Evaluate the Performance and Sustainability in Building Materials for Use in Residential Buildings with Special Reference to the
City of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
“You need not be an environmentalist to appreciate the elegance of natural systems, and their structures, textures or colors. It is not new to be in awe of the power of nature, or to recognize that evolution avoids waste. However, only humanity can disregard immediate ecological constraints.”
Brian Edwards
Edwards, considered the leading guru in sustainable architecture, has acknowledged nature as a source of inspiration for architects, imitating and using it dynamically, saying that “the most imaginative contemporary architectural and engineering practices are ecologically minded” (Edwards, 2001)
Sustainable Development, particularly sustainability, a new influence which came out in 1992, places a new burden upon the shoulders of today’s designers and engineers. This new knowledge and skills are required to successfully address the expanding world of environmental responsibility. This is on top of the challenges required from construction professionals: site constraints, planning constraints, aesthetics, and cost and fitness for function, among others. The reason for all this activity stems from a growing of awareness of environmental issues amongst clients, construction professionals and the general public leading to legislation and professional codes of conduct which address these issues (Edwards, 1999).
The statistics reveal that these environmental issues are not hollow. Edwards (2001) enumerates the following relevant statistics that have bearing on this issue. For one, today’s buildings account for half of all raw material, water and energy consumption in the UK. These buildings produce about half of all global warming gases. On the other hand, humans spend approximately 80-90% of their lives indoors, an environment which may be uncomfortable or unhealthy. Also, fifty percent (50%) of the world’s population now live in cities. Furthermore, the construction process produces about 20% of UK waste and the demolition of buildings is responsible for 8% of UK waste.
Edwards (2001) points out that sustainability goes beyond low energy design as it is also concerned with the use of all resources such as materials, water and land. It also encompasses the health of the building occupants. But while the new duties can be considered a growing constraint, they are also leading to a new aesthetic in architectural, services and construction design.
The issue of sustainability is broad. Various energy and environmental assessment tools are available to assess if designs are fulfilling the requirements of sustainability. Moreover, this issue has spread all over the world, and as early as 1993, that year’s World Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) brought together 6,000 architects and design professionals from around the world under the theme, “Architecture at the Crossroads: Designing for a Sustainable Future.” (Gilman, 1993)
This shows the high level of awareness among building professionals on this issue. This discussion leads to another important consideration in sustainable architecture, which is in the evaluation of the performance and sustainability of the building materials used in residential buildings. This is an aspect of sustainable architecture which the researcher would like to investigate on, focusing specifically in the city of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Background of the Study
A revolution in the way we build is underway as architects, city planners, government officials, homeowners, and others embrace green forest products. Distributors and manufacturers of building materials from lumber to floor polish are responding to increasing consumer interest in sustainable development issues.
In recent years the green forestry and architecture movements have grown considerably and rapidly. “It’s not a coincidence that they are both catching fire simultaneously because one is really driving the other,” said Jason Grant, director of trade and market development for the Certified Forest Products Council (CFPC). The independent nonprofit voluntary business initiative promotes responsible forest practices by working to build the market for independently certified forest products.
Statement of the Problem
This paper seeks to address two major points:
1. Evaluate the performance and sustainability of the building materials used in the residential buildings in the City of Riyadh;
2. Evaluate the design concept of residential buildings if they minimize energy use and pollution and promote energy efficiency.
Methodology:
This paper seeks to carry out the following methodologies:
1. To highlight some building materials which perform functions directed to sustainable architecture in Riyadh; and,
2. To identify some design concepts which minimize energy use and pollution in residential buildings in Riyadh.
Review of Literature
1. “There is a profound change happening in the built environment, and it is extremely positive,” said Tim Taylor, president and CEO of Seattle, Washington’s Built-e, Inc. The “e” stands for environment and the company is a wholesaler that distributes green building products to retailers throughout the nation. The Environmental Home Center, Built-e’s retail outlet, has been operating in Seattle for nine years.
Taylor feels the key to selling green building products is “marrying information about the products with access to the products.” Therefore, Built-e doesn’t try to compete with other building materials retailers. Rather, its role is to identify and work with manufacturers to research and test sustainable building products and ultimately distribute that information as well as the products to retailers around the country.
“We believe there are plenty of retail building material stores in this country, in fact, too many,” said Taylor. “What we wanted to do is build a business where we use what we know about the products, our access to manufacturers, and our understanding of the information that needs to accompany products to help other building materials retailers sell the products,” he continued.
