A Magazine for the Environmental Center for Arab Towns · 2018. 9. 5. · A Magazine for the Environmental Center for Arab Towns 5 Issue 13 – January 2016 Millennium Development

ENVIROCITIESIssue 13, Jan 2016

eMagazine

A Magazine for the Environmental Center for Arab Towns

p a r t n e r s

Innovation forSustainability

Envirocities eMagazine

2

Our Message

Protection of the environment issue from pollution and risks become of the most critical issues facing humanity, and when we look to the future, it is a very complex and sensitive in nature, as well it relates to our daily living and their direct impact on many of our lives. Therefore, the issue of environmental protection is a crucial public issue and should not leave to the Governments alone or for professionals only for consideration and addressed, everyone in the community is responsible and involved in preventing environmental harm, from his position or location as he could. We believe that the implementation of projects and eco-friendly initiatives in the frame and connected with urban development plans and strategic plans in city councils, is the key to the emergence of green cities. In our effort to practice the same and keeping with the times, the EnviroCities magazine is dedicated to be an online magazine only to raise environmental awareness and to enable maximum outreach in shortest time. Dubai Municipality believes in the importance of Environmental awareness and wants to define its role in environmental protection and conservation to achieve sustainability and real development as we are working, which makes Dubai an excellent city that provides the essence of success and comfort of living.

H.E. Eng. Hussain Nassir LootahDirector General of Dubai Municipality Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Environmental Center for Arab Towns

Contents


3 Issue 13 – January 2016

Sustainable Development Goals: “Transforming our World” with Innovation

4 - 8

Innovation in Sustainability

9 - 12

Sustainable Development and its Origin

13 - 17

How Innovation Can Enable Local Governments Reach the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 11, 14 and 15

18 - 22

Innovative Solutions for Cities Sustainable Development

23 - 28

Ecological Urban Design

20 - 23

Jump-starting the SDGs in the UAE: Lessons from Early Adopters

29 - 31

Smart Buildings: When Sustainability Meets Information Technology

32 - 35

Ensuring access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all

40 - 43

Combatting Climate Change through Innovation: Urban Cooling

36 - 39

ICBA develops new net house design to save water and energy

44 - 46

On September 25th, 2015 at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit was adopted the resolution named “Transforming our world: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”1 including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice,

improve health and education, achieve economic growth with decent work, provide clean energy, water and infrastructure, create sustainable cities, protect the natural environment and biodiversity and tackle climate change in an atmosphere of peace and justice.

70 years after the foundation of the United Nations this historical resolution was taken by over 190 world leaders in New York as “universal, integrated and transformative vision for a better world” in the words of Secretary general Mr. Ban Ki-moon.

The 17 SDGs are continuing the work set on this way fifteen years ago by the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs)2, which in September 2000 rallied the world around a common 15 years agenda to tackle the indignity of poverty and hunger, particularly over the most vulnerable citizens: children and women.


4

Eng. Maritza VARGAS Independent Environmental and Sustainability Consultant

Sustainable Development Goals: “Transforming our World” with Innovation

Sustainable Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS and Malaria and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development



Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

With the Millennium Development Goals for the first time the world came together around a common and simple goal agenda. The 8 MDGs were supported by 21 targets and 60 indicators to monitoring its achievement in a measurable way that underpinned progress on poverty reduction, health, education, access to water and sanitation and global partnerships in many parts of the world. The UN has called the MDG “the most successful antipoverty movement in history” since most of the goals were attained. For instance, it can be claimed that the MDG 1 -“Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”- was achieved moderately, since it is a fact that poverty has been reduced from 1,926 million people living in extreme poverty in 1990 to 836 million around the world this year 2015. Regarding MDG 2 - “Achieve universal primary education”- there were 100 million of children in school age out of school in the year 2000 and there are 57 million of children out of primary school in 2015. However, whether these achievements were a consequence of the MDGs implementation or the result of a huge economic growth in emerging countries, like China and India, and soared GDP in oil-producing developing countries due to unprecedented high global oil prices, it could be the theme for another article.

Yes, in general the MDGs were partially attained, but some skeptics could say that we are still way behind with some of the goals, for example the MDG 3 – “Promote gender equality and women

empowerment”- since 90% of countries have more women in parliament now than in 1995, conversely the rate of female vs males is still minimum. And even worst, the inequality in labor market is a global embarrassment, since gender wage gap is still present all over the world, in most of the cases as a consequence of discrimination and ineffective government policies. Upon The Economist, March 5th 2015 “The glass-ceiling Index”, the smallest disparity gender wage gap is found in New Zealand where females earn 5.6% less than their males colleagues.

6


Innovation and the SDGs

The new 17 SDGs build upon the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seek to address their unfinished business going further and addressing the root causes of poverty and targeting world’s people aspirations for peace, justice, wellbeing and prosperity while preserving our planet. We have learned that there is plenty of room for action to achieve the SDGs, to balance the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental protection, social progress and economic growth, and innovation can be the key for new policies and to apply technology as a tool to fight poverty and carve the future we all want for our planet.

Innovation is embedded on the 17 SDGs. It is not only part of SDG number 9 focused in Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure, but innovation can be also applied to the 16th other goals.

Innovation in the context of sustainable development means aiming for the equilibrium of green economic growth, social justice, equity and environmental protection in a new and Eco-innovative way.

Innovation is to go beyond traditional understanding to tackle poverty, lack of energy and sanitation, health care and education. It is to seek for a window of business opportunities in the market that could lead to the development of technologies that contribute generating more jobs and wealth in a greener economy, with zero waste, efficient use of resources, dematerialization, clean and affordable energy.

ECO-INNOVATION = CREATIVITY + ECO-DESIGN + IMPLEMENTATION

Working around a green economy, we will be creating sustainable cities supported with the necessary infrastructure to provide clean energy, water, transportation, communication, green spaces for recreation, education, sanitation and ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all at all ages.

Social innovation means changing lifestyles or patterns of consumption, which, associated with Eco-innovation and applied to products and services, can lead to green production and green consumption, and as a result, achieving SDG 12. Social innovation also means to work on a new societal mindset to accept all human beings as equal with no difference of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, origin, disability or economic/social status. All humans should enjoy freedom, equality, inclusion and security, as it is expressed on the SGD 10 targets.

Environmentally oriented innovations can contribute to the mitigation and adaptation of climate change and to the clean up, protection,

7


Issue 13 – January 2016

conservation and sustainable use of oceans seas and marine ecosystems. Furthermore, innovation and technology can help immensely to the protection, restauration and promotion of sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, combating desertification, land degradation and halting biodiversity loss. There are many advances on data collection and analysis of indicators for monitoring and evaluation of vulnerable ecosystems and fragile populations for conservation programs.

Innovative Research and Development can accelerate the race to achieve the SDGs in many areas, such as in education, health, water and energy, for example by increasing the efficiency in production and distribution of clean energy, or in agriculture developing new modern methods to maximize yields, boost food security and promote business among small farmers.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon said:“the 17 SDGs will chart a new era of Sustainable Development in which poverty will be eradicated, prosperity shared and the core drivers of Climate Change tackled”.

