The Pearl River Tower is a clean technology

Clean technology

Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy , information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, Greywater, and many other appliances that are now more energy efficient. It is a means to create electricity and fuels, with a smaller environmental...

 skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 under construction at the junction of Jinsui Road/Zhujiang Avenue West, Tianhe

Tianhe

Tianhe District is one of the ten districts in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. In Chinese, the name Tianhe means a river in the sky. It is bordered by Yuexiu District on the west, Baiyun District on the north and Huangpu District on the east...

 District, Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill with Adrian D. Smith and Gordon Gill (now at their own firm) as architects. Ground broke on the tower on the 8th of September 2006 and construction is expected to be complete in 2011. It is intended for office use and will be partially occupied by the China National Tobacco Corporation

China National Tobacco Co.

China National Tobacco Corporation is by sales the largest single manufacturer of tobacco products in the world. It boasts a virtual monopoly in the People's Republic of China, which accounts for roughly 30% of the world’s total consumption of cigarettes....

.

Architecture and design

The design of the Pearl River Tower intends to set new standards for skyscrapers: a high-performance structure designed in such harmony with its environment that it extracts energy from the natural and passive forces surrounding the building. Some of the major accomplishments are in the nature of the formal and technological integration of form and function in a holistic approach to engineering and architectural design.

Sustainability

The building is designed with energy conservation

Energy conservation

Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources...

 in mind, including wind turbine

Wind turbine

A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...

s and solar collector

Solar collector

-See also:*Solar thermal collector*Solar water heating*Solar air heating*Photovoltaic module*Renewable heat*Concentrating solar power...

s, photovoltaic cells

Photovoltaics

Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...

, raised floors ventilation, and radiant heating and cooling ceilings. It will be arguably one of the most environmentally friendly

Environmentally friendly

Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....

 buildings in the world.

Of Pearl River Tower’s accomplishments, many are related to the sustainable design features including:

• The largest radiant-cooled office building in the world
• Most energy efficient super-tall building in the world
• The tower is an example of China’s goal to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent as compared to the level of 2005.

Timeline

• Fall 2005 : Design Competition
• 8 September  2006 : Ground Breaking Ceremony
• November 2006 : Enabling Works begin
• 18 July 2007 : Public bidding for the construction
• January 2008 : Main Package construction begins -26.2 m
• August 2008 : Building Core construction reaches ground level 0 m (0 ft)
• April 2009 : 15th Level 80.6 m (264 ft)
• November 2009: Glass curtainwall installation begins
• December 2009: Building reaches upper wind turbine level
• 28 March 2010: Topped-out

External links

• SOM's Pearl River Tower Page
• AS+GG's Pearl River Tower Page
• Consulting Services performed by RWDI
  RWDI
  Wind Engineering Firm Established in 1972, Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc. is a specialty consulting engineering firm. The RWDI group of companies has over 275 employees with offices in Canada, USA, United Kingdom, India and the Middle East....