Green buildings refer to a structure that is resource-efficient and environmentally responsible throughout a building’s life-cycle, right from planning to designing, construction, operation, maintenance and so on.
We know that the wood industry is causing deforestation, harm to animals and people and climate change. A new UN project to track illegal timber is now set up, but play your part by making "smart wood" choices when building a new deck this summer, or winter if you are in temperate climates.
The idea of starting your own business comes across our minds quite often. However, we tend to abandon the thought because we think that it is something that involves a lot of risks. It is true that starting your own business comes with a lot of risks and hard work. However, if you know what […]
If we want to create progress in the Middle East in green building, architects, planners and investors need to move away from trendy ideas to going back to relationships with local traditions and cultures.
Going green doesn’t come naturally to wealthy villa owners in the Gulf. An online real estate company listed a seven bedroom villa in Dubai’s neighboring Emirate Abu Dhabi for $95,300 a year, which amounts to nearly $8,000 a month. Anyone who can afford to spend that much money on rent probably has little incentive to […]
For five years a set of unfinished twin towers have stood watch over Amman, Jordan, construction halted – allegedly crippled by lawsuits. The filthy glass facades soar above a street-level footprint ringed by old hoarding, abandoned building material and trash. The empty skyscrapers stand in silent testimony to both the 2008 world financial crisis and […]
An unnamed client hired London-based Baharash Architecture to design a luxury home that could fully function off the energy grid. That’s a tall order for any residence in Abu Dhabi, now consider the challenges for one sited in the punishing clime of the hyper-arid Liwa Desert where summer temperatures top 100°F.
The design team of Henkin Irit and Shavit Zohar have converted a centuries-old building in Safed into a thoroughly modern home, strategically introducing new glass windows and doors to the old stone structure, flooding the interior with sunshine that paints the rooms with a changing wash of light and shadows. Construction of the 175 m2 […]
An unnamed client hired London-based Baharash Architecture to design a luxury home that could fully function off the energy grid. That’s a tall order for any residence in Abu Dhabi, now consider the challenges for one sited in the punishing clime of the hyper-arid Liwa Desert where summer temperatures top 100°F. The star-shaped structure is modestly […]
Building green, thinking green, wanting to be green? Israelis from the who’s who in green building architecture, design, policy and everything else will be seen at the David Intercontinental Hotel tomorrow September the 9. The conference is run by the Israel Green Building Council or ILGBC which was established in early 2007 as a non-profit […]
If you are shopping around for a home in Saudi Arabia or the Middle East there are conventional places to turn to like Craig’s List, Facebook, AirBNB to see what you like, local real estate agents to help you find properties of interest. But let’s say you are a foreigner or returning national looking to […]
Saudi Arabia has announced that the construction industry has five years to “green” up their business. Amid a massive construction boom, the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) has decreed that all companies must reduce their air, water and noise pollution in keeping with regulations approved in 2008.
Virgin Group founder, Sir Richard Branson yesterday unveiled new architectural designs from his subsidiary Virgin Buildings, including a plane-shaped building for London and a moon hotel that looks like a robotic caterpillar.
Saudi Arabia isn’t well known for its architectural subtlety, but Gerber Architekten’s renovation of the King Fahad National Library in Riyadh suggests that the Kingdom may be open to a new approach.
Can there be more Masdars? Can this experimental eco-city be replicated in other Middle Eastern or North African countries that don’t have Abu Dhabi’s immense oil wealth? Green Prophet put this question to Anthony Mallows, Director of Masdar City, and Chris Chi Lon Wan, City Design Manager, during a recent roundtable discussion.