Climate Study to achieve sustainability

Climate general principles:

Climate is the combined result of all meteorological variables that simultaneously happens in a given

· Geographical area.

· Meteorological variables include:

· Temperature

· Wind movement

· Solar radiation

· Relative humidity

· Pluviometery

Climate in Lebanon:

Climate in Lebanon is characterized by the existence of a cold winter season, a hot summer season and two mild seasons. These are also the characteristics of a Mediterranean climate.

Solar Sun Path

In order to create a sustainable system, one has to further study the sun path. Sun path is when the earth rotates around the sun and the position of the sun changes. These different seasonal/ hourly positions affect the design greatly.

Wind Movement

Wind movement is another major component of the climatic study. It includes the study of the wind speed and direction around and into the building.

Humidity

To achieve the right level of comfort zone, humidity levels entering the building should be studied. Psychometric charts allow user to know whether the environment is too humid, dry, cold or hot.

Reference:

Tukiainen. Matti. (2010). "Lebanon detailed climate report." Retrieved from: http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/bayrut.html.

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Green Roofs " A sustainable System"

A green roof is a roof of a house or a building that is covered with different types of plantations. These plantations are often placed on a series of barriers and layers such as waterproofing membranes. They are also connected to a series of drainage outlets. Green roofs systems have many advantages. The contains a habitat for wildlife; and also provides insulation, absorbs rainwater and lowers the toxicity levels in the air in addition to lowering the general air temperature of that city. In addition to that, green roofs are very pleasant to look at and add a lot to the structure as a whole.




Reference:

ToolBase Services. (2001). "Residential Green Room systems". Retrieved from: http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inventory/Roofs/green-roofs

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Sustainable Materials

The use of green building material and products constitute an important strategy during the building design phase.
Green building material offers specific benefits to the building owner and occupants
• reduce maintenance / replacement costs over the life of a building
• energy conservation.
• improved inhabitants’ health and productivity.
• greater design flexibility.
• lower impact on the environment and least carbon emission.
• possibility for recuperation and recycling.





Reference:
Lebanese Order of engineers. (2009) . “Introduction to Sustainable Material”. Retrieved March 20, 2010, from National Institute of Standards and Technology: http://www.nist.gov/index.html.

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Sustainable Architecture "A general View"

Sustainable or “green architecture” designs functional structures that are environmentally friendly. They aim to promote a sustainable life style and a sustainable culture.

The issues underlying sustainable design:
• Heating and cooling
• Water usage
• Environmental awareness
• Energy Usage

There are many simple factors that architects take into consideration to achieve a sustainable building. The first of which is the orientation of the building towards a certain direction depending on the country. When the building is oriented towards the right wind direction, it will be warm throughout the day by the sunlight and cool at night.

Lebanese Order of engineers. (2009) . “Introduction to Sustainable Material”. Retrieved March 20, 2010, from National Institute of Standards and Technology: http://www.nist.gov/index.html.

LIVE SUSTAINABLE- LIVE SLOW: My project

Today we are experiencing an increasing change of dynamics in urban conditions, therefore increasing stress and ailments and decreasing human interaction. Every medium of transport and interstitial moment between two locations, activities or conditions have been shrunk down to only the bare necessities. High-speed, high- rise, high-ways all contribute to this fast-paced, over dynamic lifestyle. On our site specifically, the dynamics of the fast paced Damascus road and increasing high-rise uncharacterized residential buildings abruptly collides with the SLOW life inside the block just Southeast of the site. Inside the block, one experiences many deviations on his/her path until the destination is reached. Each deviation is an activity, a chance to interact with one’s surroundings. The aim of our project is to counteract this fast-paced phenomenon and design for a slow lifestyle that provides intricate relationships within the scale of the building, being sustainable on a social level. The concept of living slow is further emphasized by providing farming as a complementary program. The farming takes place on the ground floor, integrated with a public program, communal farming floors, and more individualized farming patches next to the rooms. Awareness of where and how one’s food is produced, and promoting local food consumption under the SLOW food campaign also complements the social sustainability in the project by bringing students of different social backgrounds under one objective which is food production, which also aids in financing part of the boarding cost. The different programs in the building are integrated and linked in a way that promotes social interaction. The shifting arrangements of girls’ rooms are interconnected by passageways and exterior stairs on one side and linked to the boys’ rooms with gathering and working spaces that overlook and connect with catwalks and an internal staircase. At any point of the project, the resident is able to engage, connect, overlook, and interact with other residents. Sustainability over time has acquired different meanings on different levels. Different areas of our project are not only designed to meet technical sustainability requirements but they also promote it on a larger scale.











Reference:
Competition Project Presented by Sara Abu Saleh, Balsam Madi, and Aline Haddad to the Order of Engineers.