Since Algeria possesses very little in the way of aggregate materials that can be used in the construction industry, researchers from the University of Kasdi Merbah and the Polytechnic School of Algiers developed a new kind of brick made with little more than water, sand sourced from their own backyard – so to speak – and a binder.

While not as high tech as Markus Kayser’s solar-powered 3D printer which uses the sun’s power to turn desert sand into three dimensional objects, the Algerian researchers tested their sand bricks 750 times in order to deliver a strong, well-insulated material with superior mechanical resistance that is still affordable.

“If the compression and the thermal resistance of [the bricks] are validated by Algerian building material codes, it could solve the building material crises which Algerian builders are suffering from,” Ali Zaidi, a researcher in the Department of Civil Engineering of Algeria’s University of Laghouat, told SciDev.Net.

The country’s southern region is best suited to accommodate an industry of this nature, according to the researchers, who add that the bricks are resistant to fierce wind storms, scorcher days, and frigid nights.

We have long extolled the benefits of earth architecture, but primitive mud buildings no longer appeal to the majority of contemporary home owners.

Perhaps the  bricks of sand dune (BRSD)-based concrete will persuade the region to give earth another chance?

Stock image of red brick, Shutterstock

The post Algerians Mould Bricks from Sahara Sand Dunes appeared first on Green Prophet.

Turkey is reforming its property laws according to Reuters. Among other changes, new laws will double the amount of land foreigners are allowed to buy in Turkey. Wealthy investors from Russia and the Middle East are taking a new interest in Istanbul. According to the Knight Frank Global House Price Index, Turkish property prices are experiencing the third fastest-growth in the world, outpacing both Russia and Hong Kong.

“Istanbul is becoming a second London for the Arab world,” said Erdinc Varlibas, chief executive of Varyap Meridian. Varyap Meridian is building massive towers, luxury residential property, in what developers hope will become a financial district on Istanbul’s Asian side.

A wave of construction and urbanization is sweeping across Turkey. Next month the national government plans to begin a multi-billion dollar urban transformation project, which they predict will take two decades. Much of this new development takes place at the cost of Turkey’s historic buildings and open spaces. The national government recently made 4.1 million acres of forest available for purchase and construction. Istanbul is home to the highest number of buildings being demolished as part of this nationwide urbanization project. An estimated total of 6.5 million buildings will be demolished. In their place the government plans to construct facilities for the police, military, and additions to various medical centers.

::Reuters

Read more about green Turkey:

Istanbul Court Annuls Almost-Finished Roma Project

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4.1 Million Acres Of Land Previously Classified As Forest Goes On Sale In Turkey Today

Image of Istanbul, Turkey from Shutterstock 

The post Istanbul Deemed the ‘New London’ for Middle Eastern Investors appeared first on Green Prophet.

The construction market

In 2008 the number of construction permits (an indicator of future housing supply) in Lebanon rose by an impressive 79 percent compared to 4.1% in the two previous years. It is true that this significant “jump” was likely due to efforts to repair the massive damages caused by the 2006 Hezbollah- Israel war, but the trend has largely persisted up till now.

Demand for expensive housing has also increased dramatically; this is one of the factors contributing to high inflation rates in Lebanon.

First, the rapidly expanding mortgage market is making loans readily available for both construction purposes and the acquisition of housing.

And second, businesses in real estate have been growing at an annual rate of 30% , attracting huge capital investments from the Gulf States and wealthy Lebanese expatriates, which have the tendency to think big.

Fantasies of building 3.3 km2 offshore islands and the extravagant cemintification of ideas are not only, in my opinion, “luxurious” monstrosities, but they are also threatening the environment and the architectural beauty of traditional housing.

Moreover the socio-economic is particularly severe for those Lebanese that live and work in the country year round, without the support of remittances (which are amongst the highest in the MENA region) and which now have to face an extremely inflated economic situation partially due to the rampant luxurious real estate market.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyB_PL4qnHE[/youtube]

Construction Legislation and Regulation

The lack of effective regulation has greatly facilitated the unprecedented housing boom taking land management, urban planning and environmental management to a chaotic and uncontrollable stage. In Lebanon every land owner may legally build houses up to four stories high on 10 to 20% of the land no matter where the property is located (apart from nature reserves).

Furthermore, no public hearing or proof that there is a working sewer system of adequate size in place for example is systematically required; in fact, only 10% of construction plans follow a legally binding master plan that supplants national law on building regulations while 20% have non-legally binding plans. One is left to wonder about the design of the remaining 70% of construction plans, if there is any at all.

