The Green Architecture in Saudi Arabia - Case Study Example

The Green Architecture in Saudi Arabia Name University Date The Green Architecture in Saudi Arabia Abstract Over the past decades, most of the world’s architects and builders have been looking forward to greening their many different projects. Green architecture has offered the best solution towards reducing environmental pollution and the consumption of the various resources. There are a lot of design aspects for the green buildings which include the orientation, side designs, daylighting, landscaping, insulation strategies and building envelope. The concept of Green Architecture has spread out in Saudi Arabia, but the majority of the people do not have enough knowledge about the green buildings (Zuhur, 2011). Saudi Arabia as a country has started initiating the construction of Green buildings especially in areas such as Riyadh. The country aims at extending the green project in all the regions in the Kingdom. This has been done by providing approximately thirty million square meters of LEED-Certified spaces and spending more than one hundred and sixty billion dollars on the green projects. There are different non-profit environmental organizations such as the Saudi Green Building Council (SGBC) which seek to bring awareness to the people about the diverse projects in green building. The results of this project are expected to be geared towards achieving more knowledge that will lead to increased Green Projects and which will intern result in the designing of energy efficient buildings by reducing the consumption of energy (Fitzgerald, 2010). Introduction Saudi Arabia had come a long way when the ideas of living in harmony with the natural environment and the concerns about the rising of energy consumption need arose. The country has a full focus on the reduction of the use of fossil fuels by harnessing solar power to the use of various strategies in trapping renewable forms of energy. As the issues to do with energy raising major concerns all over the world, Saudi Arabia buildings have become increasingly sophisticated due to their responses to the site, climate, and function. More of the functions are being expressed in their architectural technology. Many of the architects who employ the use green technology apply to get certified by the SGBC under the Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design (LEED) programs within the country. Launching the Green project is an important step towards enlightening the general population on Green architecture and its benefits to both the society and the environment (Hahn, 2012). The aspects of Green buildings in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has a particular respect for green buildings. The kingdom is on the right track towards informing and implementing the green building projects all through the Kingdom. The kingdom has a special focus on Green houses, green schools as well as green universities. Most of the facilities being developed are environmentally friendly which are beneficial to the people living in the vicinities of these areas. The country has taken the maiden green building initiative by informing many people about the green architecture trough training in schools and universities (Zuhur, 2011). The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) located in Jeddah is among the first green buildings constructed within Kingdom. The Kingdom has almost one hundred and forty more buildings of the same kind that are environmentally friendly. These existing buildings cover an approximate twelve million square m which is ten percent of the green buildings in the region (Lee, 2010). The SGBC has been on the forefront towards speaking about the sustainability of the green architecture projects and informing the citizens of the nation more about the various initiatives of the project. The information given to the people highlights on what kinds of resources the Kingdom needs to protect to ensure the sustainability of life from one generation to the next. The majority of the people have taken so much for granted especially in green building. There is a need for the present Saudi Arabian society to be well informed to get back to the world where the buildings being contracted mean so much to the population and the environment at large. That means that people have to lay groundwork for the sake of the future generations. The buildings being constructed need to be equitable and more environmentally friendly that the present. It is not necessary to carry out contractions that will lead to the depletion of resources that will disrupt the future quality of life people may end up living. There is a need to live sustainably where the life of the population in Saudi Arabia are sustained (Fitzgerald, 2010). Sustainable energy use Energy efficiency within the entire lifecycle of a building is a very important aspect in sustainable architecture within Saudi Arabia. Most of the architects use different active and passive strategies as well as techniques to ensure the reduction of the various energy needs of the buildings and increasing their ability to capture and even generate more of their energy. Saudi Arabia is among the leading nations in the generation of renewable energy within most of the contracted buildings. There is the use of active solar panels such as the photovoltaic solar panel that helps in providing a building with clean and sustainably electricity to be used for any energy needs within the building. Wind turbines have also been installed in various locations in the country. Wind turbines operate on the principle of the speed of wind flowing over and along the buildings. These wind turbines have the ability to achieve high energy production that is free from noise and pollution of any kind. Solar water heating is another clean source of energy provided by the green architecture in Saudi Arabia. This uses the solar thermal power to provide the building with hot water that can be used for both commercial and domestic purposes. These heaters can be used in any weather and are cost effective (Aljoufie, 2015). Air source heat pumps have been used in most of the buildings in providing clean air conditioning within the buildings. These pumps have the ability to pump safely in the clean air and get rid of contaminated air in most commercial and residential buildings. Heat pumps are the best alternative for buildings located in temperate climates. With green architecture the use of sustainable building materials such as recycled denim, blown-in fiber glass insulations, sustainably collected wood, Linoleum, Trass, sheep wool, concrete and non-toxic low-VOC glues and paints. These buildings are designed for effective waste management (Aljoufie & Mohammed, 2015). Methodology Sample The population of interest includes the students from Effat University in Saudi Arabia. The population that was accessible to this study includes