Think big

Orlando Crowcroft , August 18th, 2010

THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Despite the arid climate, engineers and architects have been working on innovative ways to make our outside environment contribute to sustainability.

SAUDI ARABIA
A joint initiative between engineering firm Buro Happold and Canadian architects Moriyama and Teshima saw the revitalisation of Riyadh’s Wadi Hanifah, which served as both a source of drinking water and a meeting place for families. The project was commissioned by Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA).

Over-reliance on the Wadi in recent years has seen its underground water reserves fall so low that much of Riyadh’s water has to be pumped from desalination plants 350km away on the Saudi Arabian coast. The rapid expansion of the capital has turned the once normally dry Wadi into a permanent flowing river in its lower reaches, as sewage from the city and rising groundwater have caused pollution.

Following the restoration works there has been a major revitalisation in land values surrounding the Wadi, and the area has resumed its role as a much visited local destination in a city severely lacking green recreational space.

UAE, OMAN, QATAR
Engineering firm Waagner Biro has already found praise in the pages of Middle East Architect for the artificial wetlands incorporated into its designs for a Dubai labour camp.

Now the firm is expanding its TerraSave concept into Oman and Qatar, creating a excellent model for highly sustainable developments in the desert.

Waagner Biro’s labour camp in Dubai, built in 2007, uses black water and human effluent to create engineered wetlands, which have become a habitat for birds.

In Qatar, Waagner Biro plans to integrate a heat pump system to cool the labour camp in cooperation with the reed bed in nearby engineered wetlands, by installing cooling pipes at the bottom of the reed bed. The advantage of this system for architects is that it reduces the need for outdoor units on the buildings.

SKIN DEEP
Glass façades may appear to be public enemy number one in the Middle East, but there are ways to achieve sustainable substance without sacrificing style

WEIHAI, CHINA
Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology is going down a storm in China, but there is not a single development in the Gulf that is currently using the technology. The advantage for architects is that BIPV panels allow for huge glass towers and sustainability, allowing for a reduction of as much as 13% with only a third of the façade covered.

Instead of being added to a building, BIPV panels are incorporated into the façade, making the entire building capable of generating power. An added benefit of BIPV is that if they are on vertical walls they do not get dusty, and can be cleaned during general building maintenance.

Chinese company Singyes Solar, which has been in the region since 2006 and worked on the Weihai building, is hoping to pilot two projects later this year.

ABU DHABI, UAE
High-tech facades are just one way of reducing residual heat and glare, and a recent development in Abu Dhabi has demonstrated that they can have both aesthetic and environmental worth.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) HQ, designed by Aedas, uses a translucent fabric mesh mashrabiya, which moves with the sun to block out glare and reduce heat gain on two 25-storey towers. Furthermore, Abdo Aoun, projects manager at Somfy, emphasises that high-tech facades are cost effective.

“We have studies that show shading can reduce cooling costs by between 10 and 15% in a room. Imagine the cost saving in a hotel of 300 to 350 rooms over one year? It’s a lot of money,” he said.

BIG PICTURE THINKING

It’s not only add-ons that help build greener cities, sustainability needs to be part of design concepts from the outset

ABU DHABI, UAE
Any discussion of sustainability in the Middle East would be incomplete without mentioning Masdar.

Designed by British architectural firm Foster + Partners, the aim is that Masdar City will rely entirely on solar power and renewable energy sources.

The government of Abu Dhabi has pledged an investment of US$22 billion to ensure Masdar’s status as an international hub for renewable energy, the centrepiece of which is the Masdar Institute, a graduate-level university for renewable energy research that opened last September.

At the end of July, Foster + Partners broke the media drought on Masdar by announcing that its personal review of the scheme was nearing completion, the firm also confirmed that its review would form part of a major master plan review of the entire project.

Lord Norman Foster said thatMasdar was an integrated urban research project of unprecedented scale and ambition, which: “shows a commitment to infrastructure at the highest political level.” And Lord Foster is right. Despite the rumours of scale-backs at Masdar, the development is due to set a new bar for sustainable cities - in the Middle East, no less.

CHONGQING, CHINA
Woods Bagot and Buro Happold are working together on a scheme in China that will look at sustainable developments on a large scale, rather than at individual initiatives contained within them. The Zero Emissions Design (ZERO-E) initiative seeks to incorporate a range of architectural and engineering features to create truly sustainable developments in China, and elsewhere in the world.

“The ZERO-E pilot project confirms that, using the expertise and tools available to us today, far greater advances in building performance – those that comprise zero emissions design – are currently within the industry’s capabilities. This joint initiative is not only an entirely new model for sustainable design, it is also a call to action and an invitation to our development and construction partners to join us as we lead the way to a truly sustainable future,” Ross Donaldson, CEO of Woods Bagot, said.

The ZERO-E holistic resource system integrates photo-voltaics, solar thermal panels, absorption chillers, a biogas fuel cell and an anaerobic waste digester into a closed-loop system that greatly improves the building’s operational performance.

INSIDE OUT

Building green is not only about exteriors, what goes on inside is just as important

DUBAI, UAE
Design firm Summertown won a LEED Gold certification for its headquarters in Jafza at the end of last year, becoming the first interiors company to win the accolade, and proving that sustainability can be more than skin deep.

The office uses 35% less energy, up to 50% less water and diverts over 90% of its waste from the landfill compared to a conventional building. Now the firm is trying to encourage other companies in the Middle East to look at sustainability, claiming that sustainability is analogous to a company’s profitability and provides a visible return on investment within just three to eight years.

“These workshops characterise a process that actively engages prominent decision makers and fundamentally creates a broader understanding of the cost savings and design advantages that come with creating premises such as our showroom,” said Marcos Bish, managing director.