In MiLoft Apartments we noted the revolutionary design of the architectural firm RMJM that uses body heat as a form of utility.

The Zuidkas, commissioned by the Government Buildings Agency in the Netherlands is another major step in the direction of self-sustaining design.

This high-rise building is centered around a rooftop based eco-system designed to sustain its homes, shops, restaurants, school, and offices. By locating the homes and businesses strategically to use energy at the optimum times, and closing off the building with a glass shell to eliminate energy loss while capturing the suns radiant energy, Paul de Ruiter creates a self-cycling energy dependent building.

Also part of the loop is waste from the greenhouse and toilet water are collected for the on-site co-fermentation plant which is then converted into bio-gas to head tap water used by the building’s inhabitants. Read post in Inhabitat.