Santos, Grace J.

m V
 

m 

 
 
  
m Voncept by 


m Mesigned by architect d   


 and engineering firm
 
   (now
part of Sinclair Knight Merz)
m M 
managed the project
m 
 
  and 


  did the construction
m  designed and built the biomes
m 
 V   led the
masterplan and landscape design
m he project took 2½ years to
construct and opened to the public
on  
 !!.
m im Smit wanted to create a building
that would be a world-class centre for
education and scientific research into
environmental issues.
m he Eden Project mission is: o
promote the understanding and
responsible management of the vital
relationship between plants, people
and resources, leading to a
sustainable future for all.
m Specifically, Eden's creators want to
expose visitors to the issue of
  
 
 -- using
natural resources conscientiously so
they will continue to be available for
human use in the future.
m a giant, multi-domed
greenhouse, containing
plants from around the
globe
m he structure comprises
three 
 , areas
designed to represent
three distinct climates
found around the world.
m Serves as 
  


m he biome panels are glazed with 

 (E E),
which is a hi-tech transparent foil that: is less than 1% of the weight of
equivalent glass.
ÿ lets through 98% of sunlight (glass lets through about 90%).
ÿ has non-stick properties (similar to eflon), which means that bird droppings run
off it easily
ÿ is tough
ÿ is not degraded by sunlight
ÿ suffers minimal deformation when it is windy, with its yield/strength ratio
remaining the same (glass can crack in windy conditions)
ÿ is recyclable.
m Each polygonal panel is like a club sandwich, with three or four layers
of E E heat-welded together.
m On a colder day, they can be pumped up with more air to provide
better insulation; on a hotter day, they can be partially deflated to
allow more cooling.
m heir overall thickness is about  

 , which gives better
insulation than normal double glazing.
m he embodied energy of the panels is also very low compared to
glass.
m he total Eden
structure uses 625
hexagons, 16
pentagons and
190 triangles.
m he edges of the
dome rest on a
sturdy  
 
, an
underground
concrete wall
around the
perimeter of the
structure.
m looding
ÿ he site was a former Vhina clay quarry
ÿ Engineers tackled this by devising a
drainage system that filters all the water
coming onto the site through
  "his is
collected in a vast 
# $under the
site and reused in the biomes.
ÿ he greenhouse ceilings also collect
rainwater, sending it to the sprinklers that
keep the air saturated.
m  mproving soil condition
m he  
 %
, which is the largest greenhouse
in the world, covers 1.56 hectares (3.9 acres) and
measures 55 metres (180 ft) high, 100 metres (328 ft)
wide and 200 metres (656 ft) long.  t is used for

  , such as fruiting banana trees, coffee,
rubber and giant bamboo, and is kept at a tropical
temperature and moisture level.
m he 


%
 covers 0.654 hectares (1.6
acres) and measures 35 metres (115 ft) high,
65 metres (213 ft) wide and 135 metres (443 ft) long.  t
houses familiar 






 such
as olives and grape vines and various sculptures.
m he 

%
(which is not covered) represents
the 


  of the world with plants such
as tea, lavender, hops, hemp and sunflowers.
m . he biomes are like
lean-to greenhouses,
with a back wall
(natural rock) that
acts as a heat sink,

   


     
 .
m Overhead water
sprays simulate
rainstorms in certain
areas: a waterfall in
the Humid ropics
Biome helps to
maintain high
humidity.
m xoof runoff is filtered through limestone to remove
any copper runoff
m xeducing VO2 emissions by reducing fuel needs
m Using photovoltaic panels on the roof of he Vore to
provide electricity
m  nsulating the building well, including insulating the
walls Warmcel, made from 100 per cent recycled
newspapers
m Warming the air via ground tubes before it enters the
building
m A lobby was installed to reduce heat loss from the
building
m Buying into green tariff electricity for extra needs
m Ground tubes use heat exchange
technology to exchange heat with the
earth rather than with the ambient air.
Ground source heat exchange systems
use a series of buried, looped,
refrigerant-bearing copper tubes to
harvest heat from the earth in the cold
season, heating living space, and sink
heat into the earth in the warm season,
cooling living space.
m he massive amounts of water required to
create the humid conditions of the ropical
Biome, and to serve the toilet facilities, are
all sanitized rain water that would otherwise
collect at the bottom of the quarry.
m he only mains water used is for hand
washing and for cooking.
m he complex also uses Green ariff
Electricity ³ the energy comes from one of
the many wind turbines in Vornwall, which
were among the first in Europe.
m he Eden Project can be considered a holistically
sustainable environment, which doesn·t only provides
a living space for the people and other species
existing in the ecosystem but also cultivates and
preserves flora and fauna
m  t creates global awareness, through its vision and
pursuits
m  s one of the early introductions to strategies viable to
sustainable developments
m Vonsidering the fact that it is income generating, it
can help in improving the economy and tourism of
the country as well as reducing carbon emissions in
the region