Now is our turn to make them happen, we should plan and take actions to achieve the 17 SDG. Otherwise, as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said: “A goal without a plan is just a wish”

8


References and photo sources:

1. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E

2. http://www.un-documents.net/mdg.htm

3. http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=38383

4. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSONlXZWcAAkMvG.jpg

5. http://www.itbusinessedge.com/imagesvr_ce/6434/DonStiflingInnovation00.jpg

9



Countries, cities and communities are exploring new ways to protect themselves from impacts of climate change in both the short and long term. There are several trends emerging in the world unseen even decades before.

One of the trends is to generate social and environmental value by catering to low income consumers. The base of the economic pyramid is composed of four billion low income consumers who live on approximately $8 a day local purchasing power. By developing new business models tailored to the base of the pyramid, the solutions representing this trend are helping ensure sustainable development and economic growth for those who need the most.

Secondly, Businesses are responding to the economic logic of going circular and attracting more consumers by sharing financial rewards that result. In addition to significant reduction in CO2 emissions more than $1 trillion a year could be generated from 2025 from a successful transition to a more circular economy. Commodity prices are skyrocketing with prices of metals alone have increased by 176% since 2000. This increases company incentives in reuse, recycle and retaining control of resources to remain within a closed loop.

Third trend is people around the world are joining forces to build sustainable communities from bottom up. Thanks to research from fields of behavioral economics and social psychology, we are all well aware of how important social norms and a sense of group belonging are to guiding our actions. Most people are influenced by behavior of others and not by cold facts. Many cities around the world are implementing new community-mobilizing programs to achieve environmental gains.

Sandhya PrakashBeacon Energy Solutions – Founder & CEOEmail: [email protected]

Innovation in Sustainability

We shall look at innovative solutions in three sectors as Part I of III articles.

1. Building Sector

2. Transportation Sector

3. Fashion Sector

Building Sector

Here are a few innovations in sustainability in the Building Sector:

Building sector is responsible for 32% of total global energy use and 19% of energy related GHG emissions. Given current trends, energy use for buildings could double or triple by 2050. Investment in retrofitting with a payback period of less than 5 years could cut energy use for buildings by less than 40%.

This roof and façade coating creates energy savings by reflecting the rays of the sun back into space while also transforming harmful exhaust gases to harmless salts. Cities around the world face problems with harmful air pollution. If applied on all roofs and facades, this solution will substantially reduce NOx particles and mitigate climate change. According to ISO paint Nordic, the coating’s cooling effect also

• Coating that Cools and Fights Air Pollution

extends the life of treated surfaces and in cooler climates itself a study by Danish Technological Institute has shown cooling effect of 5 degree C inside the house.

By compressing gravel and treating it with drying oil to create cheap household flooring, EarthEnable offers a sustainable solution to the environmental and health problems caused by dirt floors in developing countries.

Powerwall is a compact battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels or drawn from the grid when utility rates are low and powers the home when electricity is needed.

Energy storage can make an important contribution to decoupling demand and supply, which also helps to integrate renewable energy sources.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

1000 sqm coating is able to prevent NOx gases equal to 30000 km of car driving annually according to ISO

According to WHO, 7 million premature deaths annually are linked to air pollution, which this coating will address

A Copenhagen Hotel achieved 10% annual energy bill saving Payback time is less than 24 months

SOCIAL IMPACT

ECONOMIC IMPACT

• Affordable floors create healthier lives

• Renewable Energy Storage for Homes


10

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

• Creates sustainable and durable floors

• From locally sourced natural material

SOCIAL IMPACT

• In Rwanda they train local masons

• By supplying professional tools to local employees - the initiative is self sustaining

ECONOMIC IMPACT

• 3/4 the cost of concrete floors

• Cleaner & Healthier floors

The air filters from Delta M are 100% reused and recycled, as compared to throw away filters that create large amount of solid waste and take hundreds of years to break down.

The transportation sector represents new approaches to non-motorized and public transportation along with sharing of bikes and cars, while electric means of transportation are also heavily represented.

• Peer to Peer Bicycle sharing platforms

Spinlister is a peer-to-peer platform that enables users to list and rent bikes in over 65 countries. By enabling users to loan bicycles to each other via easy to use web platform or app, we are using existing resources and capitalizing on ever growing desire to have access over ownership in cities around the world. Many bicycles sit unused on a daily basis, while other residents and tourists seek more convenient two wheeled transport.

• Durable bamboo Bikes for greater mobility

The Ghana Bamboo bikes initiative manufactures high quality, multipurpose bikes out of local bamboo that are suitable for rough terrain and adapted to local needs. Bamboo resources are abundant in Ghana. The community manufactures affordable bicylces and frames. These bicycles can withstand rough terrain and inclement weather and are designed to allow local maintenance and repairs.

In the fashion sector, you will encounter solutions spanning from yarn made of old fishnets and leasing of children’s wear to a new way of dyeing fabric.

• Circular Model for Air Filter Reuse



Air filters are financially competitive because customers save on operational costs

Customers are rewarded with return rebate credit for every filter reusedEC

ON

OM

IC IM

PACTAir filters are necessary to

avoid indoor air pollution

According to WHO 1.5 million people die from causes attributed to indoor air pollutionSO

CIAL

IMPA

CT

Diverted more than 5 million air filters from landfill

ENVI

RON

MEN

TAL

IMPA

CT

Transportation

Fashion


12

• Index Driving Sustainability in Apparel Industry

The Higg Index evaluates sustainability practices and inspires collective action amongst brands, retailers and facilities in apparel and footwear and home textiles industries.

The Higg Index helps companies evaluate their environment impact and provides suggestions and improvements. It is a suite of self-assessment tools and currently 2000 facilities are using Higg Index.

• Waterless CO2 Dyeing of Textiles

DyeCoo offers a CO2-based dyeing technology that eliminates water and processing chemicals from the dyeing process and reduces energy consumption. The process uses reclaimed CO2 for polyester dyeing and already has been embraced by major brands like IKEA and NIKE. In the process 85% of CO2 is recovered and returned to storage as liquid ready for reuse, which makes this a close loop technology. The result is elimination of water and chemicals and 50% reduction in energy consumption.



Sustainable Development and its Origin

Fatima MubarakSenior Environmental Officer Environmental Center for Arab Towns- Dubai Municipality Email: [email protected]

Sustainable development has been defined in various ways, but the common widely used definition is based on "Our Common Future" Report published during the Brundtland commission in 1987 and what it states basically is that:- "Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Definitions of sustainable development might vary but at the end they lead to the same approach as shown in figure (1).

Introduction and overview

Acceptance of the term by the United Nation General Assembly has given the term somewhat political importance and it has also led to the development of the sustainable development principles during the year of 1992 by leaders and key players at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (WCED) in Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Sustainable development is a visionary model and over the past 20 years governments, civil societies, businesses and NGO's were able to make progress in the sustainable development process. However, the concept remains vague and it has been proved that the implementation process is still difficult. Many unsustainable trends continue to run without any political entries found in process. Accordingly, climate change became the de facto proxy of the sustainable development agenda.


14

Key concept 1: Interdependence: meaning that one should understand how the environment and economy are interlinked at all levels from local to global.

Key concept 2:- Citizenship and Stewardship: responsibilities are to be taken by each individual within the community to ensure the world is a better place.

Key concept 3:- Needs and Rights of Future Generations: Understanding the basic needs of the community and the implications of actions taken today for the needs of the future generations.

Key concept 4:- Diversity: respecting and valuing cultural, social and economic differences.

