Green Tech: First Ever Bio-Adaptive Algae-Powered Building Opens

If you like green tech, this building in Hamburg, which is powered by algae, is going to inspire you. It’s the first building like it in the world, and it’s basically a self-sufficient living building. If you don’t know what algae is, here is a Google Images link so you can see what it looks like. Algae growth is dependent on three things – water, CO2 and sun. With more sun comes more algae.

This green tech building you see in the pictures below is called the BIQ House. The entire front of the building is covered in algae in what is being called a bio-skin. The energy that this algae is converted into can be used to run the building’s heater and air conditioner. In addition to that, it can power all of the other necessary functions in the building once it’s put through a biomass fuel converter.

During the warmer months, when there is more sunshine, the algae will produce at a faster rate. During that time, the solar thermal heat can also be captured and utilized as energy. By allowing this green tech to adapt to the environment around it, it becomes a completely self-sustained form of energy. It’s almost like the building functions as a living organism.

This wonderful example of green tech was designed through a collaboration amongst Splitterwerk, Arup and SSC. It will serve as a prototype and an inspiration for future designs like this. I’m sure the outside of the building itself will change with the seasons also, as the algae develops and grows. I’m looking forward to the day when these types of buildings are in cities all over the world. What a great way to combine nature and the environment with modern technology.