Download or read book The Green Skyscraper written by Ken Yeang and published by Prestel Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although many designers have succeeded in applying ecological or "green" design principles to architecture on the small scale, city centers remain an uncharted frontier when it comes to achieving integrated, ecologically responsive buildings. Architect Ken Yeang takes us an important step forward by addressing the challenge of making the skyscraper an "intensive" large building type, sustainable -- that is a structure that has a beneficial impact on the natural environment and increases energy efficiency in the core. Yeang's premise is that the skyscraper is a built form that will stay with society well into the future and that its worldwide popularity is a reason in itself to rethink its relationship to the environment. The Green Skyscraper presents a general framework for looking at ecological design, a step-by-step guide to examining the fundamental premises of such an approach as well as its practical applications to the contemporary skyscraper Issues discussed include the use of energy and materials and their physical impact on the ecosystem, illustrated with case studies from Yeang's own projects, experiments, and research.