Key concept 5:- Quality Of Life:- acknowledging that global equity and justice are essential elements of sustainability and are also basic needs that must be met universally.

Key concept 6:- Uncertainty and precautions:- different approaches to sustainability should be acknowledged and the constant change of situations and your acknowledgement of lifelong and flexible learning approaches.

Key Concept 7:- Sustainable change: - understanding that resources are limited and this might result in a negative impact on people's lifestyles

Sustainable development consists of 7 main key concepts which are the following:-

In addition to the key concepts there are also three pillars of sustainability. These are economic, environmental and social pillars which lie beneath the whole approach to sustainable development. The entire idea of the three pillars was adopted into UK policy planning.

The structure of sustainable development evolved between the years of 1972 and 1992 through a series of summits and conferences. The concept was first introduced during the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972, it was the first international platform gathering to

confer sustainability at a comprehensive scale. The conference resulted in the creation of a series of recommendations that has led to the establishment of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) as well as the emergence of many national environmental protection agencies.

In the year of 1983, the UN assembled with the WCED chaired by the Norwegian Former Prime Minister Gro Harlem. A commission was created to tackle rising concerns of the collapse of human environment and natural resources and the consequences of the collapse for economic and social development. Four years later, the group has published a report to address these issues Our Common Future (also known as the Brundtland Report). The report has provided a stark analysis of the state of the environment as well as popularizing the most commonly used definition of sustainable development: “Development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, p. 45).



The 3 pillars of Sustainability

The origins of sustainable development


16

The Brundtland report was the milestone of the Rio Summit held in 1992 in which it has laid the funda-mentals for the global incorporation of sustainable development. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21 were adopted by the Earth.

Summit and has outlined a global action plan for sus-tainable development The Rio Declaration consisted of 27 principles of sustainable development, includ-ing principle 7 on “common but differentiated re-sponsibilities,” which stated: “In view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation, States have common but differentiated responsibili-ties. Agenda 21 included 40 separate chapters, setting actions in regard to the social and economic scope of sustainable development, conservation and manage-ment of natural resources, the role of major groups, and means of implementation. Three mechanisms of Environmental governance were established dur-ing the Rio Summit: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the non-legally

binding Statement of Forest principles. The Rio sum-mit was very successful from a political angle it had the world’s engagement and attendance by every na-tional leader. A number of international conferences on sustainable development have been conducted including the Earth Summit +5 in New York and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in the year of 2002.

Progress has been made on sustainable development metrics. In view of the fact that concerns over envi-ronmental degradation and increasing pollution have led to increased investment in green technologies. The implementation process remains a challenge, but there is evidence of advancement. Advances have been made on poverty mitigation through the efforts of halving the proportion of people whose income

Progress on sustainable development



are less that 1 US dollar per day. The environment is a a main concern for governments and firm over the past 20 years, and there are a number of efforts to incorporate environmental considerations more effectively into economic decision-making. Examples on that is integration of governmental efforts in diverse developed countries to place a price on carbon, a growing recognition of the value of eco-system services to business and society, and efforts to assess advancements towards Sustainable development. Global concerns over envi-ronmental degradation and the increase pollution have led to increased investment in green innovations. The Montreal Protocol for example has been successful in banning all the ozone-depleting substances. Despite the progress on sustainable development, negative unsustainable trends continue to happen. Rio Summit has been fed the economic growth by resource and material consumption and related environmental impacts.

18


It Meeting sustainable development targets requires action on several dimensions, including harnessing and maximizing the potential of technological innovation. Required are more appropriate policy interventions, institutional innovations and new approaches to shaping the innovation process. Examples of such technologies include carbon capture and storage systems, more efficient irrigation methods, essential medicines, household water purification devices and manufacturing processes that minimize waste and pollution. While some needed innovations can be developed and promoted through existing public and private mechanisms at the national level, such efforts have proven inadequate to meet global sustainability goals, particularly with regard to meeting the needs of the world’s poorest, most vulnerable or marginalized in current and future generations. Too often, technologies are either not developed at all due to lack of a sufficiently profitable market, or if developed, are not accessible or well-adapted to end-user needs at the local level. Thus, a question may be asked: How can we advance knowledge and understanding of how to equitably and locally improve the functioning of the “global innovation system” for sustainable development technologies?

For centuries, the concept of innovation has primarily related to economic issues, but environmental and societal pressures have spurred the rethinking of innovations in the context of sustainable development. The main challenge towards this essential transition to greener, cleaner and more equitable economic growth is to address innovation not just from a pessimistic economic level but also from a humanistic social and environmental dimension. As innovations are regarded as a means towards this

transition, an integrated perspective among social, economic and environmental dimensions should be held at the center of attention. Developing relevant knowledge for managing complex innovation processes requires a transdisciplinary approach to bridge the gap between science and practice.

Increasingly stringent economic competition, unequal access to scarce natural resources, an aging workforce and environmental degradation have motivated some European institutions to go beyond their traditional understanding of innovation that has focused primarily on technological solutions and scientific innovation linked to improved market developments. However, new innovative concepts (e.g., “eco-innovation”, “social innovation”, “open innovation”, institutional, governance, organizational innovation) are increasingly regarded as a “window of opportunity” for markets and society to move toward social progress with an equal, low-carbon and knowledgeable economy.

To stimulate more innovations for each of these three goals, some examples that are locally appropriate include:

Dr. Arthur Hayne Mitchell Climate Change and Landslides Mitigation Specialist5513 Landmark Place, Fairfax, Virginia 22032 USA;Email: [email protected]

How Innovation Can Enable Local Governments Reach the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 11, 14 and 15

19



Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources

• Lagos, Nigeria: Providing Incentives for Recycling in Low-Income Communities: Wecyclers is fueling social change for the environment by allowing people in low-income communities to capture value from waste using low-cost collection infrastructure. Wecyclers uses a fleet of low-cost cargo bicycles to offer a convenient household recycling service in densely populated low-income neighborhoods.

• New institutional and regional coordination forms for sustainable land management: One example for this innovation management challenge can be found in the biosphere reserve Spreewald, Germany, where actors need to develop new sustainable land use business models for the maintenance of fen peatlands, relevant for climate change and biodiversity.

• Madagascar: Andavadoaka Village: Marine Reserves for Octopus: Fishing pressure has been considerably exacerbated by commercialization of traditional fisheries. The strategy ensures long-term survival of octopus and greater yields for local fishers when the bans are lifted. In parallel, project leaders have been working with local communities to stimulate and diversify the local economy through the development of alternative sustainable livelihoods, including eco-tourism and mariculture businesses, providing financial alternatives to overexploitation of natural resources, the primary non-climate-related threat to the region’s biodiversity.

• Melbourne, Australia: Public-Private Partnership for Citywide Retrofitting: Melbourne’s Environmental Upgrade Agreement (EUA) system is part of the city’s efforts to meet its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2020. It consists of an agreement between a property owner, a bank, and local government that facilitates a building upgrade to improve energy efficiency.

• Innovative financing for sustainable forestry: The real challenge is to apply and customize today's normative "best practice" public and private financial strategies and mechanisms to the business realities and opportunities of sustainable forestry enterprises and projects. It is widely recognized that public funds to promote sustainable forestry practices have been lacking and existing funds have not been very effective in reducing deforestation or in achieving sustainability objectives.

