Last weekend I went to the 33^rd MBC Architecture Expo, one of the largest architecture related exhibitions in Korea. It was being held at KINTEX, an exhibition hall near my house, and I could get there in no time. I saw numerous houses and experienced building technologies. But what my caught my attention the most were the green technology and gadgets used in architecture. 

           The first thing was the hanging plant wall, which enabled plants to grow on the walls of buildings. I thought that it was really unique that the wall could be built using simple plastic bottles. Moreover, the plant wall had an effect of cooling building temperatures through evaporation, and it also helped to solve air pollution in cities by emitting oxygen while absorbing carbon dioxide, as you well know. I thought that it would be even better if the wall was made up of recycled plastic bottles.

           Next, I visited a booth which introduced technologies that used sustainable energies gathered around the house to heat buildings. There were mainly two things: a solar panel, and a generator that used ground heat to boil water. I had seen solar panels many times before, but was glad to learn that they were getting cheaper while getting larger at the same time. This meant that more and more people could afford to use sustainable energy.

           On the other hand, I had never heard about the ground heat generator. It was interesting how it used a special kind of sustainable energy, ground heat, unlike other gadgets that get energy from the sun or wind. It was better than other gadgets because ground heat was available regardless of weather conditions. I thought that it could help the problems of solar power or wind energy, which can be generated only at certain times of day.

           Overall, it was a special experience in which I learned about architecture as well as eco-friendly technologies.