Why America should strive to be like China

Yes, you read that title correctly. And no, I am not high. It isn't exactly as broad as the title may imply, but in this one particular instance, I am so thrilled with what China is trying to do, that I couldn't help myself.

China does so so many things wrong. Human rights, child labor, antiquated reproductive policy, questionable banking practices... the list goes on and on. But there is one thing they do better than any country on earth thanks to their quasi-pseudo-Deomcratic-Capitalistic-Communism --- Infrastructure. Nowhere on planet earth can you get a massive infrastructure project built faster and with less red tape than in China.

The current project I want to talk about is called the Phoenix Towers in the provincial capital of Wuhan.

That is not a sci-fi scene from a movie. That is the architects rendering of the Phoenix Towers upon completion. The taller of the two will be the new tallest building on earth at approx 1 kilometer high (3,281ft). That is impressive, but not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about are the ingenious amount of sustainable and environmentally friendly aspects to these buildings.

Sitting on their own island, the pair of towers will be home to photovoltaic panels and air pollution scrubbing filters on its exterior. They will have biomass boilers located at their base to turn waste back into power. There will be wind turbine near the top of the taller tower. There is rainwater harvesting, evaporative cooling for building temperature control as well as water filtration that will sustain both towers using nearly 100% recycled water. They will have hydroponic gardens grown in "green walls", located inside the exterior glass of the structure, these living walls will feed the spherical restaurants made to look like planets orbiting the towers, as well as keep the building cool by filtering the sunlight. There is a thermal chimney at the taller buildings center which harnesses the warmth of the earth and the biomass boiler to warm the building in the winter. Architects hope the building will be 100% Net Zero, they will produce all of the power they need, as well as extra power for the surrounding area.

At the base the towers will host different streets meant to mimic other countries around the world. Japan Street. France Street. These will be home to restaurants and other retail establishments. The towers will undoubtedly have a mix of commercial, residential and hotel units within.

If all goes according to plan, the towers are slated for completion in 2018. At that point they will be the tallest buildings on earth, but with such a focus on sustainability that hopefully the world community will celebrate this type of architecture and it will become the new normal for all buildings going up. There is no reason not to incorporate this into building design of the future.

These are just cool:

Cheers

TJ