Forests and Land use

20


A herder leads her sheep in search for grazing grounds in Inner

Mongolia,which is fighting severe desertification.

Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA

Smaller families enable women to contribute to the household income

and reduces the pressure on the natu-ral resources.Village women octopus

gleaning.

• Mongolia: Improving productivity and combating desertification: Results included: better management of the herds has led to economic increases for the shepherds. A rise in productivity for the livestock farmers has made them all the more determined to participate in the program. In the almost seven years since the program began, over 3 million hectares have been returned to grazing use. One of the most successful outcomes includes the creation of 66 associations organized by the shepherds (PUGs), which allow the beneficiaries of government subsidies to be accurately identified. The plan also foresees monitoring of the lands in line with international indicators and standards.

Desertification

Biodiversity

• Recognizing and enhancing local innovation in managing agricultural biodiversity: The focus is on current innovativeness of local people and current dynamics of indigenous knowledge: how farmers, on their own initiative, develop new ways of using and managing genetic resources. Such endogenous processes are often overlooked when outsiders intervene in efforts to conserve biodiversity. Indeed, some interventions may unknowingly undermine local creativity and energies. But there are encouraging examples of projects that support local initiatives in managing agricultural diversity.

• South Africa: Bushbuck Ridge Project: Working for Wetlands: The National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2004 found that 44 % of freshwater ecosystems associated with the main rivers in South Africa are critically endangered, compared with only 5 % of terrestrial ecosystems. ‘Working for Wetlands’ is partnering with private sector companies in the mining and forestry industry to expand both the funding base and program outreach. In the 5 years to 2005, the Working for Wetlands Program rehabilitated 175 wetlands nation-wide and employed 8,000 disadvantaged South Africans at a cost of USD$ 28 million.

21



Kabir Bavikatte, Laureen Manuel, and Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice) travelled to Bushbuckridge, South Africa, to hold workshops on social justice and the environment

22


Author: Dr. Arthur H. Mitchell is a senior environmental, biodiversity and natural resources manager, environmental policy specialist, conservation biologist and biological anthropologist with nearly 30 years of experience, including over 20 years outside the United States in 15 countries, primarily in Southeast and South Asia. Dr. Mitchell have worked in a variety of team leadership roles on many conservation and development projects; and has coordinated and been primary investigator for institutional, social, environmental and field biodiversity management projects.

A recycling initiative in Lagos, Ni-geria, that uses zero-emissions trans-

port and enables low-income com-munities to make money out of their

waste

The biosphere reserve of Spreewald, Germany

23



Eng. Nadine Chahine BitarFounder – Place MakingTurning urban spaces into placesEmail: [email protected]

Innovative Solutions for Cities Sustainable Development

In resolution 66/207 and in line with the bi-decennial cycle (1976, 1996 and 2016), the United Nations General Assembly decided on the Habitat III Conference to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, to focus on the implementation of a “New Urban Agenda”, building on the Habitat Agenda of Istanbul in 1996.The Habitat III tackles in particular one of the new global Sustainable Development Goals announced on the 25th September 2015 when the Heads of State and Government and High Representatives, met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York as the Organization celebrates its seventieth anniversary.

The agenda 2030, 17 Sustainable development goals span many sectors ranging from education to green economy, climate change to biodiversity, poverty alleviation to science and research.

Figure 1- United Nations Sustainable Development Goals - Agenda 2030 (source: United Nations)

24


Both Goal 11 and its targets bring to our awareness one of the most important disciplines in approaching sus-tainable development of cities – Urban design.

Cities, the birthplace of innovation, are subjected to the pressure of climate change, the forces of globalized economy and the strive to increase their livability for intensifying migrant millennia.

Urban Design has been confused with Urban planning that is more strategic giving a global view on programs without informing the physical .It has also been born out of Architecture and Landscape Design which are both detailed and specific in their scope but in some instances lose the linkage to the urban strategy.

Urban design translates the strategic overview of urban planning and informs the crafted details of architecture thus playing a pivotal role in guiding the transformation of cities and synthesizing in a holistic way the inputs of the different agencies and stakeholders of the urban environment.

It is at this level that urban policy for sustainable development takes shape, communities are master planned to be smart and sustainable, urban space is conceived as a place of creativity and innovation , infrastructure is redefined as a hub for life and vibrant urban life and mostly and the urban landscape is planned without com-promising the needs of future generation.

Thus, urban design differentiates itself as mostly a synthesizer discipline which uses holistic thinking to engage on multiple levels; Urban policy for sustainable development ,master planning communities to be smart and sustainable, conceiving urban space as a place, redefining infrastructure as a hub for vibrancy and planning landscapes that are resilient.

Increasingly, Urban design is positioned to be the discipline that is pushing for innovations on an urban level .That pivotal role is significantly apparent in dealing with sustainability on a community /neighborhood level through proposing new models developments that use smart city strategies to enhance their sustainability.

In particular, goal 11 concerns professionals working in the built environment. It aims to make cities and hu-man settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through a breakdown of specific targets. In this article, four out of the 12 proposed targets concerns the challenges that we are facing in our Arab cities:

1. By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums

2. By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all

3. By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization

4. By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities

25



In general, extensive research in urban design proves the direct relationship between Urban Sprawl, car de-pendence and Carbon Emissions. As an Antidote to the negative effect of dispersed developments connected by Highways and thus contributing to increased air emissions, Peter Calthrope proposed a new model for sustainable urban neighborhoods- Transit Oriented Development developments which include housing and commercial facilities concentrated around 2000 feet radius linked through a high quality public realm to a transit station.

However, as Dr Robert Saliba in his book ‘’Urban Design in the Arab World ‘’ mentions that the diversity that one face when defining Arab world as an area needs to reformulate urban design tools in the context of the specificity of each of its contexts. It is a ‘’womb of which a multiplicity of opportunities for shaping, upgrading, and rebuilding urban form and civic space while subjecting global paradigms to regional and local realities.” Thus , One needs to frame these opportunities using five proposed generic dimensions – identity, ecology, in-frastructure, public space and private development.

Figure 2- Urban Design the missing link (source: Author -Placemaking.me)

Figure 3- Climate Responsive Transit Oriented Model -copyright Author

26


Based on this approach, I have invented an innovative model to develop sustainable and smart communities in GCC in particular and Arab cities. This Model takes into consideration the physical aspects of Arab cities planning, the social aspects of Arab cities multi-cultural environment and the environmental aspects of hot and humid weather.

The model has been detailed into a series of urban design tools in order to bring forth the three tenents of sustainable development – economic vitality, Social Diversity and Environmental Integrity. 15 tools were developed in order to guide urban planners, real estate officials, housing officials, architects and landscape designers to design and implement a sustainable and smart community.

Figure 4- how transit stations can become a place rather than just a node?

27



As such, the model and toolkit -applied across three scales: city-scale, district-scale and site-scale in Dubai as a Contemporary Arab city - generated a master plan that densified and diversified the site uses around transit; and proposed an extensive network of walkable and active climate responsive public spaces. As seen in Figure 5 above, the proposed master plan

Figure 5- visual renderings showing an example of a sustainable and smart neighborhood using the Cli-mate Responsive Transit Oriented Model- Copyright –Author

functions throughout the day and contains variety of uses and spaces that are within walking distance to transit .The resultant development is unique and therefore exudes a sense of place that is authentic and climate-responsive.

