Eco-architecture: from residential to skyscraper

Tessa takes us to visit the Bed Zed eco-neighborhood in South London, and the Gherkin tower; two examples of the city's eco-architecture. With 82 homes, 2,500 m2 of offices and shops, Bed Zed is a demonstration best-practice project, which tries to show how new ideas can come together to create not only a new architectural language, but also a higher quality of life, at the same time as achieving a step change reduction in carbon imprint. The apartments have solar panels, and the aerodynamic architecture used improves air quality at very little cost, but with a heat exchanger efficiency level of 70%.

Eco-architecture is also clear to see in skyscrapers like the Gherkin, which opened on April 28, 2004. As London's iconic eco-building, all 41 of its floors are ventilated naturally by the wind all year round.

A pioneering city in terms of green mobility

When it comes to city traffic, London has made considerable efforts to move to a greener model of mobility : the introduction of urban tolls limits car traffic, many new cycle lanes have been added, and a free bike rental service introduced. The scheme has proved so successful that there are now 550 bike docking stations. As a result, bikes have been used for more than 22 million additional journeys since 2010. Public transportation is also more eco-friendly: the famous red buses are now back on the streets in a greener form with solar panels and wooden floors. London is also introducing many more electric vehicle charging points.

Improving energy efficiency

The British capital is also leading the way with new energy-saving techniques, and is promoting the introduction of Smart Grids, which use the latest information and communication technologies to communicate with individual infrastructures to adjust power generation and transmission in real time, prioritizing consumption demand on the basis of urgent need.

Making the party last!

The green clubbing concept has a lot of fans in London! Tessa takes us to a club where energy is generated by the movement of the dancers on a dance floor ingeniously constructed using magnets and springs to capture kinetic energy. With waterless urinals and hand-dryers running on renewable energy, the eco-message is literally everywhere! Which just goes to show that you can party without being eco-unfriendly.

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