Other notable mud structures in the wider Muslim world include the Bob Dioulasso Grand Mosque in Burkina Faso, and the Khiva Wall in Uzbekistan, which is built around a collection of Islamic schools and mosques. The Siwa Oasis in Egypt (which we visited and posted about here) and the Eastern Castle in Syria have also employed mud bricks in their construction, and research shows that the famous walls of Jericho were built using sun-dried mud bricks.

The post Ancient mud buildings in the Muslim world are spectacular and sustainable appeared first on Green Prophet.

Given the likelihood of a buffer zone along Gaza’s border, an innovative approach could be to transform this space into a greenbelt. Many cities worldwide have successfully implemented green zones that serve as ecological buffers while also benefiting urban populations. A well-planned greenbelt could provide environmental benefits, support agriculture, and even serve as a shared space between Gazans and Israelis—turning a divisive border into an area of mutual sustainability.

The post A Sustainable Path to Rebuilding Gaza: Opportunity for Collaboration and Peace appeared first on Green Prophet.

Cities around the world are encouraged to enter their greening initiatives to showcase their achievement and commitment to nature-orientated solutions to address major challenges facing urban environments.

The post Do you have the greenest city? Apply for this global award appeared first on Green Prophet.

Modern society owes much of its progress and functionality to the way we have approached building and construction. From ancient times when the first settlements began to take shape, to today’s skyscraper-laden skylines, buildings have not only mirrored our progress but have been fundamental catalysts in shaping human civilization.

The post Nick Millican and Greycoat: Addressing Real Estate’s Global Carbon Impact appeared first on Green Prophet.

At the base of Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains. We visited this kasbah a decade ago. And it has taken some damage from the earthquake but all residents and guests were safe.

The post Why was the Morocco quake so deadly? appeared first on Green Prophet.

In today's world, where environmental concerns are growing exponentially, businesses have a crucial role to play in reducing their ecological footprint. One effective way to achieve this is by carefully selecting the materials used in manufacturing processes and product development

The post Sustainable Sourcing: The Environmental Impact of Using the Right Materials for Your Products appeared first on Green Prophet.

Travel and sustainability by default don’t go hand in hand. If you have to fly somewhere or drive long distances you are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. That’s why staycations have been a priority for ecologically-minded people.

The post <strong>How do you write for sustainable travel?</strong> appeared first on Green Prophet.

The SuperAdobe technique for sustainable building with the most basic materials is in use around the world.

The post Superadobe Homes Built Of Sandbags Rise Around The Planet appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Gulf Municipality Pampers Villa Owners Who Don’t Get Green Building appeared first on Green Prophet.

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! Steve Areen hatched the hobbit-like home idea in […]

The post A $9000 dome home for early retirement in Thailand appeared first on Green Prophet.

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. The SGB Forum is an initiative under the appointment of King […]

The post Saudi Arabia Sinks $26 Billion in Green Buildings appeared first on Green Prophet.

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. The award is given triennially to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning, historic preservation and landscape architecture, particularly those placed in […]

The post 2013 Aga Khan Architecture Awards Betters Muslim Communities in Iran, Morocco and Lebanon appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

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

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 […]

The post Super-green Masdar Headquarters Design Awarded to Brookfield Multiplex appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Cement Returns to Its Sustainable Roots appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post It Took 15 Years to Build This and That’s a Good Thing appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Buildings-in-a-Bag Can Instantly Aid Middle East Refugees appeared first on Green Prophet.

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, […]

The post BADIR Offers Young Jordanians a Shot at Social Change appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Building a Green Deck for Hanging Gardens and Middle East Sensibilities appeared first on Green Prophet.

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, […]

The post 6 Green Buildings That Won’t Break the Bank appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Gulf Municipality Pampers Villa Owners Who Don’t Get Green Building appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Professor Urges Regulations to Prevent Further Fatal Building Collapses in Beirut appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post 13 Principles of Sustainable Architecture From Nader Khalili Student appeared first on Green Prophet.