28


The proposed climate-responsive Transit Oriented Model and toolkit can be tested across geographies in the Arab world. Cities such as Amman, Riyadh, Kuwait, Cairo, and Algiers all offer opportunities to test its principles taking into consideration the distinct character of these cities, their history, and their culture.

Spatially, the model and tool kit can be applied to urban, peri-urban and even urban edges to understand the different criteria which would affect its dimension and elements. For example, urban inner city offer less opportunities for injecting green spaces, so ecological approaches would focus more on vertical greening. TOD built on the urban fringes might not have sufficient population densities. Hence, its planning policies might offer incentives for people to work and live in the same area.

Above all, I would like to end this study with a series of recommendations that would assist Dubai in particular, and the Arab cities in general, in adopting Transit oriented model as a development paradigm to limit their urban sprawl, refocus their growth, and particularly reinforce their identities.

TOD needs to be embedded into a regional transport policy that would encourage their developments in partnership with the private sector. Incentives need to be considered to attract private development; and specific joint ventures' legal structures need to be considered to structure such partnership. This article summarized an applied research study in urban design using design tools to test the hypothesis which has proved to be an essential aspect in thinking about sustainable development for cities.

City structural and framework plans need to embed sufficient land bank in for future transit oriented development around proposed transit stations .Urban Structure might also consider regional TOD transit corridor. Their urban planning framework might include specific transit oriented development guidelines taking into consideration local climate thermal comfort, current urban densities, available zoning and planning spatial tools to guide urban blocks within TOD and public realm based on the toolkit.

Experimental urban design studies that reflect on alternative urban forms for transit-oriented development in retrofitting suburbs might explore new morphologies. These experiments can use current urban spaces as their living labs exploring the outputs of these forms and their sustainability and livability metrics. These measurements are essential to measure the progress on GOAL 11 and the journey towards Agenda 2030.

Cities as Ecological Regions

Cities as Land Bank

Cities as living labs

29



Adam FishmanProject Coordinator, Post-2015 Development AgendaWorld Resources Institute

Jump-starting the SDGs in the UAE: Lessons from Early Adopters

At the UN Summit this past September, the largest-ever gathering of world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a bold new roadmap to tackle climate change and extreme poverty by 2030. The global community now faces the real work of translating vision into action. Fortunately, early actions by some countries already align with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and help point the way forward.

During an event alongside the Summit organized by WRI and the governments of Colombia and Switzerland, four key points emerged as vital to accelerating SDG uptake at the national level, all of which can be applied to the UAE and other Arab League member states:

30


1. Evaluate and align strategies

2. Make policies more coherent

3. Integrate economic, social and environmental decision-making

Governments need to review how their own national priorities and plans mesh with the global goals and targets, then identify synergies and any critical gaps, and assess where adjustments are needed and at what level of ambition. Colombia has already broken down the 169 targets included in the SDGs to identify where national policies line up, where changes to existing institutions might be needed and where the international system can be of help.

Engaging the private sector, civil society groups and political leaders is essential, and governments may need to set intermediary targets within political cycles to achieve the broadest possible support. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 appears to pair nicely with the SDGs, given analogous priorities and a matching timeframe for implementation.

When translating the SDG framework to national levels, domestic policies’ impacts – both in-country and abroad – are crucial. Sweden already puts 1.1 percent gross national income (GNI) towards Official Development Assistance (ODA), but has gone even further: a 2003 resolution on ‘Policy for Global Development’ mandates yearly reports to Parliament describing progress towards coherent policies. Moving forward on the 2030 Agenda, each Swedish government ministry must formulate an action plan to implement the SDGs, using policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) as an instrument. The UAE’s 435 percent increase in ODA from 2012 to 2013 – largely to neighbors in North Africa and the Middle East – is essential to sustainable development outcomes in recipient countries. While development aid will remain critical, it is equally important to ensure that policies don’t undermine aid objectives, nor stifle domestic progress.

Creating the right enabling environment for private sector investment is key. Robust public policies are needed to drive these investments towards sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth. The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision recognizes the Emirate’s high number of low-income foreign workers that cannot afford to bring their families to the UAE, which has impacted on age and gender balances. Mitigating this trend and assuring decent work opportunities for all will be key to achieving progress on multiple Goals.

To put the SDGs into practice, countries need to go beyond business-as-usual strategies. A traditional view of development may be compared to a cappuccino, with espresso as the economic layer, a layer of milk as the social layer, and a sprinkle of chocolate on top as the environmental layer. But by viewing economic growth as the base, we risk losing the transformation because one can still remove the layers and be left with a drinkable beverage. Instead, think of the SDGs as a cake where the primary ingredients are baked together. Remove one of them from the recipe and lose dessert!

The Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan, integrates environment and development. By making decisions using a set of objective sustainable development criteria, Gabon can simultaneously export pharmaceutical resources and encourage tourism, diversifying the country’s economy to benefit all citizens while maintaining its high forest cover and low deforestation rate. Similarly, the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision aims to boost non-oil revenues, increase access to capital and the proportion of GDP from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and reduce economic vulnerability. However, recalling the first lesson on aligning strategies, a modified, integrated plan closer to the UAE Vision 2021 may yield a better fit with the SDGs by putting sustainability at the core of social and economic development.

31



Applying the lessons

Broad Agenda, Targeted Action

4. Retain the SDGs’ core principles of inclusion and universality

The SDGs are built on the concept of shared destiny – the notion that all countries can contribute to and receive help in a complex and interconnected world. As Switzerland noted during the Summit side event, the 2030 Agenda’s universal nature requires countries to face common challenges together. Because the SDG framework demands action by all and moves us beyond the traditional developed-developing world dichotomy, promoting ownership by and convening a diverse range of stakeholders will be crucial to achieving ‘shared prosperity.’ Appropriately, the UAE Vision 2021 is built on a country united in responsibility, destiny, knowledge and prosperity.

Governments need enough policy space to tweak the SDGs to fit national contexts; cooperation by disparate agencies on intersecting goals and targets is key. A whole of government approach is needed in countries across the development spectrum, but must be complemented by bringing in local and non-state actors, including businesses. Doing so promotes education of and participation by ordinary citizens, so they too can own this agenda and take it forward, ensuring that no one is left behind.

The SDGs are a triumph for multilateralism, but without leadership at the national and local level, they will remain a vision for what the world could have achieved. We know that coherent policies and planning can amplify the impact of both financial investments and development outcomes. We also know that integration helps achieve irreversible reduction of poverty whilst preserving ecosystems. As Pope Francis said before the UN Summit on SDGs opening: “Solemn commitments are not enough even if they are a necessary step towards solutions.” Using the lessons above, governments can act on their commitments.

*Disclaimer: This article updates a previous piece by the author, initially written for WRI’s Insights blog. Any opinions or views expressed are those of the author alone.

The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 entails action across multiple departments, leading toward a whole-of-government approach. Dividing the vision into five-year programs enables manageable cycles to promote continuous implementation and monitoring of progress. Further, the Vision’s calling for assessments of resources, benchmarking, examination of regional development to ensure equitable growth, and the use of successful country examples against which goals can be evaluated are all in-line with the spirit of the SDGs. However, “ensure environmental sustainability” is but a sub-target underneath one of seven priorities, and

therefore the plan may be strengthened by weaving the environmental dimension into wider economic decision-making. A more integrated approach, as seen in the UAE Vision 2021, which links the environment to health and education among other priorities, can more effectively implement dynamic sustainable development solutions.