“All of the products we carry will have the same four characteristics that all building materials should have,” said Taylor. “They’re of an extremely high quality, they perform well, they are priced appropriately, and they are provided with an adequate level of service,” he added.
In addition to these traditional characteristics, Built-e’s products must meet a series of environmental criteria. “They will be more energy efficient, more resource efficient, and better for your health,” explained Taylor.
One product that Built-e markets is a German plant-based wood floor finish. Taylor says the finish is V.O.C. compliant (V.O.C.s are volatile organic compounds and are regulated by law), it’s durable, it’s beautiful, and it’s repairable. “If you have a scratch in a year or if there are damaged areas due to traffic, you can sand out the area, refinish it, and you don’t have to sand down the whole floor.” All of this makes for a much more sustainable product.
Taylor noted that ounce for ounce his Built-e floor finish is more expensive than the generic polyurethane you might find on the hardware store shelf. But closer inspection reveals that this sustainable product will actually save money in the long run.
Taylor explained that the plant-based finish requires two applications as opposed to three, it can be applied much thinner and so most of the floor finishers who install it will charge the same rate to use it as they would the typical polyurethane. “It costs the same amount as the traditional product it replaces, it’s more beautiful and more natural, and it allows you to repair the floor so over a 7 to 10 year period you can save a significant amount of money.”
Taylor maintains that it is this sort of information about sustainable building materials and wood products that needs to be presented to the consumer. “I think there’s a huge gap in general understanding of what certified forest products are all about,” said Taylor.
Grant agrees that the general public needs to continue to better understand the reasoning behind certified forest products. “At the end of the day it’s about forest conservation worldwide,” he said. “Forests are in trouble, and I don’t think that’s news to anyone,” said Taylor. He continued, “It’s a well-documented fact that in the last several hundred years we’ve lost over 30 percent of the world’s forest cover and the remainder is going fast and part of the reason for that is irresponsible logging, frankly.”
Grant admits it’s a complex matter that involves issues of poverty, overpopulation, and conversion of forest to cropland. But, he says, one of the keys to restoring the world’s forests is an international movement towards sustainable forestry practices. “The public’s interest in this is in maintaining a supply of wood and paper products that we all use,” said Grant.
“But it’s also in healthy forests and all that they provide us from recreational values, spiritual values, environmental services like regulating the global climate, providing habitat for half of the plant and animal species on the planet, and providing us with clean air and water,” he said.
3 .Evert Hasselaar and C. M. Ravesloot (2001) carried out a study on the
Dutch experience on sustainable building. The Municipality of The Hague adapted the national strategic goals. In 30 years, sustainable building must reach these goals:
1. Energy neutral building, which is the absence of fossil energy in favor of durable energy like solar heat, heat pumps, geothermal heat and photovoltaic electricity. In short: minimize the use of fossil energy and maximize the use of renewables;
2. Material neutral building, the building with locally balanced cycles of building materials, waste treatment and water, to avoid environmental hazard, damage and pollution. The goal is to build with industrial, flexible and demountable components (IFD) in housing. Material neutral means that all building materials, components and elements can be put back into some kind of recycling. At this moment 90% of materials from demolished buildings is being recycled, but the residual value is too low (e.g. burning waste wood for heating is low quality of recycling, re-using wooden frames would be high quality). In short: create closed cycles for water and materials;
3. The building of save, healthy and comfortable buildings, cities and landscapes for men, animals and plants, with a maximum of bio-diversity. In short: the improvement of the quality of the environment in terms of health, safety and comfort.
The Dutch policy on sustainable building set strategic goals for the next 30 years. In response to this, the City of The Hague came up with operational policy. Its Department of Building Ecology and Building Physics immediately looked for new tactical and operational policies. The important issue in a new policy was how to make an efficient and equivalent involvement of inhabitants of The Hague in urban policies possible.
The questions the municipality wondered about are:
1. Can participative design processes improve the quality of innovations from the perspective of users? This paper explains why design processes in sustainable architecture improve with involvement from users.
2. Do users have design-relevant knowledge and how can this knowledge be incorporated into technological development? Users of buildings do have relevant information for design teams, as they have experience in the use of the built environment. They will counterbalance the priorities of designers with the priorities users have. The success of innovations in sustainable architecture depends on user friendly solutions and how inhabitants understand and accept the housing facilities and technical services.
