خواص الأبنية الخضراء

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

العمارة العربية الإسلامية والبيئة

منذ القدم، تفاعل الإنسان بتوافق مع البيئة الطبيعية المحيطة به ,فلقد استخدم مواهبه في إيجاد تقنيات لإستيفاء حاجاته سواء من الغذاء أوالمسكن، فكانت مبتكراته في الإنتاج طبيعية ونفذت بنفس المواد التي قدمتها البيئة له. من حيث المسكن ,يعَدُّ الطين من أقدم مواد البناء التي عرفها الإنسان منذ ما يقارب عشرة آلاف سنة,  فالطبيعة أوحت للإنسان إستخدام هذه المادة والتي بها بنى برج بابل في القرن السابع قبل الميلاد كأول ناطحة سحاب عرفها التاريخ ,وكذلك إنتشر البناء بالطين وبتناغم مع البيئة في حضارات بلاد الرافدين ومصر, والحضارة العربية والإسلامية وفي الهند والمكسيك وفي حضارات متنوعة في إفريقيا.   انبثقت الفكرة الأساسية … Continue reading

Eco-Friendly Additions You Can Make On Your House Before You Sell

If there’s one thing 2020 has taught us, it’s that life is unpredictable. One would think that with the global pandemic, the real estate industry, like many others, would come to a grinding stop. But, according to HomeLight’s Q2 2020 survey, it took a dip in the spring and as of June, it rose back to pre-pandemic conditions! As this is a seller’s market, now would be the perfect time to sell your home. However, if you want to get the most you can for your home, you may want to consider doing some eco-friendly renovations and upgrades. Here are … Continue reading

Green Building Rating Systems in the MENA Countries

Green buildings not only contribute towards a sustainable construction and environment but also bring lots of benefits and advantages to building owners and users. Lower development costs, lower operating costs, increased comforts, healthier indoor environment quality, and enhanced durability and less maintenance costs are hallmarks of a typical green building. A wide range of green building rating and assessment systems are used around the world, including LEED and BREEAM. Sustainability is now a top priority in MENA region and countries like Qatar and UAE have come up with their own green building rating system to incorporate socio-economic, environmental and cultural … Continue reading

Are Green Roofs a Viable Option for the Middle East?

Urban green roofs have long been promoted as an easy and effective strategy for beautifying the built environment and increasing investment opportunity. The building roof is very important because it has a direct impact on thermal comfort and energy conservation in and around buildings. Urban green roofs can help to address the lack of green space in many urban areas. Urban green roofs provides the city with open spaces that helps reduce urban heat island effect and provides the human population on the site with a connection to the outdoors. However, we must differentiate between two types of urban green … Continue reading

Sustainability In Tourism: How To Choose Energy-Efficient Hotel Lighting

With sustainability becoming today’s main concern, the tourism industry must learn to prioritize sustainable practices, including the thoughtful use of lighting solutions. Often overlooked, hotel lighting is a subtle source of unmanaged energy consumption and carbon emissions. As eco-consciousness increasingly influences travelers’ decision-making, balancing aesthetics, functionality, and consumption has never been more critical. This article explores the contribution power-saving lighting has to sustainability in the tourism sector. By carefully selecting lighting solutions, hotels can reduce their carbon footprint and enhance their overall sustainability profile. The article also highlights the multifaceted benefits of resource-efficient alternatives. You’ll find practical pointers for choosing … Continue reading

Progress of Green Building Sector in Qatar

There has been rapid progress in green building sector in Qatar with the emergence of many world-class sustainable constructions in recent years. With the fifth-highest number of LEED-registered and certified buildings outside the U.S., Qatar has valuable experience and inputs to offer on the system’s local relevancy and application. Various countries in the Middle East have been accredited with regards to the LEED system. Of these buildings, 65 per cent (802) are located in the UAE. Qatar is ranked second on the list, with 173 green buildings, followed by Saudi Arabia (145), Lebanon (25) and Egypt (22). Qatar’s Green Building Rating … Continue reading

Things You Should Know About Wood Wool Cement Board

Wood Wool Cement Board (WWCB) is a versatile building material made from wood wool and cement where each fiber is coated with a thin film of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) that, when cured, partly petrifies the wood. In that way the fiber will last indefinitely as long as the cement film is not damaged. Environmentally speaking, cement has a negative CO2 signature and therefore both the wood and cement, when decomposed, are harmless to nature and as a result all homogeneous Wood wood cement board products have green labels in Europe. It combines the advantages of both wood and concrete … Continue reading

Going Green to Save Money: The ROI of Green Homes

For many reasons, green homes are more and more popular, yet eco-friendliness can be a complex topic in the housing market. Of course, the reasons are simple enough: green homes have a smaller footprint through sustainable materials and energy efficiency, so are better for our damaged environment; going green lowers energy costs over time; and going green can increase a home’s market value, bringing Return on Investment to sellers. Yet achieving the ROI of an eco-friendly home can be complicated, because it depends on a number of factors, including location, the age of the home, and how soon the owner … Continue reading

نصائح لتحسين نوعية الهواء داخل المباني

يعتبر تلوث  الهواء الداخلي  واحد من أهم المخاطر البيئية على الصحة العامة في جميع أنحاء العالم ,نظرا لتزايد  عدد من الأمراض المرتبطة  بنوعية  الهواء  داخل  المبنى . وقد وجدت الدراسات أن تركيز الملوثات في الأماكن المغلقة الداخلية   أعلى بكثير مما هي عليه في البيئة الخارجية ، تتراوح  الزيادة  من  مرتين إلي خمس مرات ، وأحيانا مائة مرة أعلى من مستوي  الملوثات في الهواءالطلق. وبما  ان معظم الناس يقضون  80٪ إلى 90٪ من حياتهم في الأماكن المغلقة ، فان  نوعية الهواء الداخلي له اأثر جوهري على الصحة العامة. انخفاض جودة الهواء في الأماكن المغلقة يمكن أن يؤثرعلى نوعية الحيا ة  لشاغل … Continue reading

Trends in Sustainable Housing

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

Build Your Tiny Home From Recycled Materials

People are turning to tiny living in order to save money. Living simply is about getting back to the earth, leaving a smaller footprint on the planet, and also, for many people, about being frugal. Why create a mountain of debt when you can build a home from recycled materials that can be found for free? Building your tiny home from recycled materials is not as difficult as you may think. In fact, when you learn what to look for, it’s actually not hard to find the materials and put your imagination to work. Image Source: https://tinylivinglife.com/2019/05/how-much-do-tiny-houses-cost-are-they-worth-the-investment/ What Materials Do … Continue reading