NY pics and eco-future

This is going to be a combined Post.
First are a few pics from my recent NY trip the next is a few cool 'green' things.

The Citigroup building:
The first photo is not mine. However, it shows the massive stilts the building sits on. The building has a roof slanted at a 45° angle. It was originally intended to be covered in solar panels, but the direction it was facing was more away from the sun and the solar panels were dropped.


Here is my photo. I never really got a chance to get close to the building so this is the best shot I could get.

The Empire State Building

Don't know what building this is, but there was the sun.

Rockefeller Center

Hearst Tower

The Hearst Tower became New York City's first skyscraper to achieve LEED Gold accreditation from the USGBC when it opened its doors last year. 80% of the steel used to make the behemoth was recycled. On the inside, the floors and ceiling tiles are made from recycled materials as well.

The diamond shapes on the building's facade aren't just for show either. The diagonal grid required fewer steel beams to achieve the same rigidity as a conventional skyscraper, and the design allows more natural light to enter the tower.

What's more, rainwater is collected on the roof and is funneled into a 14,000-gallon tank in the basement. The Hearst gathers enough water from the sky to account for 50% of the tower's usage. It's pumped into the cooling system, used for irrigating plants and for the innovative water sculpture in the main lobby.

So that's it for the NY pix

I do have more but they did not turn out an my ego refuses to let them be posted

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Now comes the second part of this post. The green part.

To start it off lets all give a round of applause to the following for their efforts at a green transformation.

Greensburg, Kansas
After a tornado devastated the town in 2007, destroying 95% of the town, the community decided to rebuild as a model for a green town. Hoping to be completely carbon neutral by 2017 Greensburg will be powered by a mix of solar, wind, and geothermal.

Maldives
Going green for this island nation means a lot. A rise in sea level of only a few inches will put most of it underwater. To set an example for others the Maldives are investing their tourism dollars into energy infrastructure offsets. They hope to be carbon neutral by 2020

Vatican City
Dubbed "the green pope" in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI is working to make the Vatican Europe's first carbon neutral state. He's off to a great start already by installing solar panels on the Vatican's auditorium that produce 300,000 kilo-watt hours a year.

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
Working to be carbon neutral by 2020, oil rich Masdar City is spending over $20 billion to transform itself into an Ecotopia by capitalizing on its other abundant energy resource, sunshine. It already draws significant energy from a 10-megawatt solar farm and has plans for an advanced array of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a central tower.

Well that's all I have for now...oh While in N.Y.C. I saw many Prius Taxis and a Prius Police Car ♥