Question on my Mind 2

Question on my Mind 2

After contemplating the questions I had at the end of my research I decided to get on google once again. I was interested to read about future building designs and structures. I wanted to read about this from the perspective of engineers and see what they believed, not just random Star Trek fans. I google searched "what will buildings look like in the future". I scrolled towards the bottom of the page and found a page written by a structural engineer with the title "10 features of future buildings". This seemed like a good place to start my search. "It may be easier to predict what our future green buildings will look like if energy prices continue to rise. As energy becomes more expensive, future buildings will incorporate features which will allow them to be as energy efficient as possible. As these features maximise solar light and heat gain while minimising heat loss, we can predict what future buildings will look like and the features they will include" (The Helpful Engineer). Most of the article revolves around the future of self sufficient buildings, and "green houses" that have a lower dependence on the energy companies. I believe that this is a very accurate prediction, as a transition to more energy efficient objects/appliances is a popular trend today, and if energy prices continue to increase, this trend will likely only grow. As i returned to google I found an article that also looked interesting.  The title was "Future Building Will Change The Look And Feel Of Towns And Villages". I clicked on it and read a long article, complete with pictures, talking about a program in Britain that is "trying to have all new houses being built to be zero carbon by 2016" (Sebastian Schmeig). The article went into detail about how this will be completed, but towards the bottom of the article one paragraph really caught my attention. "Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is constructing an entire zero carbon city. The plan, dubbed the Masdar Initiative, is developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge, US. The city will spread out over 7-square-kilometres on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi" (Sebastian Schmeig). This interested me because I had heard of this as a theory before, but I was unaware that they had actually already started construction. Another thing I found interesting, which the article touched on, was that the country is responsible for a substantial portion of the world's oil. I believe that this city is more of a status symbol for the country than a attempt at progressing the uses of energy  efficient buildings. Never the less, a very interesting and admirable accomplishment.

Works Cited in order of appearance:

Engineer, The Helpful. "10 Features of Future Buildings." The Helpful Engineer. WordPress, 09 Feb. 2011. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. <http://thehelpfulengineer.com/index.php/2011/02/10-features-of-future-buildings/>.

Schmeig, Sebastian. "Amplified Green." Amplified Green. WordPress, 09 Jan. 2009. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. http://amplifiedgreen.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/future-building-will-change-the-look-and-feel-of-towns-and-villages/.