France has World’s First Energy Positive Office Building
Solar panels and windows help make Elithis Tower energy positive. (image: fr.lombard via flickr.com)
Most builders and architect of sustainable design can only dream of a net zero energy building, meaning a structure with zero energy consumption. French architecture firm Arte Charpentier, in collaboration with Elithis Engineering, has reached this goal and more with the Elithis Tower, the first energy positive office building in Dijon, France, reports Ariel Schwartz at Inhabitat. The building also produces six times fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional office buildings.
Groundbreaking design is paired with everyday functionality, says Preston Koerner at Jetson Green. Elithis Tower is 54,000 square feet, 10 stories tall, with ten stories of office space and ground floor retail and restaurant space, and cost about $10 million—all comparable to a traditional office building., Made of wood and recycled insulation, the tower has 330 rooftop solar panels and a solar shield to remove excess heat while allowing natural light to filter in. Emissions from the building are recovered and reused.
To ensure that people understood what the building had achieved, Elithis and Arte Charpentier designed a public sign that displays daily energy consumption, as measured by 1,600 energy and emissions-analyzing sensors.
