ALGAE_GREEN LOOP MARINA CITY CHICAGO

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ALGAE_GREEN LOOP MARINA CITY CHICAGO

ALGAE RETROFITTING
The Introduction of the Algae green technology has a major role to play to achieve zero environmental footprint in the core of the city. Big cities around the world, like Chicago, are confronted by the same paradox in order to envision a livable future: supporting a bigger economic development while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions produced by this growth. In that way, the Chicago Central Area Action Plan (CAAP) seeks to ensure and expand the downtown role as the engine of the regional economy. The goals established in
2003 were met or exceeded in 2009 and residential growth has far surpassed expectations! By 2020, the Central Area will reach an average growth of 5.000 jobs/year increasing in about 30% its residential population and according to CAAP; the downtown must improve its office growth by adding an annual average of 1.5 million sf. of office space! We can see easily that if buildings account for nearly 70% of greenhouse gas emissions (old buildings contribute the most) it seems really hard to conciliate these development goals with those of the Chicago Climate Action Plan which seeks an 80 % reduction in GH-gas emissions from '90 levels by 2050. This situation reveals the enormous need to introduce a new sustainable model which allows benefic closed loops in terms of providing clean energy, reducing and absorbing CO2 emissions, and finally, allowing sustainable economic growth.

ALGAE IN CITY’S DOWNTOWN
Every industrial energy system inscribes its technological order into the urban fabric. Therefore, what shall be the shape and the fingerprint of the next ZERO CARBON economy in the big cities? While the world is looking for alternatives to fossil fuels, Algae is an unlimited source of energy, food, and most
important, a remarkable natural CO2 absorber. So, which spatial implications shall have Algae’s new technologies, and which potentials integrations could be imagine for Algae bioreactors in central urban areas? Re-use is by far the most sustainable option: that’s why the key issue is how anticipate Algae’s green
future in the core of the major cities, transforming existing building, there where most of people live and where emissions of CO2 are the most important. This situation reveals the enormous need to introduce a new sustainable model which allows benefic closed loops in terms of providing clean energy, reducing and absorbing CO2 emissions, and finally, allowing sustainable economic growth.

THE KEY TO REUSE: ALGAE RETROFITTING
This proposal anticipates an Algae retrofitting for one of the most innovative buildings constructed in the Loop of Chicago: The Marina City's Towers (1964) conceived by the architect Bertrand Goldberg and promoted as a "city within a city". Few buildings in the world could have embodied better than MarinaCity’
towers the spirit of their time, reflecting in such iconic way the pattern of the fossil fuel economy in the built environment.In the aim of the Chicago DeCarbonization Plan, and showing how Algae could be integrated in existing buildings, this project seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of the Loop area, going further than a classical "Retrofit" operation (A comprehensive work on building envelope, heating & cooling, hot water, lighting systems, etc could be only the starting point). Showcasing Algae potential and connecting with new emerging green technologies, it would create a whole new CO2 scrubbing integrated system, which includes: to clean polluted air, to create energy onsite, allow food production, and to process all waste water to be reused. Using bio-engineering processes, a synergetic closed loop integrates three different levels of carbon reduction: direct carbon sequestration from the air (used to feed the Algae bioreactor), absorption by vegetal photosynthesis (Algae, vertical farming and phytoremediation), and reduction by energy saving (introduction of solar and wind harvesting energy).

A CLOSED LOOP: BLENDING GREEN TECHNOLOGIES - Advanced techniques are nowadays developed enough to allow the energy-efficient capture of CO2 from ambient air in a sustainable and economic way ( like the ‘humidity swing,’ developed by Dr Klaus
Lackner, at Columbia University). Two carbon scrubbing plants located on the towers’ top capture the CO2 from the air, filtering it, and releasing oxygen, and creating a valuable resource to feed the biomass production. At the top of both towers, new wind power turbines will enhance the carbon-scrubbing device air flow and providing it with electricity power. The Algae Bioreactor shall produce energy enough to fulfill all building’s energetic needs. Located on both tower’s top and in one of the parking ramps, a modular system of algae tubes will be adapted to fit between the
parking structure, and absorbs the sun’s radiation to produce bio fuel. The interior of
former parking surface shall be widely reduced, to adapt it to new electric and biodiesel powered compact cars size.

The other parking ramp will be transformed in a really biodiversity spot, the Phytoremediation Garden uses natural gravity on the parking ramp to deploy a 2 km filter layout, producing recycled water, allowing to feed almost 1 ha
of vertical farming.

The semicircular balconies are improved to allow solar energy harvesting and vertical farming. Re-skinning the balconies envelope
with photovoltaic thermal panels, a supplementary source for electricity will
improve the system autonomy. Vertical farming considers people participation as a driving force in CO2 reduction process: producing locally their own biological food, people take an environmental and social active role.