3. Is it possible to organize user involvement effectively or do such strategies belong to the realm of symbolic policymaking? The Municipality tried to involve the inhabitants of the Duindorp quarter in the development process. The experiment was a success, considering the mistrust that characterized the communication between the quarter inhabitants and city officials. The Duindorp experience also revealed the limits of user involvement and on the representation of the inhabitants in the decision making process.
The Dutch policy on sustainable building started around 1989. In 1995 the operational plan “Sustainable building, investing in the future” (Plan van Aanpak Duurzaam Bouwen: Investeren in de toekomst), was launched, with programmes and pilot projects supported by the central government. In 1997 a second operational plan followed, emphasizing on co-operation and communication with all parties involved in the building process. Sustainable building had become an important part of communication and planning, but a relative minor group of professionals, cities and companies were active. Filling the gap between vanguard and the masses is a major topic now, and the relation between sustainable building and healthy building is getting more attention. Legislative measures are not taken. Financial stimuli, covenants with sectoral organizations and transfer of knowledge are preferred instead. After 10 years of promotion by the national government, the goal was set to leave sustainable development to the “market” in the year 2004. Sustainable quality must at that moment be an integral part of processes in all sectors of policy making. It is up to the cities and municipalities to develop their own operational policy now. Communication about strategies has produced the idea of factors. “Factor 20′ is a well-known slogan in Dutch science and policy related to sustainability in the built environment. It is a metaphor, which refers to a substantial increase of environmental efficiency. It encourages long-term thinking and a very high ambition level. “Factor 20″ is derived from Commoner and Ehrlich and Ehrlich. Commoner stated that the global environmental impact depends on the population size, the average prosperity per person and the environmental impact per unit of prosperity.
4. Osama Al Bakri (2002) tackled the natural ventilation of courtyard houses
in Saudi Arabia. Global warming, air pollution and consumption of the unsustainable energy resources are part of the most important issues worldwide. The concern in Saudi Arabia for these issues is growing and the government is trying to rationalize energy consumption in every sector. The need to introduce new techniques to reduce energy consumption is essential and one possible way is the use of passive designs such as natural ventilation.
The traditional life style in Saudi Arabia used natural ventilation in all house types. In the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, tents used to be ventilated by removing its side walls. In the central region, mud courtyard houses use the courtyard with the triangular openings on the external elevations of the house for ventilation. In the western region, the Rowshan was the main ventilation device, and in the eastern region wind towers were used. This thesis is concerned with the system used in traditional mud courtyard houses in the central region. This system, which existed in houses up to 200 years old, combined with the use of thermal mass construction, was very effective in achieving comfort in this hot dry region of the country.
A field trip to this region revealed 15 different shapes and arrangements for these triangular openings. Field measurements of the thermal performance and ventilation rates were carried out in 9 different case studies. The effect of the thermal mass walls was clear during these measurements. The tested spaces had low ventilation rates, which gave clear understanding of the way these houses work . Wind tunnel and computer simulation programs were used to simulate thermal and ventilation conditions in the house. The results of these simulations show that the combination of thermal mass and low ventilation rates provide a thermally comfortable indoor space.
The reduction in energy consumption and the use of natural ventilation in modern houses requires the willingness of the people. A survey was carried out in Saudi Arabia in the form of a questionnaire to assess people’s attitude to natural ventilation and energy consumption. The findings of this survey showed that the Saudis are aware of the issues and are willing to use natural ventilation to reduce energy consumption.
The reuse of traditional building techniques in modern houses will give the benefits of the past with today’s technology.
Study Data
This paper will identify 10 major residential buildings within the City of Riyadh and determine if they are able to satisfy the two major research points of this study.
Bibliography
Edwards, Brian (2001). Rough Guide to Sustainability. London: RIBA Publications
Edwards, Brian (1999). Sustainable Architecture European Directive & Building Design. Oxford.
Edwards, Brian (2001). Green Architecture. London, Wiley-Academy.
Fowler, Stacey (2001). “Building Materials Come of Age” Environmental News Network.
Gilman, Robert. (1993). Sustainable Design Goes International. Context Institute. Vol. 9. No. 16.
Osama Al Bakri. (2002). “Natural Ventilation in Traditional Courtyard Houses in the Central Region of Saudi Arabia”. PHd Thesis. Welsh School of Architecture, University of Cardiff.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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