Solar skyscrapers rising
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MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: If you run on solar power you need to be able to grab the rays of the sun. In Dubai they want to construct a solar tower that rotates. Here’s Janet Babin from the Marketplace Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio.
JANET BABIN: It already has blueprints to build the world’s tallest twisting tower.
Now Dubai can check off another architectural first: An entire building that will use solar power to rotate itself 360 degrees every seven days.
While the spin factor is new, Mike Nicklaus with Innovative Design says solar skyscrapers are not. His firm breaks ground in March on a 20-story solar tower in North Carolina.
Nicklaus says solar buildings are becoming more popular because they can reduce energy costs.
MIKE NICKLAUS: The expertise is out there that can easily reduce the consumption on these high rise buildings, 50-60-70-percent.
The Dubai building is scheduled to open in 2009.
I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.
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