Skidmore, Owings & Merill (SOM),a prestigious architectural firm from Chicago, recently presented a development at COP26 that would not just serve as a community for many enterprises but also help the environment get a lesser carbon contribution. The company named their project "Urban Sequoia," which will be created using carbon storage mechanisms similar to what the algae and other microorganisms naturally use for air capture and biomass fueling. Among the distinctive features of the Urban Sequoia is its stack effect structure.

The unusual design of the towers was selected by the experts from the architectural firm to conveniently catch and propagate carbon from the natural air and process it on the interior machines that will be equipped inside the towers. Once the project of the Skidmore, Owings & Merill is fully developed and made available to the market, the technology of each of the high-rise is expected to absorb more carbon than the emissions from when it is being constructed by up to 4 times the volume, and this would be easily achieved in just under 60 years of operation. 

Global Warming and Carbon-Capturing Skyscrapers

Urban Sequoias: Ecofriendly Skyscrapers Developed with Carbon Capture Architecture, Transforming Urbanized Towers into Garden-Like Structures
(Photo : Aleksandar Pasaric from Pexels)

The concept of carbon capture is among the greatest topic of environmental and climate studies today. Many of the papers from the scientific community are dedicated to improving many structures and technologies by harvesting and utilizing renewable energies in hopes of easing and eventually cutting the excessive carbon footprints in our time.

Although many are attempting to develop a reliable and most efficient system for the said purpose, the available innovations are still limited or do not simply get approved from the taste of the greater population, losing their credibility,  which leads to their elimination from the market. But through all of the complex phases to obtain the most assuring ally against global warming, a new development offered a promising solution.

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Urban Sequoia Can Collect 1,000 Tonnes of Carbon, 4 Times Greater Than Own Emissions

Experts from the Chicago-based architecture company Skidmore, Owings & Merill have presented one of the most advanced concepts that will be useful for many businesses that struggle on keeping their carbon emissions toned down. The new idea is called the Urban Sequoia, which are skyscrapers built with a carbon-capture mechanism that would keep and utilize the compound for fuel rather than emitting the gas excessively.

The architectural development aims to collect the number 1 contributor of greenhouse gases as much as it can more than it produces during its operation. The design, according to a Daily Mail report, can extract 1,000 tonnes of carbon from the natural air — equivalent to 48,500 trees combined.

The Urban Sequoia is specialized to conduct the process that the microorganisms do to harness their nutrition and energy. The experts behind the project claim that the eco-friendly skyscrapers would be able to sustain their function for up to 60 years, sequestering carbon for many purposes such as energy supply and biomaterial production for other eco-engineered constructions such as pipes. roads, and other urbanized infrastructure.

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