Intelligent Technologies Hold Key To Greener Buildings

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

The Deutsche Bank LEED Platinum Towers in Frankfurt

A new debate is a brewing in green-building circles as architects, engineers and designers consider what it means to incorporate intelligent-building elements into sustainable, “green” structures.

Since taking off in the early 2000s, the green building movement has made great progress. By 2013, LEED-registered projects are forecasted to make up 20 to 25 percent of all new building projects in the United States. And momentum is also building in existing facilities, where green retrofits are expected to comprise 30 percent of all commercial projects by 2014.

But these projects can and should be greener. What the worl  needs is better integration between the green , sustainable and intelligent schools of thought to move sustainable buildings to the next level.

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Whiter Clouds Could Mean Wetter Land

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

One proposed emergency fix to halt global warming is to seed clouds over the ocean to make them more reflective, reducing the solar radiation absorbed by the Earth. But the scheme could also change global rainfall patterns, raising concerns of water shortages on land. A new study by the Carnegie Institution, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, suggests that altered atmospheric circulation under the scheme in fact could increase monsoonal rains and cause the continents to become wetter, not drier, on average.

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Rohtang Tunnel

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

Sonia Gandhi  laid the foundation stone for the 8.8-km-long horseshoe-shaped Rohtang tunnel, which would make travel to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir from Manali in Himachal Pradesh possible round the year.

At present, the Leh region remains cut-off for six months a year because of the closure of Leh-Manali and Leh-Srinagar roads due to snowfall in the winter.

Rohtang Tunnel is a tunnel proposed to be built under the Rohtang Pass in the Leh-Manali Highway. The 9 km long tunnel will be the longest road tunnel in India and is expected to reduce the distance between Manali and Keylong by over 60 km.It was planned to facilitate laying out of an alternative all-weather road route to strategically important areas of Ladakh and providing round-the-year connectivity to the remote Lahaul-Spiti valley.The project was conceived in 1983 and announced by Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 3 June 2000. The project was estimated to cost around INR 500 crores and to be completed in seven years. On 6 May 2002, Border Roads Organization was entrusted with the construction of the tunnel and on 23 May 2002, the work was inaugrated by Mr Vajpayee.. The cost of the project was revised to INR 1335 crore with an expected completion at 2010.However work didn’t progress much with the project not moving beyond tree felling stage by May 2003. By December 2004, the project cost estimate had escalated to INR 1700 crores  On May 2007, the contract was awarded to SMEC International Private Limited, an Australian company and the completion date revised to 2014.Despite multiple announcements that the work on the tunnel will begin on 2008, no progress had been made till Nov 2009.

Sources:

Wikipedia

HT

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112-Year-Old Shipwreck Found in Lake Michigan

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Rashid Faridi

A huge wooden steamship that sank more than a century ago was found perfectly preserved at the bottom of Lake Michigan.A huge wooden steamship that sank more than a century ago was found perfectly preserved at the bottom of Lake Michigan.A huge wooden steamship that sank more than a century ago was found perfectly preserved at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

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