The 71-story Pearl River Tower, described as one of the most energy-efficient skyscrapers in the world,
has reached its topping out milestone on the way to its planned completion later this year. (For those not in the architectural know, topping out or topping off is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building.) With a height of 309.6 meters the 2.3-million square-foot Pearl River Tower incorporates the latest green technology and engineering advancements, the most immediately obvious of which will be a pair of openings in the tower’s facade which feed wind turbines to generate energy for the building.
Integrated Wind Turbines
Designed by SOM, the Chicago-based architectural consultants responsible for the Burj Tower in Dubai, the Pearl River Tower is being built in Guangzhou, China by the CNTC Guangdong Tobacco Corporation. Its distinctive sculpted body is designed to direct wind to the pair of funnel-like openings at its mechanical floors, which are located roughly one third and two thirds of the way up the building. As the wind flows through it pushes the building’s integrated wind turbines to generate power for the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
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