Sustainability
The Shanghai Tower incorporates numerous green architecture elements; its owners received certifications from the China Green Building Committee and the U.S. Green Building Council for the building's sustainable design.In 2013, a Gensler spokesman described the tower as "the greenest super high-rise building on earth at this point in time".
The design of the tower's glass facade, which completes a 120° twist as it rises, is intended to reduce wind loads on the building by 24%.This reduced the amount of construction materials needed; the Shanghai Tower used 25% less structural steel than a conventional design of a similar height. As a result, the building's constructors saved an estimated US$58 million in material costs. Construction practices were also optimised for sustainability. Though the majority of the tower's energy will be provided by conventional power systems, vertical-axis wind turbines located near the top of the tower are capable of generating up to 350,000 kWh of supplementary electricity per year. The double-layered insulating glass façade was designed to reduce the need for indoor air conditioning, and is composed of an advanced reinforced glass with a high tolerance for shifts in temperature. In addition, the building's heating and cooling systems use geothermal energy sources.