It's not often (ever?) that a convention center is anything worth being excited about, but Ireland's new Convention Centre Dublin uses ingenius engineering and an omniscient mother brain to monitor and adjust itself. The result? Zero carbon footprint.
Every aspect of the CCD's design has been finely tuned to prevent waste—despite possessing enough space for a performance hall, giant auditorium, and enough floorspace for 8,000 attendees. Engineers began with 6,000 tons of low carbon concrete. A good start. From there, things take a turn for the higher-tech: sophisticated heating and cooling systems that that use minimal amounts of juice, all linked up to a central computer that monitors environmental conditions in real time and adjusts electricity consumption accordingly.
When the building is stuffed with guests, it even traps their radiating heat and water vapor to be stored for later use. The CCD even produces its own giant stores of ice to tap for a quick cool-off, no air conditioning required. And it doesn't hurt that the place is pretty damn pretty, to boot. [Inhabitat]