Germany has it's First Eco City

Hamburg's harbour was once upon a time, very busy with shipbuilding. An old factory that used to manufacture combs, now is being transformed into an eco development. The industrial complex, will consist of 10 structures when it is completed, which will combine the new with the old architecture, restoring the historic buildings.

The first tenant is a manufacture of printing presses called Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. They will have an interactive showroom, displaying all the advances in environmental printing.

There are 2 large wind turbines, located at the top of the high-rise towers, that will generate more than 10% of the eco-city's power. Some of the other "eco green" initiatives will include solar water-heating to offset lighting and natural gas.

Some eco-friendly and non-toxic materials were used for construction from the previous historic buildings. These new buildings now have green roofs and green beltways which reduce the storm water runoff.

The architectural company that built this eco-city is TecArchitecture, a Swiss & American company that specializes in sustainable hi-tech designs, they teamed up with ARUP engineering for this state-of-the-art project.

It has been designed to achieve certification from three of the global green building rating systems. The North American LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM (Environmental Assessment Method for Buildings around the World) and GSBC (German Sustainable Building Council).

The 2nd phase of this project will include a high-rise office building, hotel, restaurant, and retail spaces are planned, with a completion date of mid 2010.

Some of the other eco cities that are in the works around the world are Abu Dhabi's plan for a zero emissions Mascar City, Ikoma City in Japan, Tianjin in China, as well as projects that are underway in Jordan and London.