscape design by global architecture firm HOK includes step-down courtyards, edges and green roofs that provide continuity between the surrounding woodlands and an adjacent historic government campus.

“Rainwater falling on the green roofs permeates through the plant roots and soil and into a drainage system that leads to a stormwater pond for reuse in irrigation,” HOK . “Large amounts of soil were removed from this previously contaminated site and replaced with custom soil blends.”

In the Middle East, a new addition to Dubai’s downtown skyline will stretch the imagination through fantastical engineering and design.

Therme Group, a global developer of wellbeing resorts, its “Therme Dubai – Islands in the Sky” will feature botanical gardens suspended from the air and pools filled with restorative thermal and mineral waters cascading from a 100-metre-tall-structure, and spaces for cultural and social events for the 1.7 million visitors expected annually.

The project will span 500,000 square feet, “setting a new standard for holistic and daily wellbeing.”

“The resort will recycle 90 per cent of the water used in its thermal pools, while 80 per cent of the fresh air and cooling needs will be met through clean energy sources,” Therme says.
In addition, “the project will implement smart resource management and advanced energy-efficient systems, ensuring a minimal environmental footprint.”

John Bleasby is a freelance writer. Send comments and Climate and Construction column ideas to editor@dailycommercialnews.com.