Authorities in Shanghai announced that the Shanghai Tower, in the Lujiazui finance area of Pudong New District received a green architecture certificate from the US Green Building Council, an organization known for its green building rating systems with headquarters in the city of Washington, US, on Nov 27, for its sustainable design, Pudong Times has reported.

Construction work on the 632-meter-tall building with 132 stories and a total floor area of 578,000 square meters, began in 2008. It is currently China's tallest building and the world's second tallest, surpassed by the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa Tower, in Dubai.

Its designers say the building incorporates many green architecture elements, for instance, the glass façade, with a 120-degree twist as it rises to reduce the wind loads on the building by 24 percent and cut cost by 350 million ($54.7 million) yuan. And the wind turbines near the top can generate up to 1.19 million kWh of supplementary electric power each year, while the rainwater collector up on top can recycle 20,000 cubic meters of rainwater every year. The office areas also use smart lighting technology, which automatically adjusts to available daylight to reduce energy consumption.

In addition to the US verification, the building has green architecture certification from China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development as of September 2012.

Local authorities said that construction work on the tower has been completed and it is now getting ready for operation.