 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 […]

The post Plastic Eco-Brick Proposal Wins Dubai Resident a UN Citizen Ambassadorship appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Masdar Aims to Become the Guru of Sustainable Building Materials appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Sustainable Architecture Saudi Style: King Abdullah Financial District appeared first on Green Prophet.

Anyone who is interested to transition to a more sustainable way of life will benefit from Kibbutz Lotan's comprehensive eco-guide app.

The post Kibbutz Lotan’s Free Eco-Guide App Makes Getting Back to Nature a Breeze appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Siemens Asks Middle Eastern Students to Think About How to Build Sustainable Cities in the Desert appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 post Israeli Environment Ministry Implements New Green Building Standards appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post The Holy City & The Windy City To Form Historic Environmental Partnership appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Better Than Masdar, Penyon Bay Ecovillage – Morocco – Is Accepting Applications appeared first on Green Prophet.

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 […]

The post Surprise ! Grand Opening of First Masdar City Building appeared first on Green Prophet.

Though the Burj won top project of the year, a little-known Sudanese project gets top kudos for its sustainability It may be tall, and it may be grand, but we don’t think the Burj Khalifa is worth boasting about. Even so, this towering blight on Dubai’s sustainable horizon took “project of the year” at the […]

The post Burj Khalifa Takes Project of the Year At Middle East Architecture Awards appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority paves the way for sustainable building in the increasingly “green” emirate. Although green building codes have existed in the United States, Australia and elsewhere for a while, the same phenomenon has only recently been adopted in the Middle East. Israel’s first eco-tower aspires to incorporate, and Intel has already achieved […]

The post Abu Dhabi Building To Achieve All Five Green Building “Pearls” appeared first on Green Prophet.

The glassy new plans for the Museum of Tolerance reflect badly on the nearby environment. During the festival of Sukkot, Jews worldwide are camping out in their organic Sukkahs, touching the earth, reconnecting. Karin wrote about sustainable booths all over Jerusalem, while another, snazzier Sukkah is currently being displayed on Manhattan’s Union Square. Contrasted with […]

The post New Design Approved For Jerusalem’s Giant Glass Museum Of Tolerance appeared first on Green Prophet.

New York City will host “The People’s Sukkah Choice” on Union Square during the Festival of Sukkot. In Great Falls, Virginia, where my parents have lived for the last umpteen years, the beautiful wooden homes shrouded by giant leafy trees have been carelessly discarded in favor of cleared properties and attendant “McMansions.” Washington D.C.’s wealthy […]

The post Which Earthy, Temporary Home Would You Choose? Sukkah City, NYC 2010 appeared first on Green Prophet.

An ancient vernacular cave home from Iran

The post The cave homes of Iran appeared first on Green Prophet.

Park Inn Muscat receives the Middle East’s first internationally recognized Green Globe standard certification Creating quality tourism options in the environmental context has only been popular since the early 1990s. Now there are all kinds of opportunities to enjoy a relaxing holiday without causing harm to the surrounding environment: from bio tours in Israel, to […]

The post And The Green Globe Goes To…. Park Inn Muscat, Oman appeared first on Green Prophet.

Palestinian Architect Omar Yousef draws attention to the occupation’s “forced ecology” at the Ecoweek conference in Israel [image taken by Tomer Appelbaum] Designed to teach young architects the most progressive building practices available, beyond borders or cultural differences, the Ecoweek conference taking place in Israel draws inevitable attention to disparities. Green Prophet’s interest in natural […]

The post Omar Yousef’s Crowded Architecture appeared first on Green Prophet.

Is Geotectura’s Sun Sail just another clever design, or is it redefining Israel’s building policy? Bold and innovative, the Israel-based firm Geotectura produces otherworldly designs with a social conscience that even Bill McKibben might endorse. Their CT-cubes and hovering high-rises rival any science fiction graphic, while the X2S shelter, designed to provide physical and medical refuge […]

The post Geotectura's Residential Building Set to Sail appeared first on Green Prophet.

