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Burj al-Taqa Dubai Energy Tower - High Tech Badgir
The Burj al-Taqa skyscraper is the latest in a series of amazing buildings that will have people saying "Only in Dubai!" The Burj al-Taqa tower uses a cylindrical shape that exposes as little surface to the sun as is feasible.
(Burj al-Taqa)
The Burj al-Taqa (which means "Energy Tower") will have a unique 197 foot diameter wind tower on its roof and arrays of solar cells totalling 161,459 square feet.
Not content with this energy output, the building will float an additional island of solar panels within view of the building.
Architects selected an ancient Persian design feature as the model for the futuristic building. Wealthy business owners built wind towers on the roofs of their houses, which gave them a natural air-conditioning system. Louvered openings in the towers suck in cooler air high off the ground like a chimney; this sinks down and displaces the (lighter) hot air, creating a cooler interior space.
These windtowers are called "badgirs" (or "badghirs" - the Persian word is "barjeels"); first found in Persia, the idea spread throughout the Middle Eastern world.
(Badgirs (or Barjeels) in Yazd, Iran)
The building will also have a dramatic internal view, because the atrium is part of the energy-efficient design. The negative pressure created by winds breaking against the tower will pull spent air out of rooms via slits in the facade. Fresh air will come in through ducts; seawater will be used to pre-cool the air.
(Burj al-Taqa interior space)
Note that science fiction author Frank Herbert also put the idea of a badgir to work in his sf classic Dune, which borrows many things from Middle Eastern philosophy and design:
He led the way through past a dark honey-comb lattice that directed a cool wash of air across Paul when he passed it. "That air felt damp." A man behind them said "Plenty of air in the trap tonight."
(Read more about windtraps)
Readers will no doubt be familiar with the Burj Tower - see Burj Tower In Dubai To Be World's Tallest Building and Burj Dubai Tower Update for more Burj-related information.
Via New Tower Creates All Its Own Energy via Metaefficient.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/15/2007)
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