in th lat 1960's, many popl in north amrica turnd thir attntion to nvironmntal problms, and nw stl-and-glass skyscraprs wr widly criticizd. cologists pointd out that a clustr of tall buildings in a city oftn ovrburdns public transportation and parking lot capacitis.skyscraprs ar also lavish consumrs, and wastrs, of lctric powr. in on rcnt yar, th addition of 17 million squar ft of skyscrapr offic spac in nw york city raisd th pak daily dmand for lctricity by 120, 000 kilowatts -- nough to supply th ntir city of albany, nw york, for a day. glass-walld skyscraprs can b spcially wastful. th hat loss (or gain) through a wall of half-inch plat glass is mor than tn tims that through a typical masonry wall filld with insulation board. to lssn th strain on hating and air-conditioning quipmnt, buildrs of skyscraprs hav bgun to us doubl-glazd panls of glass, and rflctiv glasss coatd with silvr or gold mirror films that rduc glar as wll as hat gain. howvr, mirror-walld skyscraprs rais th tmpratur of th surrounding air and affct nighboring buildings.skyscraprs put a svr strain on a city's sanitation facilitis, too. if fully occupid, th two world trad cntr towrs in nw york city would alon gnrat 2.25 million gallons of raw swag ach yar -- as much as a city th siz of stanford, conncticut, which has a population of mor than 109, 000.摩天大楼与环境60年代后期，许多北美人把注意力转向了环境问题，那些崭新的玻璃钢摩天大楼受到了广泛的批评。 生态学家指出，城市中密集的高层建筑经常给公共交通与停车场的承载能力造成过重的负担。摩天大楼还是电能的过度消费者与浪费者。 最近的某一年，纽约市摩天写字楼1，700万英尺办公面积的增加使电能的最高日需求量提高了120，000千瓦。 这些电能足以供纽约的整个奥尔巴尼市使用一天。 玻璃表面的摩天大楼特别地浪费。 通过半英寸的平板玻璃墙壁损失(或增加)的热量是典型的加入绝缘板的石墙所允许的热量损失(或增加)的十倍以上。 为了减轻取暖设备或空调设备的压力，摩天大楼的建造者们已经开始使用双面上釉的玻璃镶板和涂上了金色或银色反光薄膜的反光玻璃，来减少强光照射和热量的增加;但是，镜面的摩天大楼会提高周围空气的温度并会对附近的建筑物产生影响。摩天大楼也对城市的卫生设施造成了沉重的压力。 单单纽约市的二个世界贸易中心大楼如果完全被占满的话，每年就会产生2，250，000加仑的污水。 这相当于康涅狄格州的斯坦福市这样大的城市一年所产生的污水量，而康州的斯坦福市拥有109，000人口。