Built by the the Safavid Dynasty in the 1650s as a dam and a bridge, Mehrdad asks how the Khaju (or Khajoo) Bridge in Iran can be restored more sustainably. Eventually all historical monuments and treasures will need preservation and renovation, like the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, but this should always be done with regards […]

The post Critiquing Recent Renovations of the Khaju Bridge in Esfahan, Iran appeared first on Green Prophet.

Architect Marks Barfield is to design a £13 million “eco” mosque on a 0.4 hectare brownfield site in Cambridge. England’s historic city of Cambridge, with its world-famous university and idyllic countryside, will soon count a mosque amidst its stunning skyline of spires. But this isn’t just any old mosque. In fact it is the first-purpose […]

The post Cambridge to Build Europe’s First Eco-Mosque appeared first on Green Prophet.

Finally environmental and cultural preservers, not destroyers, receive recognition [image by Brood_wich via flickr] UNESCO has ordained 890 world heritage sites around the world, one-third of which belong in the Middle East.  While admiring Seville, Spain during a trip roughly two years ago, HRH Sultan Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, from the country that is […]

The post BBC Series Celebrates UNESCO "Heritage Heroes" appeared first on Green Prophet.

“How Do We Want to Live?” asks England’s Former Secretary-General of the Royal Town Planning Institute Robert Upton at an urban planning conference in Israel. Whereas Colombian planner Oscar Diaz (who we interviewed here) was practical and sited specific planning examples at the anniversary conference at the Technion-Israel’s Institute of Technology,  England’s planner Mr. Robert Upton’s […]

The post Robert Upton’s Philosophy of Planning and the Middle East appeared first on Green Prophet.

Get Your Green On in The Dmit Valley Ecovillages are slowly sprouting in the Middle East.  There’s Kramim in Israel’s Negev Desert, as well as the well-known Kibbutz Lotan, and now the first of its kind in Lebanon.  Called simply EcoVillage, this project was grown from the ground by Karim al Khatib and a group […]

The post Take Your Team To Lebanon's Ecovillage appeared first on Green Prophet.

Dosier’s fearlessness of the science of construction sets her apart from her peers [image courtesy of flickr] We were so intrigued by Professor Ginger Dosier, the Architect at Sharjah University who grows bricks by combining sand, common bacteria, calcium chloride and urea, that we decided to dig deeper.  Some architects, like those at Geotectura, develop mindbending […]

The post Ginger Dosier: When Architecture and Chemistry Mix appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Better Brick? Although kinks need to be worked out, applying microbiological principles to design could revolutionize building materials. This researcher says she’s found a way to “grow” bricks from sand and urine. Finally! Suzanne LaBarre of Metropolitanmag.com brings us a design worth writing home about. In the same tradition as Hassan Fathy and architects […]

The post UAE Prof. Ginger Dosier Grows Sand Bricks, Naturally appeared first on Green Prophet.

Does The First Arabian Construction Week Signal a Greener Middle Eastern Building Policy? [image via flickr] We have brought disturbing news from Dubai this week: a smuggled baby crocodile died and hyenas and baboons were confiscated from a private home.   So it gives us pleasure to be able to provide our readers with a tidbit of […]

The post Emirates Green Building Council: You Don’t Have to Be Rich to Build Green appeared first on Green Prophet.

Qatar Wants World Cup Action, but the Environmental Price May be Too High. This relatively obscure Middle Eastern country, slightly smaller than Connecticut, is putting itself on the map. Oil and gas revenue, according to the CIA factbook, comprises 50% of the nation’s GDP, but Qatar is diversifying its portfolio.  As part of its National […]

The post Qatar Seeks to Solar Power the 2022 World Cup appeared first on Green Prophet.

The third “Think Green” conference, held in Amman this week, encourages green buildings and sustainable communities. [image of an apartment building in Amman via: Sezgin Aytuna] We heard about Jordanian Queen Rania’s activities earlier this week, and now we will hear what HRH Princess Sumaya Bint El Hassan has been up to. For the past […]

The post Jordan’s Sustainable Building Conference appeared first on Green Prophet.