World Expo village in Kazakhstan to be triple net zero

World Expo 2017, planned for Astana, Kazakhstan, calls for an expo village that rates triple net zero—zero net use of energy and water and zero net generation of landfill waste. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) of Chicago won the international design competition for the village.

Energy consumed by the expo community will be provided from renewable sources. Buildings will become generators of power, and their energy will be stored using innovative technologies while being distributed by a smart grid.

Facilities to be built include exhibition halls, retail facilities, hotel space, a train station, parks, parking, and cultural facilities. There also will be 3,000 permanent housing units in buildings three to six stories tall.

Infrastructure built for the site’s cold, semi-arid climate will include a smart energy grid, a smart recycled water grid, an integrated waste management system, and inter-seasonal underground thermal energy storage.

(http://urbanland.uli.org/planning-design/expo-astana-2017/)