We’d love to tell you that the Middle East’s most famous contemporary architect is doing great green things for the region, but we can’t. Instead, Zaha Hadid’s latest project in Dubai, the Opus Hotel and Office Tower designed in collaboration with Meliá Hotels International, may well be among her most extravagant.

A lot of large architecture firms are working in the Middle East, and most have cottoned on to the notion that it’s essential to build within energetic and resource constraints. Most, that is, but Hadid.

We have lamented the Iraqi architect’s failure to be an example for the region several times in the past. Her swooping volumes are consistently arresting, but they do little to nothing to perpetuate a more responsible approach to design.

She has made some overtures by greening the 2020 Olympic stadium for Tokyo, but in general, Hadid seems dangerously unconcerned with adding responsible structures to the planet. But what about the LEED Silver Galaxy SOHO Project, you might ask, to which I would respond that most environmentalists no longer believe that LEED is sufficiently rigorous.

We now know that if everyone on the planet were to attempt to live like Americans do, we would need five planets to provide the requisite natural resources. Instead of trying to achieve this lofty goal, now is a time for scaling back our desires and living more within our means, within the planet’s means.

This is not the time for extravagant structures like the Opus Office Tower slated for a 2016 opening in Dubai.

Related: Comparing Qatar stadium to a vagina is “ridiculous” says Zaha Hadid

The mixed-use building will consist of two separate volumes with a vacuous core linked by covered walkways on all four sides. While it appears to have been designed to maximize natural lighting, no mention is made of incorporating renewable energy, energy efficient appliances or lighting, or doing anything groundbreaking to offset this 21-storey structure’s environmental footprint.

With penthouse suites and private rooftop terraces, a luxury hotel and plenty of chances to burn money in retail outlets at the tower’s base, the latest addition to the Burj Khalifa complex merely extends the mirage of finite plenty in the emirate.

In addition to designing the tower itself for the developer Omniyat, Hadid has been commissioned to select each piece of furniture for the interior. We know that she won’t be hitting up local designers who work with recycled or repurposed materials.

Nope. The first Meliá Hotels International project in Dubai promises to be one of the glitziest towers yet, and that’s saying a lot.

:: Zaha Hadid

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Tall glass buildings have come to dominate the Dubai and Abu Dhabi skylines, which makes absolutely zero sense given that summer temperatures consistently burst their seams in the region. But now the UAE has imported NASA-developed transparent panels that deflect heat back into the atmosphere.

There are so many existing glass skyscrapers throughout the United Arab Emirates that it would be impossible to raze them all and replace them with “greener” buildings.

The glass sucks up solar heat that is then radiated heat indoors, forcing people inside to turn up their air-conditioning units. This in turn gobbles up energy and also releases unnecessary pollutants into the conditioned airstream.

Excess energy consumption has become a crucial issue that Dubai, neighboring Abu Dhabi and other emirates are beginning to overcome with buttoned up efficiency rates and renewable energy sources.

Mega real estate companies are catching on too, and three of the largest companies have begun to install transparent In’Flector insulating panels that can be added to any existing building to slash energy consumption.

Partially developed by NASA, In’Flector insulating panels are transparent, so they still allow natural light to penetrate the interior of buildings as they deflect heat and UV rays back into space.

Made of aluminum, carbon and a UV layer, the panels cut 92 percent of UV rays, 80 percent of radiant heat, and 78 percent of solar heat gain, according to 24/7.

Energy costs are thus cut by roughly 41 percent and payback on investment occurs within a fast 18 months.

Al Serkal Group, Aramex and Damac Properties have all begun to install the panels on their residential complexes due to high demand from their clients, and we expect to see this trend continue both in commercial and residential applications throughout the MIddle East.

:: Emirates 24/7

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