It is believed that people spend 80 to 90 percent of their life in buildings. As a result, buildings can have a major impact on people’s health, wellbeing, happiness, and productivity. For instance, a healthy work environment has shown to reduce employee’s health problems, reduce absenteeism and turnover, increase work performance, and reduce operation costs for employers.

In parallel, buildings are major contributors to the high energy consumption and carbon emission levels that we are witnessing today. On average, the building sector accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the energy demand of different countries. This ratio exceeds 60 percent for countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where extreme weather conditions dictate high air conditioning loads.

In recent years, there have major advancements in building technologies, energy-efficient designs, and green building certifications and labeling programs. In theory, the goal of such initiatives is to optimize

32


Dr. Elie AzarAssistant Professor at Masdar InstituteAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Smart Buildings: When Sustainability Meets Information Technology

Buildings play a major role in the pillars of the sustainability triple bottom line: People,Environment, and Economy.

building performance along the three pillars of the triple bottom line. In practice, buildings consistently consume more energy than they are designed to, and do not necessarily provide optimal working environment for their occupants. Recent studies in the United States (US) show that even LEED-certified buildings are failing to truly achieve the promised building operation efficiency (LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

A closer evaluation of the performance of buildings highlight common and major inefficiencies at various levels.

At a micro “occupant” level, actions taken by building occupants can have a major impact on the energy consumed by the building. For instance, setting the thermostat temperature at 22˚C instead of 24˚C can increase energy consumption level by more than 10 percent. As another example, a recent study shows that more than half of office equipment are typically left running at night in US commercial buildings. In summary, people actions currently contribute to the common underperformance of buildings, motivating the need for more responsible occupancy energy use patterns.

At a meso “building systems” level, important inefficiencies are also observed in the management and control of different building systems. Here again, studies indicate that facility managers oftentimes fail to monitor, coordinate, and optimize the performance of building systems such as HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning).

Multi-layered challenges

33



Addressing the sustainability challenges facing the builtenvironment requires a holistic approach that connectsbuildings with their peopleand the infrastructure.

A smart building is a dynamic and responsive building that makes every occupant com-fortable and productive, at the lowest cost, and with the lowest environmental footprint over its life-cycle.

Smart BuildingsLevel 1: Building energy managementand automation

Clashes and faults in these systems are very common even in green buildings, where advanced and high-tech systems might become complex to manage.

At a macro “city” level, a building is seen as an element of a large infrastructure of buildings such as in a community or city. Optimizing the operation of the building stock becomes therefore important, especially to match energy demand with supply from various sources, including renewables such as solar and wind energy. These sources are intermittent by nature, further complicating the task of synchronizing demand with supply.

Recent advancements in data gathering, analysis, and communications present new opportunities for the design of more intelligent, or “smarter” buildings.

During operation, smart buildings use information technology to (1) connect and synchronize building sub-systems that typically operate independently, (2) communicate and engage with occupants, and (3) connect and respond to demand-side management strategies through smart grids.

Modern buildings have complex electrical and mechanical systems that require a high level of management, maintenance, and control. Furthermore, these systems need to efficiently communicate and work together for optimal building performance. For instance, an air conditioning system can be optimized by (1) obtaining weather data from outdoor sensors to determine how much outside fresh air to use, and (2) by learning about occupancy schedules and movements to reduce the cooling of unoccupied building areas.A Building Management System (BMS), also referred to as Building Automation System (BAS), is a computer-based system that can be used to monitor and control various building systems. It consists of hardware components such as sensors, which collect real-time data from the building, and software

34


programs that analyze this data and translate it to controllers that execute actions for different building systems. The exchange of information is typically achieved through wired and/or wireless communication networks, which can centralize relevant building information and controls in one location for easy access by facility managers. This also facilitates the process of detecting and fixing potential faults in building systems.

A smart building should engage its occupants to achieve two important goals. The first is to raise occupants’ awareness of energy saving and provide them with the right information to take responsible actions. The second goal is to provide them with a certain level of control over their built environment conditions, helping them maximize their comfort, wellbeing, and productivity.

Starting with the first goal, providing occupants with feedback about their individual and/or group consumption levels has shown to significantly increase sustainability awareness. Typically, a large number of occupants are not aware of the impact of their action on building performance. By communicating such information to them, and coupling it with energy conservation tips and practices, significant amounts of energy can be saved. Furthermore, feedback about the consumption of peers or friends has proven to be the most effective, generating certain social norms that encourage participation and energy savings. In practice, feedback can be provided to occupants from information obtained from a BMS or BAS. This

Level 2: People

Level 3: Smart grids

information can be communicated by paper (e.g. reports or brochures), by email, or through a real-time interface such as the one shown in the figure below.

As for the second goal, studies indicate that occupants who control their environmental conditions are more comfortable, happier at their jobs, and more productive. Consequently, smart buildings should allow occupants to control some or most of their environmental conditions (e.g. thermal conditions or lighting levels). Furthermore, technologies such as smart thermostats can learn from the historical preferences of occupants, and customize conditions to their specific needs.

The mission of a smart building goes beyond optimizing its individual performance. It expands to optimizing the performance of a group or stock of buildings such as in a city.

This has been made possible due to advancements in smart metering and smart grid technologies. A smart grid is a network of communications, control/automation, and power technologies, characterized by two-way flows of electricity and information between buildings and utility companies. It provides utility companies with real-time data about the energy demand of buildings (mainly from smart meters), and allows them to communicate back strategies and incentives to the building stock to manage total energy demand and time of use.

35



Benefits and limitations

Final thoughts

One such demand-side management strategy is the time-of-use tariff, where electricity costs are raised during peak demand hours. This motivates buildings and companies to shift some of their energy consumption to off-peak hours, helping utilities reduce peak-load generation, which is typically costly and can require expanding existing energy production capacities.

In general, demand-side management strategies have gained significant interest in the industry, especially with the introduction of renewables in the energy mix. Solar and wind energy for instance are highly intermittent, making the task of matching energy supply to demand a very challenging task for utility companies. Thus, detailed monitoring by smart meters, coupled with communication to and from utilities, allows utilities to better control and distribute demand, optimizing the overall performance of the energy infrastructure.

In summary, smart buildings are at the forefront of the transition to a more sustainable energy sector and infrastructure. A smart building can provide occupants with optimal working conditions for optimal productivity, while minimizing energy consumption, carbon emissions, and operation costs.

In conclusion, smart buildings are the perfect example of the multi-disciplinary approach that is needed to overcome the complex sustainability challenges facing our infrastructure and society. While the focus has traditionally been on technology, smart buildings introduce “People” at the core of their quest for sustainability. Important advancements in data collection, with rapidly developing fields such as the Internet of Things (IoT), are easing the transition towards a smarter building sector. The focus has recently shifted towards data analytics to get more insights out of the information that is being collected.

However, the increased connectivity and exchange of information promoted in smart buildings has risks and limitations. First, the privacy and security of occupants’ data is essential and requires a robust and secure system to mitigate the growing risk of network and cyber threats. Second, the complexity of smart systems can become a challenge to facility managers who may lack the training and expertise to operate such systems. Finally, smart buildings require a high capital cost investment. While the energy saved over the life-cycle is significant, building owners might not necessarily have access to the needed funds during design and construction.

