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This report will look at a brief history of the tower and how attitudes towards them have changed over the last century. It will then look at the few towers from the US that incorporate sustainable design philosophies, the many recent innovations in the Far East and then current developments in Europe with a focus on the approaches and developments of towers in the UK.

The most quoted definition of Sustainable comes from the Brundtland Commission report created in 1987:

'Development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. The definition of a tower or skyscraper, which is a large-scale intensive building type, generally regarded as being over 10 storeys and which can be of commercial, residential, hotel or mixed use. However the authors Jacobs & Manzi and Dunleavy use a definition of high-rise as “flats and maisonettes in blocks of six or more storeys.[1] The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat defines a tower as a building in which all the systems are distinct due to its height. The Sustainable Tower is therefore a combination of these definitions and a practical solution to the environmental, social and economic problems that are now confronting our cities.

The need for sustainable development has been argued over for many years and most governments are recognising this need after global initiatives such as the Rio Summit and the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols. As the human population increases, we consume more resources and cause more destruction. This is no longer a theory but a fact that governments and business are waking up to.

Throughout the 20^th century, the urban population has grown from 15% to 50% of the global total and this number is expected to increase to perhaps 70% over the next hundred years[2]. The author and lecturer, Herbert Girardet has calculated that cities built on 2% of the earth’s surface, use up 75% of the planet’s resources whilst release just as much waste.2 Urban Developers, Municipal Governments and Building Designers have a responsibility to provide a viable solution that will address these issues of density, space and sustainability.

Corbusier argued that skyscrapers have a relatively small area footprint and can therefore provide more open space than low-rise development. More people can be housed vertically in a smaller space than horizontally in the same space. The United Nations claims that skyscrapers can lower transportation costs, which will result in less energy consumption. There is a general recognition that the tower has the potential to provide the necessary solution to many urban problems but how can a tower be sustainable?

Many building designers are rising to this challenge and some have made it the focus of their professional pursuits. Students and research organisations are dedicating their studies to the problem. As a result of current environmental and economic problems, the language of sustainability has become unavoidable for architects, building engineers, governments and developers.

This state of the art report shows that tower designs are aiming for sustainability but no one has yet to design the ultimate sustainable tower that satisfies all environmental, social and economic ideals. However, it is certain that if the dreams and plans for future designs and developments of tall buildings integrate the processes and technologies currently being developed to deal with high-density urban living and environmental problems, then the result will be socially, economically and environmentally sound communities.

The Japanese architect, Kisho Kurokawa once stated that the world has crossed the threshold into a new ‘life’ age, where we are more thoughtful and compassionate and individuals are more enriched through a striving for their own spiritual awareness and value for living things, as apposed to mechanical things. 18 Current sociological trends validate his statement and show a general disillusionment with technology. If this is so then it will take the innovation of designers to show us once again, what the value of technology can be. Sustainability will most certainly depend on the application of our technologies to maintain our place within the natural systems that we depend on. The Sustainable Tower is quickly emerging as one of the most viable solutions to the problems created by the integration of mass human development and natural ecosystems.

Based on the results of this study and survey, radical technological interventions are pointing the way to the development of a truly sustainable tower. Particular building technologies and features that are currently used in tower construction, recur in numerous successful projects and future designs. Some of these are as follows:

Natural ventilation
Natural daylighting
Double Skin Facades
Curtain Wall glazing
External and internal shading devices
Louvres
Balconies, terraces and skycourts
Sun scoops
Wind scoops
Sustainable and renewable energy systems including photovoltaic panels, wind turbines and combined heat and power generation
Thermal Mass for cooling and heating
Water cooled piping for floors
Maximised floor plan space
Atriums
Sky gardens and vertical landscaping
Intelligent building management systems
Transportation nodes
Variety of facilities
Low embodied energy and construction processes

The social factors that help to define sustainability could be encompassed in the categories that the writer Randall Shortridge uncovered after studying various successful public places:

· Character - compelling physical characteristics establish a sense of place
· Ownership - an identifiable group that has a sense of pride and responsibility for a definable space
· Authenticity - a place that exhibits a genuine ethos of historic or contemporary meaning or context for its users
· Accommodations - amenities are present that provide for basic human needs and desires
· Nature - water, trees and plants, sky and sun are present, attended to, and respected
· Social and Private Space - talk, play, and special events as well as retreat and solitude are accommodated and encouraged.[3]

This report shows that Sustainable Towers have already been achieved at some level and that a history has evolved through which lessons can be learned. There are a few fantastical dreamers who envisage a future that may not happen for a many years, but there is also a small group of international building designers and researchers who are leading the way in achieving sustainable towers using current technologies and capabilities. These professionals are already changing the face of architecture and the shape of urban skylines.

The challenge now is to come up with a definitive design guide that will provide the template for upcoming designers. The next milestone of this project will look at specific case studies of sustainable towers to see what works and what does not. From this we can look more closely at drivers, impacts and new technologies influencing the design of a green skyscraper. This will ultimately bring us closer to understanding the necessary guidelines and models for designing the definitive sustainable tower.

[1] CHURCH, Chris and GALE, Toby (2000) Streets in the sky – Towards improving the quality of life in Tower Blocks in the UK, The first report of the National Sustainable Tower Blocks Initiative, London

[2] GIRARDET, Herbert (1999) Creating Sustainable Cities – Schumacher Briefings, Green Books, UK

[3] SHORTRIDGE Randall H. (March 11, 2002) Insight: Critical Ingredients in Urban Placemaking AIA, RTKL/Los Angeles

-A Brief History of the Tower