Tag Archives: Green Buildings

Green Roofs in MENA – Prospects and Challenges

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Green roofs are emerging technologies that can provide a wide range of benefits to communities interested in enhancement and protection of their environment. The major benefits of green roofs are reducing energy use as well as air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing stormwater management and water quality, decreasing heat island effect by regulating temperature for the roof and the surrounding areas and providing aesthetic value and habitats for many species. Increased energy consumption in the region is due largely to population growth, with related increases in demand for liquid fuels and electricity for domestic use and devices, heating, cooling, … Continue reading →

نظم تقييم المباني الخضراء في الشرق الأوسط

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الأبنية الخضراء لا تساهم فقط في بيئة أفضل وطرق بناء مستدامه، ولكنها تجلب ايضا الكثير من المنافع والفوائد لمالكي المباني ومستخدميها. فتكلفة الانشاء أقل، وتكلفة التشغيل أقل، وسبل الراحه أكثر، والبيئة الداخلية أكثر صحة، والعمر الأفتراضي أطول وتكاليف الصيانة أقل في المبنى الأخضر. توجد العديد من النظم لتقدير وتقييم المباني الخضراء حول العالم، مثل LEED  و BREEAM . فالاستدامة الان تعد هامة جدا في منطقة الشرق الأوسط ودول مثل قطر والامارات لديهم انظمتهم الخاصة بهم لتقييم المباني لتشمل السمات الاجتماعية والبيئية والاقتصادية والثقافية في العمارة الحديثة نظام تقييم الاستدامة الشامل (قطر) ان نظام تقييم الاستدامة الشامل (GSAS) المعروف رسميا باسم … Continue reading →

Qatar’s Fight Against Climate Change

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Qatar’s environmental records have always been in news, of course for the negative ones, but it has always strived to work towards reduction of GHGs emissions. Qatar is already doing plenty to help poor countries with financing and it seems unfair to focus on per capita emissions for a country with estimated population of 2.6 million making it the 143th most populous country on earth. (For climate talks, that is heresy). This may sound harsh, especially since Qatar’s contribution to global warming is tiny compared with the United States, China or India. In recent years, Qatar is making itself a … Continue reading →

What You Need to Know About The Top Green Building Trends

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With green building movement sweeping across the world, innovative technologies are being developed to keep pace with increasing shift towards sustainability. In this article, we will provide an overview of the top green building trends from across the world. Integration of biodegradable, recycled, recyclable and renewable building materials in the construction of buildings is attracting great attention worldwide. Natural paints, recycled steel, cellular concrete, clay bricks, wood, bamboo etc. are getting huge popularity in construction of green buildings. Another interesting innovation is zero-energy building which utilizes solar cells/panels, wind micro-turbines, fuel cells and biofuels, among others, to meet electricity and … Continue reading →

Dubai’s Journey Towards a Sustainable City

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Only a decade ago, Dubai was considered one of the world’s worst polluters. The ecological footprint of this single city was huge, however, by 2050 it could be a sustainable city with the smallest ecological footprint of any city in the world. Why Sustainability Matters Over the last couple of decades, the need for a renewed focus on our global commitment has become obvious. We have started to see an unusually high rate of extreme weather events across the globe, events which many scientists are attributing to global warming. Time is running out to take decisive action on climate change. … Continue reading →

Green Building Trends in the Middle East

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The Middle East region faces a unique set of environmental and socio-economic challenges in the form of water scarcity, harsh climatic conditions, ecological degradation and abundance of fossil fuels. Commercial and residential buildings in the Middle East consume more energy than those in other parts of the world, mainly on account of extremely hot weather, rampant use of glass exteriors and heavy reliance on air-conditioning. The Middle East building industry, in recent years, is actively trying to make widespread use of eco-friendly architecture, traditional building methods and sustainable construction practices. Some of the other drivers for the progress of green buildings sector … Continue reading →

خواص الأبنية الخضراء

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المبني الأخضر هو المبنى الذي يراعي الاعتبارات البيئية في كل مرحلة من مراحل البناء، وهي التصميم، التنفيذ، التشغيل والصيانة، والاعتبارات الرئيسية التي تراعى هي تصميم الفراغات وكفاءة الطاقة والمياه، وكفاءة استخدام الموارد، وجودة البيئة الداخلية للمبنى، وأثر المبنى ككل على البيئة.الفرق الرئيسي بين المباني الخضراء والمباني التقليدية هو مفهوم التكامل، حيث يقوم فريق متعدد التخصصات من المتخصصين في البناء بالعمل معا منذ مرحلة ما قبل التصميم الي مرحلة ما بعد السكن لتحسين خواص الاستدامة البيئية للمبنى وتحسين الأداء والتوفير في التكاليف. المباني الخضراء توفر العديد من المزايا للعديد من الجهات المعنية بصناعة البناء، بما في ذلك سكان المباني والمجتمع ككل.المباني … Continue reading →

Trends in Sustainable Housing

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There has been large-scale proliferation in construction of buildings worldwide due to population growth, economic development, urbanization and migration. According to UN Habitat, there has been a migration of the world’s population from rural areas to cities or smaller urban areas. In fact, this trend is expected to continue and cities within the developed as well as developing nations are expected to grow in terms of population. As a result all forms of construction activities are expected to become more intense than ever in the years to come. Usually the development of urban areas suffers from weak process of planning … Continue reading →

Green Buildings Certification in MENA – Issues and Challenges

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Green building rating systems are increasingly gaining attention in the building industry in the MENA region. During the last 15 years, there has been a regional trend in developing and applying green building ratings systems. In several countries such systems have been developed in an attempt to follow the international green movement. For example, the Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS) was founded in UAE in 2007, the Green Pyramid (GPRS) and ARZ Building Rating System in Egypt and Lebanon respectively were founded in 2008, the Edama was proposed in Jordan in 2009 and Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) was founded in 2010.  … Continue reading →

Green Building Sector in the Middle East: Sustainability Perspectives

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Green buildings are no longer a marginal concept but are becoming the standard for sustainable building construction and modernization in the Middle East. Forward thinking organizations can realize the benefits of being environmentally aware of the impact of each and every action undertaken in the present world of development. It is no longer about the financial bottom line and whether we are eco-friendly, it is a fundamental component of sustainability. Institutes and organizations in the Middle East can embrace green building initiatives as a mandate, while educational institutes can embrace it as a good citizen initiative developing the minds of … Continue reading →

Green Building Sector in the UAE: Perspectives

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The focus on sustainability is one of the biggest trends in the GCC’s building sector. This is underpinned by Dubai being ranked third in the list of global cities with the highest number of green certified buildings in the ‘Sustainability and Wellness in Dubai’ report by Core Savills with over 550 projects under LEED certification and the implementation of the Estidama framework in Abu Dhabi. Paving the Way In the UAE, the directives by the Federal and Local Government entities to establish a sustainable economy that advocates demand side-energy management, and water & energy use efficiency has encouraged real estate … Continue reading →