Governmental incentives and subsidies can play an important role in guiding building own-ers towards smarter buildings. Such investments can have sig-nificant economic, social, and environmental yields.

The challenge today is not about data anymore, it is what we do with data that matters.

36


John Topping

Climate InstituteWashington DC.

Rudy Baum

Climate InstituteWashington DC.

Combatting Climate Change through Innovation: Urban Cooling

By 2100, mean global temperatures are predicted to increase by 2-4°C as a result of human-caused global warming. Normally, discussions about climate change adaptation focus on how best to mitigate the secondary effects of these warmer temperatures—melting ice caps, rising sea levels, droughts and floods—but rarely is the increase in global temperatures seen as a threat to human health in and of itself. For the Arabian Peninsula, however, global climate change could push summertime temperatures to dangerous extremes. In cities situated on the Arabian Gulf, outdoor activity could become functionally impossible for large parts of the year: increasing heat and humidity around the Gulf could result in conditions under which the human body, no longer able to maintain a consistent internal temperature, can quickly become hyperthermic.

In order to adapt to this new, more extreme climate, cities across the region will have to adopt innovate new technologies in order to keep cool.

One method of cooling cities already in use around the world is albedo modification—making urban spaces brighter in order to reflect more sunlight and reduce surface temperatures. Roofs are an obvious and already popular candidate for brightening. Roofs that have been painted white or treated with high-albedo materials stay up to 10°C cooler than an asphalt roof, and reduce ambient air temperatures by at least 1°C.

Albedo modification

White roofs initiatives are only part of the solution, though. Urban canyons, which occur where streets are flanked by tall buildings on either side, create environments where, instead of escaping back into space, heat is emitted, reflected, and reabsorbed between the buildings. By treating buildings with high-albedo or reflective coatings, they can reflect more sunlight, which reduces the amount of heat that gets trapped between them. Researchers are currently investigating the effectiveness of retroreflective coatings, which reflect light directly back at its source instead of at nearby structures. By reflecting light away from other structures, retroreflective coatings have the potential to help reduce ambient temperatures within urban canyons.

Pavement is another area where significant gains in urban cooling can be made. Pavement, which is often quite dark, can make up over a fifth of a city’s surface area. By replacing asphalt with concrete, or treating asphalt with a high-albedo coating, street-level air temperature can be reduced by about 1°C. High-albedo pavement can have undesirable side effects such as road glare, but new materials are being developed that reflect strongly in the near-infrared range while still appearing relatively dark, allowing them to maintain cooler temperatures without blinding drivers and pedestrians. Another interesting possibility for reducing urban temperatures is the installation of pavement infused with phase change material (PCMs). Above a certain temperature, PCMs will melt, thus storing heat and keeping the pavement cool. When temperatures drop back down (like at night), the PCMs will release their stored energy and re-solidify.

37



A white roof in Las Vegas, Nevada

Urban canyons trap heat by reflecting both sunlight and thermalenergy between buildings.

38


Urban Planning

Geoengineering

The geometry of a city also affects how efficiently it can be cooled, which can enhance the effects of albedo modification techniques such as cool roofs. Air often moves poorly through cities. By improving air circulation, cities can increase convective cooling, which in turn will lower ambient air temperatures and improve pedestrian comfort.

Aligning streets with the direction of prevailing winds can improve urban circulation and reduce peak daytime temperatures. It is also a good idea to incorporate street-level breezeways and open spaces into building designs. This allows maximum penetration of winds into urban spaces, which carry off heat and lower ambient air temperatures.

Thoughtful urban planning can also improve the effectiveness of albedo modification efforts. For example, while white roofs are excellent for cooling buildings, their effectiveness at reducing street-level temperatures decreases with increasing building height. By positioning taller structures downwind of white-roofed buildings, the cooler are can be deflected downward toward street-level.

Trees can also be used to improve thermal comfort in cities. Obviously, trees provide shade, but when planted in urban canyon environments, they can also help reduce ambient temperatures by disrupting the cycle of thermal reabsorption between buildings. Drought-resistant species, which can be watered with high-efficiency systems such as drip irrigation, can help provide shade and reduce ambient air temperatures without excessive demand for water.

Around the Arabian Gulf, where the effects of excessive heat are predicted to be the most severe, geoengineering could potentially be used to complement urban albedo modification programs.

As water is quite dark, it absorbs a lot of thermal energy. Brightening the Gulf could help reduce ambient air temperatures, which would also decrease evaporation and help keep humidity down.

One option would be to build offshore structures that promote the formation of waves. Whitecaps have a significantly higher albedo than still water. If a large enough area can be brightened, local temperatures could potentially be reduced. The relatively shallowness of the Arabian Gulf means that the engineering challenges of such an endeavor would not be excessive.

The Climate Ribbon in Miami, Florida, provides shade and ventila-tion to help keep pedestrians cool.

39



Conclusion

Another option, which has been proposed by Climate Institute Senior Research Fellow Russell Seitz, involves injecting clouds of microscopic bubbles (microbubbles) into the waters near cities on the Gulf. These “hydrosols” are high reflective, and could significantly reduce local air temperatures. Although no system for mass distribution of microbubbles currently exists, it offers an intriguing possibility for future albedo modification.

Although the impact of geoengineering is potentially substantial, the technology to implement it is still at least several years away. It thus remains a largely theoretical option at the moment.

Although it is important that we take steps to mitigate the impact of climate change now, some of its effects are already locked in, and it's a good idea to take steps to adapt to them now. Improving the thermal environment of cities across the Arabian Peninsula will not only make them more livable in a warmer future, but by cooling them now, it will help reduce energy demand for air conditioning, thus decreasing fossil fuel emissions and helping to mitigate climate change. The benefits of innovative, sustainable urban design are clear in the present and in the future.

Claudio Palmieri CEO of Clean Energy Business Council andCEO of CLS Energy Consultants [email protected]

Ensuring access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all

The first thing that springs to mind while talking about “affordable, reliable and modern energy for all” in an urban environment clearly is Solar Energy. Solar heaters and PV solar power systems already cover the roofs of millions of houses and homes around the world and achieve today a cost versus performance ratio that makes PV Solar a commercially viable alternative compared to conventional energy sources even at locations where electricity is still subsidized. Solar energy is rapidly becoming a viable alternative in the effort to provide sufficient affordable energy and to meet the ever increasing power demand of Arab communities, cities and towns. Today we can observe an increasing number of Governments sponsored and private initiatives to install roof mounted PV solar systems in communities across the Arab world. The oil rich State of Kuwait for example has initiated a number of tenders with the aim to install PV systems on e.g. Government and School Buildings, primarily as a means to meet its renewable energy targets whereas Dubai has initiated a number of programs where the Government is partnering with the private sector with the aim to become a world leading green economy. The Shams Dubai program initiated by the Department for Electricity and Water (DEWA) is the first program in the GCC that allows private roof owners to reduce their utility bills by installing PV solar in a net metering scheme. Whatever the underlined motivation, it surely makes a lot of sense for regional Governments to encourage the installation of decentralized PV solar power systems on available empty roof space in urban areas. The Arab world is generally blessed having much better solar resources compared to the northern European Countries that first adopted a roof top solar program. PV solar power systems installed in an Arab town produce up to 2.5 times more energy

annually compared to a similar installation in for example Germany. Decentralized roof mounted PV solar power also helps to reduce midday grid power demand peak resulting from air conditioning loads especially during summer. In combination with a program aiming at improving energy efficiency, solar energy can help communities in the Arab world find affordable ways to meet the increasing power demand of its growing population and to ensure the availability of sufficient energy for all its citizens. A lot of arguments can be made in favor of solar energy and it appears that PV solar power will continue to grow as an important element in the future energy mix of Arab communities across the region.

