The Super Sustainable City, designed by Swedish architecture firm Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture, proposes a green Gothenburg for 2050.

The current ecological footprint of Gothenburg is 2.5 million global hectares, or roughly the size of Västra Götaland. If all citizens in the world used as much resources we would need 3 globes to survive, explains the architecture firm. The Super Sustainable City is based on the principal of creating a sustainable ecological footprint for the growing seaside city.

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture estimates that the city will continue to grow with 8000 new inhabitants/year and in order to accommodate the extra people and combat urban sprawl, denser and more sustainable cities are needed.

The cutting edge vision for The Super Sustainable City in Gothenburg includes finding ways to cut, and make more efficient, transportation and travel, lower energy consumption and change energy sources to renewables, cut waste and recycle more, harvest water and grow more food.

The design includes green roofs for leisure and solar panels, passive solar design, wind turbines, a rapid transit system and cycling paths.

source:greenmuze

Zira Zero Island is a 1,000,000m2 architectural design proposal for a carbon neutral leisure, culture and residential development in the Caspian Sea. The cutting edge sustainable design, from Danish BIG Architects and engineers Ramboll, is proposed for the crescent shaped bay of the capital city Baku in Azerbaijan.

The vision for Zira Island is to create a development that is independent of external resources – in other words, a self-contained, carbon-neutral island. It is also designed to be a showcase to the world, combining high-end living with low-end resource usage.

The buildings on the island will be heated and cooled by heat pumps connecting to the Caspian Sea. Solar heat panels integrated in the architecture create a steady supply of hot water, while photovoltaics on facades and rooftops power daytime functions such as swimming pools and aqua parks.

Waste water and storm water is collected and led to a waste water treatment plant, where it is then cleaned, processed and recycled for irrigation. The solid parts of the wastewater are processed and composted, turned into topsoil to fertilize the island. The constant irrigation and fertilizing of the island is designed to support the lush condition of a tropical island, with a minimal ecological footprint and using minimal resources.

The island will have its own CO₂-neutral power supplied by harvesting wind energy via an offshore wind farm. By locating the wind turbines on sea, it transforms the existing offshore oil industry’s platforms and foundations in Baku into a more sustainable future for wind turbine use.

Slovakian architects Tomas Zacek and Igor Zacek have come up with a unique house design that manages to combine a love of travel with environmentally sustainable design and functionality. The architects used the caravans for inspiration, but added their own modern eco-twists.

The Rolling Stone is designed to accommodate a minimum of two people or a maximum of six in an emergency. Each unit has a bedroom with a double bed, small closet, toilet, shower and sink. The main part of the unit has two separate functions. In summer, the unit can be expanded to create living room space with a kitchenette and eating area. The open area may also function as a workshop area or theatre. As with traditional caravans, when several are placed in a circle it creates a communal living space for outdoor cooking and socializing.

Each unit continues different energy system options – wind turbines or solar panels. The units also have a water reservoir and bathtub combination area on the roof and a grey water treatment facility under the floor of the caravan.