Yes, it IS possible to sustain 30 flights of people, save 40% energy, and still live in luxury! #bcsfh20 @j_cherrier pic.twitter.com/TiSMuKAuAY
— Priyanka Algu (@priyaKa98) November 22, 2017
The Solaire is both a functional and beautiful feat of architecture. We had the chance to get an inside look at the networks that allowed the building to support 30 floors worth of residents. Starting in the basement, the Solaire contains a waste treatment room with various pumps that recycle stormwater captured in filtre-like systems on the roof of the building. This water is generally supplied for domestic use as in for the toilets (even extending to the public restrooms!) and the cooling tower. Usually heating water costs a lot of energy, especially for high-rise buildings. However, due to embedded energy in the wastewater, 65,500 Btu/hr of heat is recovered which saves 40% of the building’s energy and makes it either net energy neutral or even positive. Not only is the building sustainable, but its staff are also very mindful of the water safety and treatment. Blackwater collected in the system undergoes intense filtration starting with chlorine treatment to eliminate fermentation that may have resulted from leaves and other organic material traveling from rooftop stormwater collection. Ozone further purifies the water, and UV light is last in the process, ridding water of possibly harmful bacteria.
The feat becomes even more incredible traveling to the rooftop of the Solaire. Thirty flights above the city, solar panels cover the top structure and little stormwater collectors dot the ground. An ‘Urban Herb and Vegetable Garden’ is even set up! Again, water quality and monitoring is absolutely key. Even down to the simplest tools, even a simple water collector attached to the fence has the capacity to notify the staff as to how much water is is being collected and how that might affect supply to the rest of the building.
While it might be difficult to install all the pumps and machinery that power the Solaire building, it is certainly possible to install the small stormwater filters and use perhaps hybrid green technology in order to store water towards the sides of walkways in Teardrop Park. Depending on soil composition and sunlight acquisition, small herb gardens could be implemented with community efforts to collect runoff in some of the more elevated areas of the park. Even the 9/11 fountains could reuse blackwater. Much of the controversy of this technique might result from the implication of using ‘impure’ water on a memorial. Yet, using the extensive Solaire processing and treatment, it is possible to make the water much cleaner. Idealistically the purification of water could even play into the symbol of rebirth and new hope to the 9/11 memorial.