Photos of PV roof and carport applications international and regional:

40


Dubai

Dubai

Saudi Arabia



Qatar

Kuwait

Morocco

42


Waseem Ashraf Qureshi, CEO, MiccGreenTec Solar Systems LLC

David Provenzani, CEO, DUBAI-SOLAR.ORG by Architaly Green Energy DMCC

Atul Dua, CEO, UNIDAAN FZ – LLC

Heba Alrefai, Business Development Manager & VIP Relation Director-Clean Energy Business Council, Tanweer Solar Energy Technology L.L.C

“Renewable power solutions now deliver reliable, 24 hour electricity at a cost that is lower than fossil fuel based power. This development is significant because it will enable the rapid electrification of rural areas in the Arab world that do not have access to grid power and are relying on expensive and hazardous diesel fuels. Each government will be able to power rural areas with massive savings from eliminating the requirement of building the transmission grid and cost of running diesel powered stations, and continual subsidies.”

“Education and training a very important precondition for citizens to adopt distributed PV solar power as their energy source of choice. Once everybody is aware of the real savings and benefits roof top installed PV Solar power systems, only then will house owners in Arab Towns be able to decide whether to invest in solar energy, or not. And a real solar energy revolution in the Arab world, will become possible only if everybody will be in condition to evaluate the true benefits Solar Power at his own convenience. No awareness, no market.”

“We believe that Distributed Clean Energy Solutions such as PV solar will play a major role in the future development of villages and towns in the Arab world and will eventually become a key source of affordable, reliable and modern Energy for all. Cost of Photovoltaic systems continues to get more and more affordable. In fact they have gone down by more than 30% in last one year alone and is one of the cheapest forms of energy along with the benefits of being renewable source and low maintenance cost. Middle East is blessed with abundant Solar energy and large land parcels. We see an Oil like future for Solar energy in this region.”

"We believe that Distributed Clean Energy Solutions such as PV solar will play a major role in the future development of villages and towns in the Arab world and will eventually become a key source of affordable, reliable and modern Energy for all. Cost of Photovoltaic systems continue to get more and more affordable. In fact they have gone down by more than 30% in last one year alone and is one of the cheapest forms of energy along with the benefits of being renewable source and low maintenance cost. Middle East is blessed with abundant Solar energy and large land parcels. We see an Oil like future for Solar energy in this region.”



44


ICBA develops new net house design to save water and energy

Protected agriculture receives special attention from decision-makers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries because it produces high quality crops in marginal climatic conditions. However, this type of agriculture consumes large amounts of water and energy due to the cooling system which is based on evaporative pads.

In response to the need for a more cost-effective system, researchers at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) have developed a new design of net house to cut down on the use of water and energy and keep optimum quality and production of crops at the same time, similar to plants grown in traditional greenhouses.

Experiment at ICBA

This experiment began in 2015 by cultivating pepper and cucumber (Zeco variety) on a sandy substrate. The net house area is 560 m² with two spans; each span has a width of 8 m, a length of 35 m and a height of 5 m. The net house is equipped with a mist system consisting of nozzles with an hourly discharge of 32 l/hr. In order to reduce the temperature and evaporation, a 50% shade net was installed above the mist system. This shade net was installed also to decrease the radiation load and reduce the plant transpiration. Irrigation runs in a closed circuit where drainage resulting from plant irrigation is accumulated and disinfected to be reused once again. This system supplies plant nutrients through a computer-controlled Hortimax system which also keeps the temperature below 29ºC and humidity above 50%.

• The required conditions in this type of net house are as follows:

• 15ºC minimum temperature for mist

• 25 seconds minimum time for mist

• 30 seconds maximum time for mist

• 300 seconds minimum time as an interval between mist sessions

• Misting will start at 10:00 a.m.

• Misting will stop at 17:00 p.m.

Elsy MelkonianJournalism and Media outreach SpecialistInternational Center for Biosaline Agriculture – ICBA



The study showed that growing cucumber and pepper in the net house requires 3 times less water than the cooled greenhouse. While much higher water use was recorded for the cooling process in the greenhouse, the net house consumed 33 times less energy than the greenhouse (Figure 1).

The study also proved the sustainability of the net house as a high productivity agricultural system that has cost-effective consumption of water and energy in dry and climatic environments, especially in GCC countries. Furthermore, planting various types of vegetables is recommended during the months of October and May when temperature does not exceed 40ºC. Effective cooling was provided when mist and the 50% shade net were installed. This helped to decrease temperature inside the net house by 6ºC while maintaining quality yields.

Commenting on this research, Dr. Redouane Choukr-Allah, ICBA’s senior horticulture specialist says: “The new net house design we developed helped to cut down on water and energy consumption, and the use of the mist system helped to decrease temperature by 6ºC. Compared with the current practice which does not apply mist and cannot decrease temperature by more than 3ºC, we were able to successfully grow cucumber in addition other vegetable crops.”

Figure 1: Water and energy use under greenhouse and net house (summer)

Figure 2: Planting cucumber in the net house at ICBA

46


Figure 3: Designs of the net house and greenhouse

Hussain Abdulla AlFardanDirector of the Environmental Center for Arab Towns.

Education and Eco- Consciousness a true Partnership between Generations for a Safer and Sustainable Future

As we living on a planet which we inherited its environmental impacts from our ancestors. And as we enjoyed the bounties of this generous planet, and since there are people who attended those natural resources perfectly, thus, it is the right of all future generations to attain the warmth of the earth and enjoy its abundances.

It is our responsibility to cooperate to live on this planet, we ought to take this option, otherwise we shall perish together without any other choice. Thus, the matter of education and environmental consciousness in term of values, is trust and commitment And on national level, is a responsibility and partnership And at the level of social relations community, is committing to an accountable social behavior

At this stage, we notice that all the parties involved in the environmental sense are striving hard to deliver a pure vision of all segments of the society conveying the message that (we are all in the same boat)

Consequently, we notice that all government organizations and departments, business sectors as well as the educational institutions are all working hand in hand to rephrase and reshape the relationship between man and its environment, in order to establish rational ecological behavior that draws upon education and environmental awareness as its sustainable approach

The children and youth shall have the biggest share of attention, as they are the vanguard bearing the huge burden, and as they inherited a legacy that they did not choose nor participated, and as they are the inheritors of massive challenges accumulated by generation of negligence.

Education and eco -consciousness is a trust........ Deliver it to others

The Environmental Center for Arab Towns is pleased to invite the professionals and interested persons in environmental issues to send their articles that we believe will enrich the Envirocities e-Magazine and helps raise environmental awareness and education. Please send your

contribution to [email protected] or [email protected].

Documents

A Magazine for the Environmental Center for Arab Towns · 2018. 9. 5. · A Magazine for the Environmental Center for Arab Towns 5 Issue 13 – January 2016 Millennium Development