Superadobe Homes Built Of Sandbags Rise Around The Planet
The SuperAdobe technique for sustainable building with the most basic materials is in use around the world.
sustainable building
Gulf Municipality Pampers Villa Owners Who Don’t Get Green Building
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 […]
A $9000 dome home for early retirement in Thailand
A former flight attendant has grounded himself in Thailand in a masonry dome-home he built in just six weeks. The 500 square foot structure is simply constructed much like a tropical igloo, with cement blocks stepping in for ice bricks. The best part? It cost under $10,000!
Saudi Arabia Sinks $26 Billion in Green Buildings
Saudi Arabian investment in 76 new environmentally savvy construction projects is estimated to exceed $26 billion, according to Faisal Al-Fadl, Secretary General of the Saudi Green Building Forum (SGB Forum). Over half of those projects are based in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
2013 Aga Khan Architecture Awards Betters Muslim Communities in Iran, Morocco and Lebanon
The nominees for the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture were recently announced: 20 candidates – half hailing from the Middle East – all vying for a million dollar prize.
Algerians Mould Bricks from Sahara Sand Dunes
Although the Sahara desert used to be a green retreat for giraffes and hippos 5,000 years ago, it is now a giant, sometimes rolling landscape of sand. A lot of sand. In fact, roughly two thirds of Algeria is made up of sand, according to the authors of a study published in the Arabian Journal […]
Super-green Masdar Headquarters Design Awarded to Brookfield Multiplex
The award to design Masdar‘s new super-green headquarters in Abu Dhabi has been given to Brookfield Multiplex, the group announced recently. The Australian firm was awarded the contract to design and construct the seven story building in the Gulf nation, which will feature a whopping 344,445 square feet of interior space and a massive rooftop […]
Cement Returns to Its Sustainable Roots
Chemists bring one of the oldest materials in building history back to its green roots. Cement is one of the oldest building materials cooked up by humans, but it’s so misunderstood. It’s not what paves your cement sidewalk, that’s concrete. And it’s not concrete, although cement is a main ingredient. Modern advances in production and […]
It Took 15 Years to Build This and That’s a Good Thing
Remember the good old days when it took decades to build major monuments? Historians estimate that 30 years passed before the back-breaking pyramids of Giza came to glory, for example, and more than a century after construction began in 1882, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is still not finished. Although laborers might disagree, there’s something […]
Buildings-in-a-Bag Can Instantly Aid Middle East Refugees
Groundbreaking “Concrete Cloth” allows ancient building material to be used in a totally new way. Concrete Cloth is a pioneering “building-in-a-bag” that requires only water and air for construction: it was named material of the year in the 2011 Material ConneXions MEDIUM Awards. Concrete is one of the world’s most popular building materials. It follows […]
BADIR Offers Young Jordanians a Shot at Social Change
Are you a social entrepreneur in Jordan? Do you want to see positive change in your community? Here’s your shot to take your “green” project to the next level. Green Prophet loves to broadcast the exploits of emerging social and environmental leaders. Our writer Arwa introduced Karim Elgendy, creator of the influential LinkedIn group Carboun, […]
Building a Green Deck for Hanging Gardens and Middle East Sensibilities
Could you ever imagine patios like this one built with composite materials? If you’ve been thinking about building a hanging garden on your urban Middle East deck, patio, or porch, spring is the perfect time to start planting your seeds. While people living in crazy and compact Middle East cities like Beirut, Tel Aviv, Cairo […]
6 Green Buildings That Won’t Break the Bank
All suited to the Middle East climate and budget, here are 6 green buildings that just about anyone can build without a mortgage. People often say of green building projects that they aren’t affordable. This is true if you’re shooting to live in a glittering LEED certified urban high rise in Dubai or Saudi Arabia, […]
Gulf Municipality Pampers Villa Owners Who Don’t Get Green Building
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 […]
Professor Urges Regulations to Prevent Further Fatal Building Collapses in Beirut
