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Our latest Global Design Consultancy: The Sustainable Floating Island (SFI Brand) in the Maldives. GLOBAL WARMING : THE SUSTAINABLE FLOATING ISLAND SETS GOOD EXAMPLE IN THE MALDIVES. The tiny island nation of the Maldives is under serious threat from rising sea levels caused by climate change. No part of the 1200 islands which make up the Maldives is more than six feet above sea level, so as sea-levels rise (as they will if rampant climate change is not stopped), the entire nation will be under water. Because of this, the Maldives government is pulling out all the stops in the fight against climate change. Not only has the entire country gone carbon neutral, educated all of their children in environmental science and furiously built retaining walls around every island, but the government is buying up land in nearby nations as a place to retreat to when the Maldives disappears.Now it appears that the intrepid Maldivians have come up with a new strategy to fight the rising tide: creating Floating Islands! Based on the above, Italian Designer Michele Puzzolante (MPD Designs) has come up with a new concept named the Sustainable Floating Island (SFI Brand) that is totally self-sufficient energy generator and use solar energy as sole source of power. Moreover, the entire resort is constructed on floating pontoons to resolve the problem of sea rising. Michele Puzzolante has received full support from the Government of the Maldives and a first development will happen in a few months. SFI consists of:
FIVE STARS HOTEL:
1 Hall Event 600 m24 Conference Rooms 70 m2 1 Restaurant 260 m2 1 Bar lounge 260 m2 1 VIP lounge 160 m2 1 Wellness Center Spa 410 m2 1 Boutique Area 150 m2 36 Bedrooms 26 m2 12 Junior Suites 50 m2 4 Suites 70 m2 2 Presidential Penthouses 160 m2.
FIVE STARS RESORT:
1 Marina for 14 Yachts 1 Marina for 10 Solar Floating Resorts Units 1 Under water Restaurant 185 m2 1 Underwater Bar Lounge Disco 240 m2 3 Mini Airports/Heliports 4 Receptions 110 m24 Back Offices 80 m2 2 Storages Maintenance 130 m2 17 Staff Berthing 30 m2 3 Officers Berthing 30 m2 1 Staff Cafeteria 160 m2 1 Control Tower - Security 170 m2. 20 Private Villas 100 m2. There is more electrical energy created by the sun in one hour than the entire world use in one year. The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.
SOLAR ENERGY ADVANTAGES:
1. SAVES YOU MONEY o After the initial investment has been recovered, the energy from the sun is practically FREE. o Solar energy does not require any fuel. o It's not affected by the supply and demand of fuel and is therefore not subjected to the ever-increasing price of gasoline. o The savings are immediate and for many years to come. o The use of solar energy indirectly reduces health costs.
2. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY o Solar Energy is clean, renewable (unlike gas, oil and coal) and sustainable, helping to protect our environment. o It does not pollute our air by releasing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide or mercury into the atmosphere like many traditional forms of electrical generations does. o Therefore Solar Energy does not contribute to global warming, acid rain or smog. o It actively contributes to the decrease of harmful greenhouse gas emissions. o It's generated where it is needed. o By not using any fuel, Solar Energy does not contribute to the cost and problems of the recovery and transportation of fuel or the storage of radioactive waste.
3. INDEPENDENT/ SEMI-INDEPENDENT o Solar Energy can be utilized to offset utility-supplied energy consumption. It does not only reduce your electricity bill, but will also continue to supply your home/ business with electricity in the event of a power outage. o A Solar Energy system can operate entirely independent, not requiring a connection to a power or gas grid at all. Systems can therefore be installed in remote locations (like islands), making it more practical and cost-effective than the supply of utility electricity to a new site. o The use of Solar Energy reduces our dependence on foreign and/or centralized sources of energy, influenced by natural disasters or international events and so contributes to a sustainable future.
4. LOW/ NO MAINTENANCE o Solar Energy systems are virtually maintenance free and will last for decades. o Once installed, there are no recurring costs. o They operate silently, have no moving parts, do not release offensive smells and do not require you to add any fuel. o More solar panels can easily be added in the future when your need grow.
Convinced that solar energy is the solution to environmental issues, Michele Puzzolante, Italian Industrial Designer, decided to get involved in sustainable development by inventing a unique building integrated photovoltaic concept totally self-sufficient energy generator, non-polluting and in unison with its natural surroundings.
Michele Puzzolante's invention is based on a new structural element that is composed of a fifteen millimeter outside skin and a fifteen millimeter inside skin in balsa reinforced fiberglass. Thin films photovoltaic are integrated into the two skins to absorb sunlight energy from the outside and artificial lighting energy from the inside. Between the two skins there is a thirty centimeter vacuum insulation to protect the habitation from outside heat as well as reducing the consummation of air conditioning to the minimum.
After a thorough research and programming step Michele Puzzolante designed the Sustainable Floating Island (SFI Brand), a building integrated photovoltaic concept that could be used for terrestrial as well as floating applications. With SFI we enter a new era of advanced construction techniques, based on industrial design rather than traditional architecture. SFI uses advanced materials, systems and techniques that have been applied successfully in the car and naval industries. SFI has been designed with the industrial viewpoint of fabricating repetitive standard elements, using molding technology. This way, the master molds can reproduce hundreds of pieces cutting down considerably the fabrication costs, like in the car industry. Therefore, the main originality of SFI resides in its modular system that permits to construct all the parts in a factory, transport them by containers on site by ground, air or sea and to assemble the whole in a few weeks, like a "Lego".
Thin films photovoltaic work under low light conditions as well as artificial light. The electrical current produced by the thin films photovoltaic is converted from direct current (DC) into alternative current (AC), almost twenty four hours the day, providing enough energy to the entire electrical systems of the SFI. The excess of electrical current is then stored into Lithium-Ion Batteries. Thin films photovoltaic have a dye that absorbs light and transforms it into electricity. It is a solar cell very cheap compare to the silicon cell. The dye is based on a chlorophyll molecule, the chemical that plants use to absorb sunlight. That's science imitating nature! It's called artificial photosynthesis.
A molecule of chlorophyll absorbs light and generates electrical charges and then those charges are conducted to produce an electrical current. Thin films photovoltaic are made of low cost materials and do not need elaborated apparatus to manufacture. They can be engineered into flexible sheets that are mechanically robust. They absorb light from sunlight, low light conditions, cloudy skies, non-direct sunlight and artificial indoor lighting.
Thus, we can recycle the energy wasted in the electrical indoor lighting process!
And use it back in the electrical system again!
The niche market selected for the SFI was the Luxury Island Resort development and five stars front beach hotel upgrade to seven stars level. With an estimated 30,000 five stars front beach hotels and island resorts around the world, the Solar Floating Island has good chances to become a reality.
Moreover, setting the good example by using renewable and clean energy in any type of industry is today a must. Contact:
MPD DESIGNS PTE LTD8 Eu Tong Sen StreetSuite 18-85The CentralSingapore 059818UEN: 201420178E MICHELE PUZZOLANTE, DIRECTOR
Cel: +65 9014 9820 Singapore)Cel: +62 858 1013 5254 (Jakarta)Email: michele@mpd-designs.comSkype: mpd.designswww.mpd-designs.com
