DiHydrogen MonOxide

       This week in class we discussed the prevalence of water. The importance of it to our civilization and the issues that concern it. The conversation was positive with everybody agreeing that their is an issue that has to be addressed. Water is being consumed at a rate faster then it can be replenished. To make matters worst as we remove water from the environment to sustain our needs we are destroying ecosystems and negatively changing the land. The best we can do is try to reduce water use, fix leaks, and reuse grey water. I found it crazy how the US has a population a third of China’s but uses nearly twice as much water. Water is being consumed at an alarming rate but even then it isn’t being distributed equally. While we have droughts here in the United States for a couple months a year we still have water available on a more limited supply. While in developing countries people are dehydrated due to ample supply of water year long. Water is the elixir of life, without it life would have never formed here on Earth. We as humans, and as caretakers, need to better manage one of our most valuable resources.

       I am really loving these Google Alerts. The way I set them up I receive news articles on Green Architecture and Engineering. So I am receiving so much great information on sustainable ideas and concepts happening all over the world. I just love the look and feel of a modern contemporary green structure raising from the ashes.

See Tree Seen From Above Ground

      This week I read about this great idea I received through my alerts. A Dutch architecture firm came up with the idea of the sea tree. It is a self standing structure built on the ocean that would encompass its own ecosystem. This structure would floors that would raise above the water like a skyscraper, but completely open, and also below the water. Creating a home to birds and aquatic animals alike.

See Tree Seen From Below The Waters Surface

        Each level of the structure could provide a home to a different species or species depending how high they would fly or the depths it could swim at. Above the water the structure would be covered in vegetation. While below water it could sustain aquatic plants and possibly a coral reef system. Hopefully the ecosystem could reach a point where it would be sustainable with little to no human interactions needed.

Both Views With Distribution Of Life

           The structure could be built on existing oil rings. Recycling abandoned rigs into something more innovative. Much larger structures would be built using many of the techniques learned from the oil companies about building a structure on water. I think is a great and innovative idea. Its green which every company is striving for but also useful. It would provide a home to hundreds of species, possibly humans one day, as well as removing a eye sore from the horizon.