At least 19 people have died following the collapse of a 1940s apartment building in Beirut, Lebanon on Sunday. The owner of the 5 storey building that collapsed on Sunday killing 19 people has been arrested. The Daily Star reports that Lebanon’s Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told local media that Michel Saadeh is being questioned […]
13 Principles of Sustainable Architecture From Nader Khalili Student
Designed by Hassan Fathy, the Akil Sami House in Egypt is a fairly recent example of earth architecture that is both beautiful and functional. If the architecture mentor is successful, his or her student will first absorb and then build upon their lessons until they eventually supersede the original teachings with new knowledge. Certainly this […]
Plastic Eco-Brick Proposal Wins Dubai Resident a UN Citizen Ambassadorship
Dubai-based Jonathan Eric Defante plastic “eco-brick” pitch won him a UN Citizen Ambassadorship. Jonathan Eric Defante submitted his “One Bottle, One Life” YouTube pitch to the United Nations as a potential solution for poor recycling performance around the world. The Filipino man living in Dubai suggested that people can build their own homes made out […]
Masdar Aims to Become the Guru of Sustainable Building Materials
Masdar will break ground on a new Facade Test Center in a few months. It will research the most energy efficient building materials on the market. Masdar is constantly reinventing itself in order to ensure that the Gulf’s first genuine low-energy and low-carbon building project succeeds, and its latest reincarnation may well become one of […]
Sustainable Architecture Saudi Style: King Abdullah Financial District
Although the massive 3,300,000 sq m King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh will feature a variety of “green” initiatives, this is definitely sustainable architecture Saudi style. We applaud any individual or organization that seeks to green up their portfolio, and Saudi Arabia is no exception. Really, it’s difficult to blame the Kingdom’s residents for striking […]
Kibbutz Lotan’s Free Eco-Guide App Makes Getting Back to Nature a Breeze
Anyone who is interested to transition to a more sustainable way of life will benefit from Kibbutz Lotan’s comprehensive eco-guide app. Many socially and environmentally conscious citizens dream about leaving the grid for good and getting back in touch with nature, but the general lack of sustainable infrastructure and available information in the Middle East […]
Siemens Asks Middle Eastern Students to Think About How to Build Sustainable Cities in the Desert
The question has been asked – how would you build a sustainable city in the desert? Siemens, the German energy corporation, has been active in the Middle East over the past couple of years since it bought a couple of solar companies in Israel. Now it is playing a role again as it has just […]
Israeli Environment Ministry Implements New Green Building Standards
New and renovated buildings in Israel will now have to comply with a newly launched “Israel Standard for Green Building”. During a press conference on this past Tuesday to announce the launch of a new green building standard for new and renovated buildings in Israel, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said that “a green building […]
The Holy City & The Windy City To Form Historic Environmental Partnership
Representatives from Jerusalem and Chicago will sign a “green” MOU next month in the windy city. We need mammoth human collaboration in order to surmount our global environmental problems. And let’s face it, we have a few of those: coral reefs potentially a thing of the past by 2050, oil set to peak just as […]
Better Than Masdar, Penyon Bay Ecovillage – Morocco – Is Accepting Applications
When it comes alive, the Penyon Bay Ecovillage will overlook the Bay of Alhoceima in Northern Morocco. As economies and ecosystems degenerate, and spiritual malaise increases (as I’ve pointed out in my green Christmas wish list), communities worldwide are forming new bonds. Moving away from the consumer model, ecovillages incorporate various degrees of the old […]
Surprise ! Grand Opening of First Masdar City Building
The carbon-neutral Masdar City seems to have been a concept for forever, it seems. In my mind, it has long been filed under “noble theory.” So I was surprised to get an email from Foster+Partners today. The Architects responsible for the Masdar Institute matter-of-factly announced the opening of the first building in the visionary city-to-be […]