In theory The Council of Development and Reconstruction, an independent central planning authority created in 1977 to supersede the ministry and local authorities, is in charge of drafting and recommending basic guidelines for local master plans. Yet, the practical use of these are very limited because the guidelines are mere recommendations and they contain no legally binding rules or timelines.

Furthermore “risk assessments” of the environmental impacts of construction plans are all still relatively undeveloped and unenforced. The lack of legitimate enforcing parameters creates a situation of unrestrained building practices which undermine even the most basic and minimal levels of environmental quality standards.

Unbelievable stories like the one where a functioning wastewater treatment center in Jiye is still “waiting” to build a sewage system and as a result is dumping directly into the Mediterranean sea, highlights the gravity of lack of legally binding regulation in Lebanon.

Lack of demographic data

Another reason for unrestrained and haphazard construction plans is the lack of demographic data. The most recent official census available in Lebanon is that of 1932, the reason being that census data on the relative size of different religious groups could threaten Lebanon’s political status quo which is based on the size of the different religious groups. This means that currently there is no reliable and realistic information that reflects true population demographics to aid private investors make realistic real estate decision making and to help governments gauge real estate regulation and zoning plans. As stated in a publication by the Urban Land Institute.

“Demographics are the foundation of real estate decision-making. Population, household, and income characteristics – and the direction of future trends – determine whether demand will exist for new housing or retail space, and household mobility suggests where that new space should be built.”

This means that the housing market is largely based on unfounded speculation and the pertinent authorities have a limited vision on how to appropriately orchestrate such market in order for future generations to benefit. It is as if the quality of life has been completely overlooked and Lebanon is becoming a dumping site for cement blocks, what is worse this cement is being dumped anywhere and everywhere with little regard of the preceding cultural, historic and environmental resources.

Land registration

According to Waltraud- Frommherz-Hassib , a third of Lebanon’s land is not registered. Only politically and economically sensitive areas are land registered, such as the agricultural areas in the Beqaa valley, coastal areas, Beirut and the narrow strip along the road to Damascus. Areas such as Mount Lebanon, south of Beirut up to Sidon and north up to Baytroun are not land registered and so are up for grabs, in fact these are the areas with the highest construction rates in Lebanon. The lack of land registration may lead to a chaotic situation in the future. Land, particularly in a small country, risks becoming a serious subject of discussion where the property rights of poorer members of society are easily overlooked in a legal system that may well run into legislative and technical overdrive.

The impact on the environment

The result of the current system is unchecked urban expansions which devour the remaining natural lungs of the country. The Beirut Metropolis, for example, is spreading into a nature preserve which has been planned as a catchment area for the Beirut River, as well as an opportunity to create a recreational area in the suffocating city center. Inappropriate sewer systems have already contaminated the Jeita source, which provides 80% of Beirut’s water supply, yet notwithstanding such threats, national master plans do not explicitly seek to provide zoning or planning recommendations to protect the Jeita catchment area.

Quite the contrary, the area has become a hotspot for new construction.

To make things worse, in order to feed the construction boom, gravel and sand are required as primary resources. This is an additional factor among several others (land reclamation projects in Greater Beirut District, erosion caused by Egypt’s Aswan Dam which retains sediments that would otherwise reach eastern Mediterranean), which have been heavily depleting and destroying the mountains, river beds and coasts of Lebanon.  Of the 250 km of coastline, only 49km of beach and 11km of cliffs still remain relatively intact.

To make things worse, many legal frameworks have not been adapted since the French mandate in the 1920’s leading to absurd situations. For example, according to Waltraud- Frommherz-Hassib, the penalty for operating an illegal quarry is an embarrassing 100 LL (68 US cents). Is this also why approximately 700 to 1300 illegally operating quarries are still happily scraping away?

To reiterate, this brief overview confirms that public goods and spaces in Lebanon are not only under threat because of the ruthless pursuit of profit making by an economic elite but also because there is a lacking weak state which facilitates such behaviors.  Waltraud- Frommherz-Hassib highlights that Lebanon’s “weak state” is a symptom of “an overall political culture based on the interwovenness of economic and political elites along religious divides.”

As long as these conflicts of interests persist, the lack of real estate legislation and construction planning regulation will also persist. As long as the actions of decision makers are not held accountable, boundless and inappropriate construction will persist, and the major losers are the usual suspects: the environment and poorer members of society.

Above image: Aerial view Beirut from Shutterstock

The post Lebanon’s ‘Weak State’ Supports Construction Boom, Environmental Bust appeared first on Green Prophet.

Dubai is nothing at all like Las Vegas. Though both are unlikely cities in waterless environs and full of people eager to divest visitors of both their souls and their money, that is where their likeness ends. As a tour leader for Trek America, I survived many weekends scratching the tacky surface of LV’s wholesale debauchery, but those dark nights of the soul don’t compare at all to how another desert city half way across the world makes a nature-lover feel.

