The Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) plans to utilize recycling programs (also during construction), renewable energy, and locally sourced building materials throughout the construction process.

At least 10% of materials will be sourced from within 800km of Dubai International, and 20% from recycled goods. 50% (of cost) of building materials will be comprised of products certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Councils’ principles and criteria.

The terminal’s lighting will combine natural sunlight with efficient lighting and sensors for maximum efficiency and minimum heat output.

On the rooftop, 192 solar panels, designed to produce energy and deflect the sun’s rays from the building, will be installed.

Though certainly appealing from a bird’s eye view, the solar project will account for only 1.8 percent of the total power requirement for the terminal.

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths notes that new “green” terminal is in accord with a larger industry movement towards carbon neutrality.

“Designing environmentally friendly terminals is key to limiting our energy consumption and carbon footprint over time and fits in with our broader environmental policy. It also supports our industry’s target of carbon neutral growth by 2020,” said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths.

Learn more about the The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Carbon Neutral goal here.

Image via Dubai International

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As part of a larger master plan to rejuvenate the downtown Beirut area, Swiss Architects Herzog & De Meuron have designed “The Terraces,” a green waterfront apartment tower in Beirut lush with vegetation and hanging gardens. 

The project is defined by five main principles: layers and terraces, inside and outside, vegetation, views and privacy, light and identity.

Designed as a complete “vertical village,” the structure will include amenities such as exercise facilities, a pool, common areas, and storage rooms.

The multilayered high rise will utilize five modular floor slabs to create individual residences set either backwards or forwards to create terraces and overhangs. Apartments are grouped into different formations, creating a sense of unique “neighborhoods” on the different levels. The structure will include 129 single, duplex and townhouse apartments, and will be supported by columns on a 14.7 meter grid.

The vegetation, clearly the building’s most striking feature, is more than just aesthetic; it provides necessary privacy, shade, and climate control (the plants create microclimates that help temper the effects of the hot Lebanese sun).

In keeping with the principle of “inside and outside,” the vegetation also serves as a continuation of the downtown neighborhood’s green boulevard.

The entrance, a key feature of the building, includes views of the sea and ponds, and thus “develops a consistent transition between the open, public landscape and private, green residences,” the architects stated in a recent news release.

The “light” in the principle of “light and identity” is clearly expressed through the building’s large distinctive windows. As far as “identity” goes, that is something the residents will have to cultivate themselves. In a place like the “terraces,” we can only imagine that it will be quite esteemed.

Address: Plot 1801 and Plot 1802, Block 18, Beirut Central District, Lebanon The project is on schedule for completion this summer.

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::Beirut Terraces

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Pioneering the sustainable and green building movement in a country with a growing population and dwindling resources seems like a smart economic move for any industry.

In addition to 191 houses with 11 house types, the residential campus boasts conference areas, a data center, four utility buildings and communal areas such as library, dining hall, recreation center, natatorium, mosque and supermarket.

The somewhat isolated community is meant to serve as a spacious and modern community for KAPSARC’s international employees and their families.

The 200-hectare site also includes a photovoltaic (solar) energy field and bio retention swales, which are meant as both functional and visual statements.

When the project was initiated, LEED for homes was not available outside the US.

KAPSARCs architects, the American design firm HOK, and the US Green Building council worked for a number of years to establish a pilot program. KAPSARC is among the first to participate.

In CityScape magazine, Roger Schweyer, project designer and senior architect at the American design firm HOK insists the sites benefits extend beyond its residents, “As an institution, Saudi Aramco (the world’s largest oil production company and the project’s developer) is interested in moving beyond the oil industry, and championing new business opportunities in the Kingdom.

“Sustainable design and construction is a major industry targeted.”

One question we are left with – why didn’t they go for the Middle East-friendly eco standard Estidama?

Images via HOK

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