Put the invisibility cloak on Pambansang Photobomber
Torre de Manila. This 49-storey condominium building is criticized by defacing the Rizal Monument at the Luneta Park. The Knights of Rizal won the case against DMCI, the building’s developers as ruled by the Supreme Court. The court’s decision: to demolish the said eyesore.
But what if there is a turnaround for this situation? A compromise that could be agreed upon to satisfy both parties. Various concepts developed by renowned architects of this time are making the rounds on Facebook. A solution to make the Torre de Manila invisible from the monument’s skyline while still existing. We turn to sustainable energy for the solution.
Renewable Energy
Of the renewable sources of energy, only wind energy and solar energy are possible for an infrastructure like a building and its location. Other options like hydrothermal, tidal, geothermal, and bioenergy resources are also possible but could be obtrusive, time-consuming and expensive.
Wind Energy
The wind energy is a promising renewable energy in buildings because it takes advantage of the windy environment especially in the height of the buildings. Although there are disadvantages that should be taken into considerations in installing wind turbines in buildings.
Wind turbines have high output when collecting laminar wind flows. The wind found in skyscrapers are turbulent, which decreases the steady stream of wind that can be caught by the blades. Occupants will be disturbed by the noise and the vibration of the wind turbines especially for buildings with metal framework.
Presently, wind turbine developers doesn’t have cost-effective models. The generated energy output is comparatively low in comparison with the output from wind farms in coast, ridges, etc. The cost of the blade also rises with the increase of the dimensions used. Although, bigger blades have higher output capacity.
On the other hand, enlarging the blade could risk safety for the occupants of the building and nearby surroundings, if the blade, unfortunately be unattached from its frame. Also, the weight of the wind turbines could contribute to the stress of the whole building’s framework. In that case, we can rule out utilizing wind energy as a renewable source of energy for buildings in general.
Solar Energy
A popular suggestion I have been hearing around is to use glass from the ground floor up until the penthouse. So the building could reflect the sky and would not appear as an eyesore for our National Heritage. A recent development of transparent solar panels could be a game-changer in the industry of renewable energy. Ubiquitous Energy an American start-up company is revolutionizing these new line of solar panels.
They are using solar panels developed by professors and students from Michigan State University called the ‘transparent luminescent solar concentrator’. It is composed of an organic material that captures the invisible light rays of the sun, that allows all other light rays to pass though; therefore it is transparent to the human eye. It is applied as a coating for glass. Ubiquitous Energy have partnered up with Solar Window Technology to develop opaque organic materials that can also capture the visible light rays, they hope to market their idea for buildings. If Torre de Manila would go invisible for the happiness of the Filipinos, this is a win-win investment for them. Although, these solar panels are currently under development and not yet being sold.
But there is an efficiency to transparency trade-off, currently, the solar panels are 1% efficient. The team said that it can achieve up to 5% efficiency if fully developed. Conventionally, solar panels can be installed on the building’s rooftop to harness the power of the sun which has an efficiency of 17%.
The production of the said organic material is cheaper than the silicon-based solar panel alternative. Manufacturing is still underway but this could still lower the price for the material, making it more affordable.
Energy Efficiency
Considered as the other half of the Twin Pillar of Sustainable energy (the other half being renewable energy), energy efficiency also plays a key role. Torre de Manila and its occupants should consider the installation of ENERGY-star approved appliances and machines. Opting for this alternative will reduce energy consumption.
Conclusion
Making Torre de Manila an energy-sustainable building is in line with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP). Other developers can be encouraged to take steps in creating energy-sufficient building. In turn, it will promote the faster visualization of the NREP’s vision to increase the RE-based capacity of the country by the year 2030. The transparent glass panels of Solar Window Technology could be the solution we are looking for: million-peso construction will not be wasted and our National Heritage preserved.
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