The Ark Hotel was built on Dongting lake, in the Hunan Province in just 15 days by Broad Group, a Chinese construction company which specialises in sustainable architecture. The 30-story hotel built in 15 days is sturdy enough to stand up to a magnitude-9.0 earthquake. The hotel is also reportedly energy-efficient and more solid all the way around than one might surmise. But the most interesting fact of all remains: It is a 30-story building that was built in 15 days. The builders took just 46 hours to finish the main structural components and another 90 hours to finish the building enclosure. All of the structure is soundproofed and with 6-inch thick glass curtain wall insulation and four-paned windows with built-in shades. There is also a heat recovery system and three-stage filtration air conditioning process that purifies indoor air to be 20 times purer than the air outside. The building even has air quality monitoring in every room which, given the pollution problem in China, seems to be an important selling point there. Features of hotel and building: • Level 9 earthquake resistance, scale model will be tested by national authorized institution. • BROAD unique technologies “diagonal bracing, light weight, factory-made” ensure the highest earthquake resistance level with minimum materials. • Trapezoidal construction structure corresponds the law of mechanics, which can withstand earthquake and storm. • Sky gardens locate on floor 71, 121, 156, 176 and 191(12,000m2 in total), also function as the helipads, which are able to evacuate tens of thousand people during fire emergency, provide extra fire protection than conventional skyscrapers. • 150mm exterior insulated walls, triple-paned windows, exterior solar shading, interior window insulation and heat recovery fresh air, 80% more energy efficient than conventional buildings. • Adopting “distributed energy system”, turbines provide power independently, exhaust from turbines is the source for cooling, heating and sanitary hot water. 50% more energy efficient than the power grid. • Indoor HVAC is controlled by occupancy sensor, fan speed will be automatically adjusted to the lowest load when people left. • Elevator generates electricity when ascending unload and descending full load, also choose the floor outside the elevator, and other electricity saving methods can save 75% more electricity than conventional elevator. • LED lamp, 90% more energy efficient than incandescent lamp and 50% moreenergy efficient than fluorescent lamp. • Separated drainage system, rain water is used for plant irrigation, bathing water will be directly drained after settled, bathroom sewage and kitchen waste go to biogas tank, biogas is used as fuel for air conditioning, and solid wastes become organic fertilizers. • Annual energy conservation 60,000 ton oil equivalent • Saving 600,000 ton construction materials • Saving 1.4 sq. kilometers land (volume ratio 50) • On-site construction waste is less than 1% of the total weight • Zero raise dust on-site • Zero water consumption on-site • Recycle processes of living garbage from the building • All steel structure, reuse after abandoned. Source: Ananta-Tec, ***