students who are mostly found in the online social site groups of the university. The students are from different regions within Saudi Arabia, but the regions of focus were the Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern Saudi Arabia. These students are accessible mostly to the internet, and their feedback was mostly through answering various questionnaire questions (Abed, Amal & Emad, 2013). The sampling frame was obtained from the different reactions of the students towards the availability of information about green architecture. A simple random sample of 50% has been chosen for the study which resulted in a sample size of 484 students taking part in the study. Data Collection The data collection will consist of the online survey of students by use of phone and internet communication. Initially, a survey instrument that will be used to measure the different reactions of students towards green architecture will be administered and the students are given time to access the questionnaires. A structured observation protocol was well developed to aid in the online collection of information. Multiple structured interviews were administered to the respondents via online attachment to the university’s official web site and Facebook pages familiar with the students. The students’ responses were well organized recorded. Students will be able to give their experiences, beliefs, reactions and ideas about green architecture. A qualitative evaluation of the data was followed leveraging the subjective methods such as the interviews and the main online reactions by the university students. The qualitative approach in the data collection is vulnerable due to the different cultural beliefs of the diverse students and their varied experiences with green buildings. Most of the students are expected to have some information about green architecture given that the country has introduced the topics in the university curriculum. Upon the collection of the data, the careful analysis shall follow both manually and by the use of SPSS software in the ultimate analysis. Simple research on the intercultural communities and the overall institutional design shall be consulted to ensure the validly of the online data collected from the students. Pilot Study The research instruments used in this study were questionnaires fielded online survey and telephone conversation among the students. The pilot study allowed for pre-testing of the data collected to ensure any errors in the data collection are discovered and recorded. There were expert validity reviews and suggestions from supervisors that ensured the questionnaires were pre-tested on the various respondents. A pilot study was administered to ensure the capability of the research instrument in getting the right kind of data for the study (Aljoufie & Mohammed, 2015). The reliability of the questionnaires was measured by the use of internal consistency strategies which was done by administering a single test sample to the respondents. The scores obtained from one sample were linked with the scores obtained from the other samples. The method used in data collection saved a lot of time as the research does not have to move around the university administering questionnaires to the students. The results obtained were analyzed and recorded in tables. Results According to the online survey information, the results show that 65% of the students knew about the concept of green building. As it is evidenced in Table 1, there was little differentiation in the students responses based on their geographical location. Most of the students from the urban regions reported a 100% awareness of the green architecture with 85 % of them having seen a green architectural building. The data produced a Chi-Square value of 2.7 which suggests that there is no statistical significance between the relationships witnessed in green building awareness as perceived by the students from different regions. 65% of students from the rural areas have heard of green architecture, but the rest have no information about the green building. There was also a significant regional difference which was not statistically significant that finds 50% awareness levels in all the regions of the country. The Percentage of students with Awareness of Green Building within Saudi Arabia regions Region/Percentage Northern Saudi Arabia (%) Southern Saudi Arabia (%) Eastern Saudi Arabia (%) Western Saudi Arabia (%) All the regions of Saudi Arabia (%) 100 percent 75 percent 50 percent 25 percent 0 percent 0 (00) 2 (10) 6(29) 11(52) 2(10) 0(00) 1(04) 2(07) 21(78) 3(11) 2(04) 3(07) 8(18) 25(56) 7(16) 0(00) 1(04) 5(22) 14(61) 3(13) 2(02) 7(06) 21(18) 71(61) 15(13) n 21 27 45 23 116 Table 1 showing the percentage of students having the knowledge of the existence of green architecture From the recorded data in the table above, the findings suggested that the study perceived awareness at a consistent 25% across all the regions of the country. The North region was the only region to reports a 100% green building awareness. However, the analysis the other regions of the Kingdom show that not every boy is aware of the green architecture projects running across the Kingdom. Conclusion Green building is a contraction method that is designed to utilize and minimize environmental impact. The main purpose of this given project was to find out the aspects of green architecture and the awareness of the projects among university students. Green buildings have been designed to maximize operating efficiency while simultaneously mitigating the overall impact to the environment around Saudi Arabia. From the findings, the majority of the people are aware of green building from all the four corners of the kingdom. By focusing on areas of site design such as water conservation, energy efficiency from the wind and solar panels to the indoor quality of air and waste remove, green architecture has been proven to provide a means by which human can minimize the use of resources. The natural resources are well conserved by constructing of buildings that are healthier and efficient in energy consumption and production. References Abed, L. A. (2013). The Impact of Affordable Sustainable Housing Neighborhoods on Housing Cost Efficiency. Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 6, No. 9, September 2013, pp. 23-55. Aljoufie, A. &. (2015). Climate Change Adaptions for Urban Water Infrastructure in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 45-89. Fitzgerald, J. (2010). Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hahn, A. (2012). Mathematical Excursions to the World's Great Buildings. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lee, E. (2010). A Light on the Water: Alternative Energy in Saudi Arabia. Harvard International Review, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 12-63. Zuhur, S. (2011). Saudi Arabia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio. Read More