An end to glass buildings?

According to the Sunday Times, The Shard could be the last of its kind. The great monuments of glass and steel are an endangered species, to be hunted into architectural history by the green movement. Building regulations require buildings to be 25 percent more efficient - and that says the Sunday Times is difficult with glass. They need air conditioned in summer to combat the greenhouse effect and extra heated in winter.

The tower, designed by Renzo Piano, is made up from 11,200 panes of glass, each shaped differently and slotted together in nine sections of a facade that is supposed to look like they are propping each other up. Apparently. I'll tell you when I've visited (press trip scheduled for June). It uses enough glass to cover eight football pitches and complies with the old buildings regs.