BioSkin, a system of water-filled ceramic pipes that cools the exterior surface of buildings and their surrounding micro-climates, has won the 2014 Tall Building Innovation Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
The initial use of BioSkin was at the NBF Osaki Building in Tokyo, Japan. Based on the traditional Japanese practice of uchimizu, the sprinkling of water to lower ambient temperatures, clean the streets, and keep dust at bay, BioSkin absorbs heat through rainwater evaporation, mitigating the urban heat island effect by cooling the building, as well as its immediate surroundings.
Through this process, the surface temperature of the building enclosure can be reduced by as much as 12°C and its micro-climate by about 2°C. The potential implications of this are substantial: If a large number of buildings in a city used such a system, ambient air temperature could be reduced to the point that cooling loads for many buildings, even those without the system installed, could be reduced.
The initial use of BioSkin was at the NBF Osaki Building in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: © Harunori Noda / courtesy CTBUH
“This is a remarkable façade solution, both in its concept and how it has been beautifully detailed,” said David Scott, Technical Awards Jury Chair and lead structural director of the Engineering Excellence Group at Laing O’Rourke, London, UK. “I look forward to seeing this being proven by measurement. It is elegantly and delicately detailed, and it is quite outstanding, as it is combined with many other innovations in this remarkable building.”
The CTBUH Innovation Award recognizes a specific area of recent innovation in a tall building project that has been incorporated into the design, or implemented during construction, operation, or refurbishment. The areas of innovation can embrace any discipline, including but not limited to:
- Technical breakthroughs
- Construction methods
- Design approaches
- Urban planning
- Building systems
- Façades
- Interior environment
The Awards Jury also recognizes several Finalists in the Tall Buildings Innovation category.
- Living Walls – as used at One Central Park, Sydney, Australia, also the recipient of the 2014 Best Tall Building Asia & Australia award.
- Active Alignment – as used at the Leadenhall Building, London, UK.
All award winners will be recognized at the CTBUH 13th Annual Awards Symposium, which will take place at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, on November 6. The symposium will be followed by the awards ceremony and dinner in the iconic Crown Hall, designed by Mies van der Rohe. The 10-Year, Lifetime Achievement, and Building Performance awards will be announced in the coming weeks, and will also feature at November’s awards events.
For more on the 2014 Tall Building Innovation Award, visit: http://www.ctbuh.org/Awards/AllPastWinners/2014Awards/PR_InnovationAward/tabid/6474/language/en-US/Default.aspx.
Related Stories
| Sep 22, 2014
USGBC names 2014 Best of Buildings Award winners
The Best of Building Awards celebrate the year’s best products, projects, organizations and individuals making an impact in green building.
| Sep 20, 2014
Healthcare conversion projects: 5 hard-earned lessons from our experts
Repurposing existing retail and office space is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for hospital systems to expand their reach from the mother ship. Our experts show how to avoid the common mistakes that can sabotage outpatient adaptive-reuse projects.
| Sep 19, 2014
Smithsonian Institution opens LEED Platinum lab facility
The Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory will emit 37% less CO2 than a comparable lab that does not meet LEED-certification standards.
| Sep 19, 2014
8 hot healthcare projects win interior design awards
Winners of IIDA's 2014 Healthcare Interior Design Competition include Perkins+Will, AECOM, Buffalo Design, and SmithGroupJJR, for projects from Cincinnati to Toronto.
| Sep 18, 2014
Final designs unveiled for DC's first elevated park
OMA, Höweler + Yoon, NEXT Architects, and Cooper, Robertson & Partners have just released their preliminary design proposals for what will be known as the 11th Street Bridge Park.
| Sep 17, 2014
Arquitectonica's hairpin-shaped tower breaks ground in Miami
Rising above Biscayne Bay, the 305-meter tower will include three viewing decks, a restaurant, nightclub, and exhibition space.
| Sep 17, 2014
Atlanta Braves break ground on mixed-use ballpark development
SunTrust Park will be constructed by American Builders 2017, a joint venture between Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, Barton Malow Company, and New South Construction.
| Sep 17, 2014
The doctor is in: New consortium to fund research of design's influence on public health
The AIA Design & Health Research Consortium has organized its design and health initiative around six evidence-based approaches.
| Sep 17, 2014
New developments in data center design
From the dozen or so facilities housing Google’s 900,000 servers to the sprawling server farms of Facebook to Amazon’s seven sites scattered around the world, today’s data centers must accommodate massive power demand, high heat loads, strict maintenance protocols, and super-tight security. This AIA Discovery course is worth 1.0 AIA CES HSW learning units.
| Sep 17, 2014
New hub on campus: Where learning is headed and what it means for the college campus
It seems that the most recent buildings to pop up on college campuses are trying to do more than just support academics. They are acting as hubs for all sorts of on-campus activities, writes Gensler's David Broz.