What strikes me most is the city’s sheer scale. Last night a friend and I traveled by metro from Karama station south to Dubai marina, a 40 minute trip. We passed the world’s tallest tower. Passed the Burj Al Arab, a giant hotel shaped like a sail. Passed the indoor ski arena. We kept passing more and more towers.

Eventually we arrived at our stop. After getting off the metro and looking around at yet more towers, more restaurants, boats, and all kinds of glass and cranes and metal, I looked to my friend and asked:

“Where are we?”

“Oh. This is a whole new city,” he said.

Before the economic crash that effectively drew construction to a screeching halt, developers in Dubai were falling over one another to build the most striking buildings – each outdoing the other to attract would-be customers. And many really are quite striking.

But there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of them. Walking at their feet, I feel like an ant. The awesome mass of buildings is overwhelming – especially in a city that has no water except that which is sucked out of the Gulf every year, and which at the first hint of summer is already so hot that my calves retain water like giant fire hydrants. (Very attractive.)

In order to pay back these incredible extravagances, an army of Bill Gates would have to converge on Dubai for a decade of conferences. (That’s a metaphor. I have no idea how many Bill Gates this city needs.) Instead, the inevitable financial crash caused an exodus of expatriates who left in their wake miles of mostly uninhabited, often incomplete towers.

Just how scarce money has become at the poorer end of society became especially clear at the end of the evening, when we climbed into a taxi to ride back to the Karama area.

Before the taxi driver could pull out of the hotel lot, another, older man ran  towards us, waving his fists in the air.

“You took my fare,” he yelled. “I was waiting and you drove in and took them.”

While they argued, we moved into the elder man’s taxi and gave him our address. But as he began to drive off the younger fellow blocked us with his vehicle and a big shouting match ensued between them. After a minute or two of this, we climbed out yet again and neither driver earned our fare. All this unhappiness for less than $20.

For someone who prefers tents to marble, grass to concrete, and fresh air to smog, Dubai feels like a near-apocalypse, a no-place of confused identity that has reduced some of its poorest to fighting like feral cats for scraps.

More on Green Prophet in the UAE:

Green Prophet Wants to Meet All the UAE Eco-Peeps

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EXCLUSIVE: Masdar City Open House Photos

images via Tafline Laylin

The post An Ant In Dubai appeared first on Green Prophet.

Saudi Arabia is investing huge sums to diversify its water supply, while at the same time fanning a booming construction industry. Will the latter negate the former?

Desertification, depletion of underground water sources, and lack of perennial rivers or permanent water bodies are among Saudia Arabia’s greatest environmental challenges. In part, these are being met by pouring money into energy-hungry desalination facilities.

With oil reserves overestimated by 40%, and peak oil on the horizon, the Royals are realizing the need to diversify. Construction Week reported that over the next 15 years, the Gulf country will invest $53 billion on water projects, 70% of which will be devoted to sewage and wastewater treatment plants.

Arabian Business recently reported that Saudi entered into water and sanitation contracts worth $130 million. These monies will benefit communities throughout the country, including Makkah, Madinah, Baha, the northern borders, the eastern province, Qassim, Najran and Tabuk.

Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al-Hossein, the Minister of Water and Electricity, signed off on the deals that are aimed at developing new and improved sanitation systems, water pipelines and networks, dams, wells and reservoirs.

Despite its bevy of desalination plants, including the world’s largest, and 20% of the world’s oil reserves to help fuel them, Saudi has to diversify its water supply in order to supply a population of  26,131,703 and growing.

In the meantime, Saudi’s construction industry is growing. A boon to job creation, the construction industry nonetheless requires significant water investments.

A chart produced by UCL Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering demonstrates that in the UK alone, the steel industry requires 12.18 million cubic meters of water each year, aluminum requires 4.5 million cubic meters, and concrete uses slightly less at 1.56 million cubic meters of water each year.

The Soaring Saudi Building Construction Report – November 2010 released by Ventures Middle East shows that by 2012, construction contracts will amount to US$ 39,138 million. The report also projects a 12% annual growth rate in construction projects.

As Saudi invests money in desalination projects and water recycling, an important step towards reducing reliance on desalination, measures should be taken to ensure the construction industry does not cancel out hydrological gains.

More on Saudi Arabia and Desalination:

Saudi Arabia To Replace Oil With Sun Power For Desalination Plants

Saudi Arabia Investing In Nanotech For Desalination

Saudi Opens World’s Largest Desalination Plant

image via Marshall Strabala

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