Abstract
This paper examines the critical design factors and strategies that warrant consideration to accomplish sustainable or high-performance tall buildings applying innovative technologies. It shows how “technology transfers” in the aerospace industry have been applied to tall building systems to achieve high-performance. Because the design of tall buildings warrants a multi-disciplinary approach and requires the integration of architectural components, structure, HVAC, and communication systems, an analogy exists between tall building and aircraft, which also comprises complex integrated systems. A few case study building examples are presented which represent the new generation of sustainable tall buildings that are setting trends for future projects incorporating innovations in materials and building systems. It is concluded that since tall buildings consume massive energy, designers of the next generation of tall buildings will incrementally aim for “zero energy” design. In this approach climate is used to advantage and the building becomes a source of power. It is possible that tall buildings will some days even produce excess energy and transfer the excess to the city’s power grid for use in other ways.