Usually, when we talk about green buildings, we refer to the eco-friendly elements or the sustainable design factors that lessen a building’s carbon footprint.

But this new green building is, quite literally, green, as it has a microalgae bioreactor facade acting as a “bio-skin” that provides enough energy for the building’s electrical and heat needs.

The Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) building, in Hamburg, Germany, cultivates microalgae in a vertical farm of 129 transparent glass panels on the sides of it that face the sun.

When the tiny plants reach harvest levels, some of the algae is then removed and fermented into biogas for use in the building’s heating and energy needs.

In addition to providing harvests of algae, the outer skin also acts to shade the building from direct sun, as well as insulate the building from temperature differences and external sounds.

“The BIQ has a holistic energy concept: it draws all of the energy needed to generate electricity and heat from renewable sources – fossil fuels remain untouched. It is able to generate energy using the algae biomass harvested from its own façade.

Moreover, the façade collects energy by absorbing the light that is not used by the algae and generating heat, like in a solar thermal unit, which is then either used directly for hot water and heating, or can be cached in the ground using borehole heat exchangers — 80 metre-deep holes filled with brine.

This remarkably sustainable energy concept is therefore capable of creating a cycle of solar thermal energy, geothermal energy, a condensing boiler, local heat, and the capture of biomass using the bio-reactor façade.” – BIQ

According to IBA Hamburg, this five story building, by using a combination of algae and geothermal and solar energy, will generate more energy than the residents of the house will use, making it a “Plus Energy House”.

The BIQ building is being presented at the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Hamburg.

Coca-Cola Enterprises is set to roll out a fleet of renewable biogas-powered delivery trucks in London depot as part of a drive to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs.

The investment follows a successful 12-month trial with low carbon vehicle technology advisor, the Centre of Excellence (Cenex), to evaluate and compare the emissions, fuel consumption, economics, reliability and operability of a 26 tonne Iveco Stralis biomethane gas vehicle with that of a diesel Stralis vehicle.

It concluded that the gas vehicle achieved emissions savings of about 50%, compared to the diesel vehicles. Cenex has predicted this saving could rise to 60% if Coca-Cola Enterprises installed a more efficient permanent filling station at its depot. The gas vehicle using biomethane was also found to reduce fuel costs by 12.8%.

Coca-Cola Enterprises logistics asset manager Darren O’Donnell, said: “Our primary reason for selecting compressed biomethane is that it has the lowest carbon intensity of all commercially available alternative fuels, allowing us to benefit from the best possible well-to-wheel saving. “

“Gaining independent trial support and results verification by Cenex has helped give us the confidence needed to make step changes in emissions performance through switching vehicle technology and fuels.”

As a result, Coca-Cola Enterprises has invested in a fleet of 14 gas powered Iveco Stralis vehicles and a gas station. Cenex has predicted that the new gas fleet will result in a saving of more than 300 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Cenex head of technical support and consultancy Chris Walsh, said: “The success of this trial shows gas vehicles provide similar if not better, drive performance and reliability levels than incumbent diesel technologies, while significantly reducing CO2 emissions.”