Building Design that
"eats" Smog
In Mexico City, on the side of a
hospital stands a very peculiar design. This design, though, serves a higher
purpose than just abstract art work, because it helps eliminate smog. Every
day, this structure helps eliminate the emissions of 1,000 cars per day by
breaking down pollutants into other forms, like water or carbon dioxide. This
device was originally designed in Berlin, Germany, with a coral-influenced blueprint
where a metal called titanium-oxide is treated with a special pigment to
neutralize harmful pollutants in the air.
Putting this device on buildings
in urban areas around the globe can significantly help the air quality and help
clean the earth, but the problem is mostly cost and legal obligations. The
structure is expensive, and not very much of the treated titanium-oxide is
being made. To make it cheaper, more must be made, but if more is made, who
will buy it? Many companies will not willingly put this on their buildings, so
if governments made it a law for certain buildings in certain areas to put this
device on their property, then air pollutants will decrease tremendously. If
laws were made to enforce the placing of these machines, then the price will
decrease with the higher need for them, and all of this ultimately results in a
cleaner earth.
Personally, I want this to
happen. I would very much like to see this design in cities around the globe in
order to neutralize the harmful effects of cars and other machines. We don't
need this in every location, but putting it in pollution hot spots like New
York City or Beijing will encourage other cities to do the same and help get
the planet's clean air back.
I completely agree that this innovation should be implemented in polluted cities today. The idea that a building coated in titanium dioxide can neutralize the effects of 1,000 cars by the sun’s UV rays breaking down pollutants is astonishing. Mexico has apparently experienced success with this architectural advancement and I think that other cities should make an investment in this material as well; especially since architects say that the model can be applied to any city. As I looked further into “smog eating buildings” I discovered another architectural modernization called “BoralPure™ SMOG-EATING Tile.” This “smog eating” tile is supposedly one of a kind in sustainable concrete roofing tiles that decreases the formation of smog. According to the World Health Organization, 2.4 million people die per year due to the effects of air pollution. Just like the building design that you have discussed in your article, the Boral tile reduces the amount of nitrogen oxide (produced by cars) in the atmosphere when exposed to sunlight. Like the building coated in titanium dioxide, the Boral tile converts harmful substances into safe ones. Both of these architectural improvements could protect the health of humans and the environment as a whole, they are certainly worth a try.
ReplyDeleteLink to the Boral Technology: http://www.boralna.com/rooftiles/smog-eating-tile.asp
Thank you, Emily. If this building design is so helpful, it is very hard to understand why other cities are not already using this advanced technology. Using this design, along with many other similar blueprints, we could save hundreds of thousands or even more every year, along with helping the earth heal after all the damage we have done to it. These architectural improvements may be costly, but surely we can spare the money for use in certain cities so we can help the planet and other people. Frankly, I do not see a reason why not to purchase these smog-eating tiles, so yes, they are worth a try.
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