In response to an article here, which discusses the completion of the Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi, two things come to mind:
1. Whoa thats really beautiful and they did that with LED's! Even Cooler!
2. That's a lot of LED's, I bet they were expensive. What else does it do? (nothing-)... huh, kind of a waste.
This hotel is ridiculous and I think it really bastardizes "Green" technology. So I suppose if this were my hotel and I had this absurd facade that I wanted to illuminate at night, then yes LED's are better than incandescent bulbs. However placing this extraordinary display on a hotel that is literally built around the burning of hydrocarbons (It is surrounded by a formula racing track-) is pretty disgusting.
You know what would be really great? Instead of blowing millions of dollars on this silly facade just 'cause you can, then surrounding it in pavement (cement being one of the most energy-saturated materials available), consider installing low-flow faucets. Maybe using ultra efficient washing machines to launder linens, saving thousands of gallons of water, would be a worthwhile thought for a city that lies in an extremely arid climate-
As the article points out, this application of technology is yet another example of excess without reason. Worse, if this were to become a trend with a technology such as LED's, it risks establishing a high-end market niche for industry as well as cultural connotations of luxury. Transforming a technology that may one day replace incandescent and florescent bulbs as commonplace to a gaudy signifier of the ignorant 21st century bourgeoisie.
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