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Qatar Green Building Conference 2016 ߝ The Action
- Conference date: 13-15 Nov 2016
- Location: Doha, Qatar
- Volume number: 2016
- Published: 09 November 2016
41 - 46 of 46 results
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Native plant landscaping and species selection to promote sustainability and biodiversity in Qatar
The State of Qatar has chosen to pursue the path of sustainable development, making it the focus of the Qatar National Development Strategy. Given the large scale industrialization and the limited land availability, the urban environment will be crucial in maintaining native species. Current landscaping practices in Qatar are heavily reliant on introduced species that require extensive irrigation and modified soils in this hyper-arid desert environment. We provide an analysis of the dominant landscaping plants currently in use, including both the costs and benefits of the use of such plants. We also provide solutions by outlining options for the use of native plants in landscaping in Qatar. This includes the architectural, social and aesthetic aspects of the native species as well as the physical requirements such as water availability and soil demands.
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Urban ecology in deserts: Considerations in light of long-term sustainability, biodiversity conservation and human well-being
Authors: AD Chatziefthimiou, S Abdul Majid, N Karavotas, M Alaaeldin, A Amato, C Skelhorn and R RicherHistorically, urban ecology has been regarded as a mere extension of human ecology in the urban setting, and has been exercised as a science of parts. For example, urbanization has been studied in isolation of its effects on ecosystem services, richness of biodiversity and climate change. In recent years, concepts of sustainability have been infused into the science of urban ecology, and thus whole cities are viewed as integral ecosystem entities, impacted by urbanization and requiring interdisciplinary approaches of study. It may be argued that desert countries facing imminent desertification, especially those in the Arabian Gulf currently undergoing rampant infrastructural and industrial development, are in a more pressing need for an urban ecological design that would ameliorate the negative impacts of such development on air and soil quality. Additionally, climate change due to urbanization and the increased need for water desalination incur heat island effects and lead to deterioration of water quality, another strong driver to desertification. Qatar offers a very exciting challenge when it comes to urban ecological design and study, as it is a country that is still being developed; it is a country that has recognized the need for a sustainable development framework as that is showcased in the Qatar National Vision 2030; and it is a country whose Master Urban Plan is still not finalized, leaving room for implementation of best practices for a rich urban ecology. In this paper, we discuss aspects of air and water quality, and propose an urban ecological design that favors selection of indigenous and desert-adapted biota to conserve natural resources, conserve biodiversity and improve human well-being.
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Guidelines for terrestrial ecological surveys in Qatar
Authors: Sara Abdul Majid, Renee Richer, Arvind Bhatt, Alex Amato and Aspassia D. ChatziefthimiouDevelopment in Qatar is taking place at an unprecedented rate and such activities are putting the environment at risk, and threatening the ecosystem and biodiversity of the country. According to the Qatar National Vision 2030, the country seeks to preserve and protect its unique environment. The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) is tracking environmental impacts arising from development using tools such as Environmental Impact Assessments and Construction Environmental Management Plans. Although the MME does have a process for review and approval of the content of these assessments, it does not, however, enforce guidelines for ecological survey methodology. This means that the scope and methodology of these surveys may vary, based on the consultant employed. We feel that it would be highly beneficial to introduce country-specific ecological survey guidelines addressing methods for sample point selection, estimating vegetation cover, fauna presence and addressing the need for nocturnal fauna surveys. This will lead to standardized methods and easier comparisons across different sites. We also discuss the need for MME to have a register for professionally qualified and recognized ecologists in the country. Ecologists must be highly qualified with experience in desert environments, and have intricate knowledge of local laws and regulations on the conservation of natural environments and sustainable development.
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The contribution of human in the service of the sustainable green buildings – Gyms
Authors: Monjed Darabseh and Islam ObeidatSustainable or green architecture is a general term describing the environmentally conscious design techniques in the field of architecture, which is a way of designing buildings. In a way it respects the environment, by reducing energy consumption, materials and resources while minimizing the effect of construction and its use on the environment, organizing the relationship with nature.
There is an important role to be played in long-term sustainability in everyday life. There are many ways for saving energy in all areas of life; for example, we can find a way to use the energy generated by the sport machines that save energy.
In this paper, we discuss the importance of designing gyms in a way that it saves energy, while working on spreading this type of gyms in all sustainable green buildings and making it one of the basic products for energy. For the success of this project and design, we must urge the human side to exercise.
Q. What are the ingredients to be used for the success of this design?
Q. What are the methods of awareness and goodness for using gyms as a daily use?
Data on sustainable design were collected from published scientific research during the last five years, and applied the information obtained to design a sustainable gym.
After studying numerous subjects about energy-saving and its importance especially in the gyms at sustainable green buildings, we concluded that the sport machines should be linked to power generators to convert kinetic energy to electrical energy to be used in these buildings. We get a sustainable green building using the human resource. The importance of sustainable design lies in designing gyms through energy-saving and productivity of sport equipment to provide a healthy and athletic environment within the gyms.
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Public policies and cities: How to balance sustainability and inclusiveness?
More LessSustainable Development Goal # 11 (SDG # 11) has been a significant push for the global agenda to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This paper will aim at focusing on the first and last components of SDG # 11 and try to explain how cities can balance both with right public policies. The reason why these two components are selected to discuss is that usually policy makers have historically seen them as two conflicting objectives. For instance, policies to create more public spaces such as parks, recreation areas, etc. in cities have been highly objected by developers and the private sector in general due to their low or almost zero revenue-generating potential. Then, are public policies towards cities doomed to fail in terms of bridging sustainability and inclusivity? Does it mean that cities are left with no choice to create winners and losers? What are the prospects for SDG # 11 if this inherent dilemma is not resolved? The paper will try to address these questions and conclude.
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Developing realistic sustainable strategies for automated construction
Authors: Steven Humphrey and Andrew ReidThe construction industry is increasingly experimenting with new automated construction techniques covering every aspect of the delivery process, from design through to operations. Technology is evolving fast, but understanding of the true benefits, sustainable implications, and practical implementation strategies remains limited. Despite numerous demonstration projects, which claim significant advancements and successes, industry-wide adoption has been lacking. However, many of the claims made by manufacturers, implementers, and sponsors are selective in the reporting of the project outcome, meaning that trust is reduced and wider adoption is constrained. This study explains the current functional limitations and misconceptions across a range of automated construction technologies, including 3D printing, robotic construction, pre-fabrication, and system control. It also examines the sustainability implications of the different strategies across all three core sustainable components to ask whether these methods really make a positive difference. The objective of the study is to provide a complete practical guide for the global construction aiming at how automated strategies can be adopted and why they should be adopted, along with guidelines for their use. Coupled with these strategies are a series of proposals for the manufacturing sector to consider, in order to develop equipment and systems that can be of greater functional benefit for the construction sector. Where genuine benefits are identified, these are examined to see how they could potentially be expanded to produce even greater sustainable rewards.
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