In Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, a cylindrical three-story building named the Nanjing Green Lighthouse stands out as one of the first “zero carbon” buildings in the Chinese mainland. It uses state-of-the-art technology to achieve energy consumption below 25 kilowatt hours per square meter per year, which can be offset by photovoltaic panels.
Its chief designer is Morten Holm, a Danish architect who has devoted himself to sustainable architecture for 30 years. Through the exemplary design, Holm aims to achieve more than just “zero carbon” buildings. He also aims to present a possible future of ultra-low energy consumption without sacrificing quality of life.
A lighthouse
“As its name suggests, the Nanjing. “Imagine this, all the openings of the building are almost like sunflowers, rotating and dialing according to sun’s motion. So it saves a lot of energy without getting too much heat load from the sun.”
