Located in Las Tablas, Madrid, Spain, the headquarters of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.(BBVA), La Vela “The Sail”, is 93 m (~305 ft) high and has 19 floors. It resides in a 114,000 m2 (~1,227,086 ft2) office and service building complex, which includes seven more three-floor buildings. It is also heated and cooled using geothermal energy.
The headquarters were built with the sustainability criteria necessary to be deemed LEED gold certified, which is the strictest sustainable construction standard. La Vela and the other buildings were built using low environmental impact materials and have remote energy consumption monitoring technologies.
There are multiple renewable energy systems being used throughout the complex. Along with solar and water collection/recycling systems, the buildings have also installed closed-loop geothermal systems. The installation of these systems curbs the complex’s energy consumption by 8.3% and carbon emissions by 7.6%.
https://www.bbva.com/en/la-vela-bbvas-new-architectural-landmark-in-madrid/
Kenya may not be the first country that comes to mind when thinking about geothermal energy, but it leads the world in geothermal electricity production per capita. Sitting atop the geologically active East African Rift System, Kenya has tapped into the Earth’s heat for power, agriculture, industry, and community development—transforming a once-overlooked resource into a cornerstone of its energy future.
Spanning more than 45 square miles, The Geysers in northern California is the largest geothermal power plant complex in the world. For over a century, its steam has powered innovation, clean energy, and communities across the region.
Before it became the world’s largest geothermal power-producing site, The Geysers was known as the “Gates to Hades,” drawing visitors with its healing waters, steam vents, and wild legends.
