Tall buildings - the way of the future?

Covering the entire life cycle of a tall building from its design and construction to its finance and operations, the 4th Annual Tall Buildings conference aims to expound on the commercial aspects of tall buildings whilst focusing on selected case studies featuring the latest in design and engineering these mega-structures of the future.

Ross Donaldson, Woods Bagot joint group managing director, spoke at the conference. After graduating from the University of Western Australia with first class honours in 1974, Donaldson attended The Bartlett University College, London where he gained a Master of Science in Social Theory and Planning.

Tall buildings have always been symbolic of a city's economic and financial strength. Despite the economic woes that have plagued the world recently, tall building construction has proceeded at an unprecedented pace.

According to the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 2010 will see over 100 buildings 200m or taller completed, with over half of these in the Asia Pacific and 30 per cent in China alone.

However, with the construction of so many tall buildings, there has been an increased scrutiny on their commercial and financial viability, not to mention the sustainability aspect in their construction.

It has become increasingly important for architects, engineers and developers to create thriving communities within the tall building environment that incorporates the best in technological advances, engineering skill and commercial know-how in order to ensure that these massive skyscrapers are sustainable both to the environment and to the people who live in them.

In his presentation at the 4th Annual China Tall Buildings Conference, Donaldson examined the crucial need for Zero carbon emission developments in tall buildings.

He spoke about Zero Emissions Design (ZERO-E) and how the next generation of building information modelling (BIM) and parametrics integration is being applied to this leading research project in partnership with Buro Happold.

He also discussed the futuristic emissions modelling technology that has been developed for the ZERO-E project, with work by David Mans from the New York studio.