Most Climate Friendly Building
JUWI, a wind a and solar energy consultancy firm, has built the world's most energy saving building. Check some photos of the building.
Open Floor Plan
The open design of the house promotes air circulation and facilitates conversation between departments.
Coffee Klatsch
This coffee bar, near the main entrance, serves as a casual place for colleagues to get together and brainstorm ideas over a steaming cup of coffee. Of course only organic coffee is served here.
Vacuum Toilet
It may look like any other commode, but this is actually a vacuum toilet. Similar to ones found in airplanes, these types of toilets only use a half a liter of water per flush. In addition, the sewage from the toilets is collected and used in the biomass reactors to produce electricity.
Solar-Powered View
Another way the designers implemented solar panels into the building was to sandwich them between the glass of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the cafeteria. Sure, they block the view of the beautiful countryside, but there's always the environmentally friendly food to look at.
A New Spin on Solar
Many energy-saving buildings employ solar panels on the roof, but the designers of the JUWI headquarters took it one step further by integrating them into the building's facade.
Raindrops
The building is extremely good at collecting water. So good, in fact, that if they put all the water they collect during a heavy rain into the system it would shut down from the sheer volume.
Powered by the Sun
These small cars are battery operated and are charged using energy collected by the solar panels. The batteries can last for up to seven hours and can be charged at any of the conveniently placed chargers on the JUWI campus in just two hours. And if the batteries run out, no problem, the car has built-in pedals.
Climate-Friendly and Beautiful
This small pond, located on the back side of the building isn't just a pretty part of the landscape. Rainwater that is collected elsewhere on the grounds is funneled here and stored until it's needed.
Energy House
This small cabin, located next to the main building, houses the wood-burning furnaces that help heat JUWI in the winter. Like most of the surrounding buildings, the cabin is capped with solar panels which warm water and help keep furnace use to a minimum.