This past weekend Yael Stav offered tours of her home and vertical garden as part of the “Houses From Within” Batim Mibifnim exhibition in Tel Aviv. Some of the garden was built using recycled materials and compost from her children’s eco-friendly diapers.

Jerusalem Bird Observatory Brown Roof – Local Flora no Irrigation by Rov-Noy, image via the World Green Infrastructure Network

Stav is currently completing her doctoral thesis on the environmental benefits of vertical greenery, which professor of public health at Columbia University Dickson Despommier proposed in 2009 as a perfect fit for the Middle East. (Stephen Colbert asks Dickson Despommier about vertical farming video).

Stav’s research shows that growing plants on a buildings roof and walls can save over 20 percent of the energy used to cool the building.

“The vertical greenery can enable the whole family in the city to grow a variety of plants, including assorted vegetables and herbs,” she says to Haaretz newspaper, pointing to tomatoes curling down from one of the holders hanging from the fence. “You can do this in any building and use a variety of materials.”

The annual ‘Houses From Within’ event also included tours of local community gardens and environmental academic centers in Tel Aviv. The city is at the heart of Israel’s environmental movement, and every year there are new citizen-lead developments to celebrate.

:: Houses from Within

Image via Haaretz

The post Vertical Gardening Celebrated in Tel Aviv appeared first on Green Prophet.

Sadly replacing the traditional Arab Souqs or markets that tourists flock to see, malls are becoming as much an urban Middle Eastern phenomenon as any American city. But if there must be malls, let them be more like the Meydan shopping complex in Istanbul designed by Foreign Office Architects. Urban centers generate significant heat – called the heat island effect – as well as greenhouse gases. And malls, which are usually large and well-lit, eat up a lot of energy. To mitigate these problems, passive design encourages plenty of natural lighting, and best of all, the first-of-its-kind green roof absorbs a lot of the excess heat while also creating a pleasant place for people to spend an afternoon.

The Meydan mall is hill-shaped and situated in the nucleus of a new and growing Instanbul suburb. Instead of relying on a power plant for its heating and cooling needs, those functions are provided via boreholes.

Public-lighting is generated from solar energy, but since many of the public spaces are outside (yes, on TOP of the mall), the need for most lighting only really occurs at night.

The parking lot is underground. In addition to keeping ground space open, this also helps to cut back on the heat island effect, since cars parked outside in the hundreds absorb a lot of heat. The ground floor shops are then concentrated to create a breezy open square.

Skylights flood the area with natural lighting and the building is naturally ventilated. Outside, the green roof, natural shading, and wind shelters all help to keep the area cool.

While it is a shame to lose the culture that makes the Middle East so unique, it is at least hopeful that developers in the region are paying attention to pressing environmental concerns and addressing them with clever design.

:: Inhabitat

More green architecture in the Middle East:
Qatar To Get A Desert-Loving Cactus Building
Ehrlich Architecture Trumps Hadid And Foster With UAE Parliament Win
SLIDESHOW: Entries For Qatar’s 2022 World Cup Stadiums

The post Istanbul Shoppers Rendevouz On Giant Green Roof appeared first on Green Prophet.