Sustainable Design of Buildings in the Middle East: Making the Most of the Climate - Research Proposal Example

Sustainable Design of Buildings in the Middle East: making the most of the climate Introduction The increasing use of energy to meet the demands of a growing population has had a huge influence on the global environment. This is because the growth of population in the worldwide which is reached in some development countries about 5 percent. The conventional energy is produced from coal, fuel, and other which release harm emissions in the atmosphere. The problem of emissions has shifted from the developed to the developing world with 30% increase expected in Latin America, Africa between 1990 and 2020 (Holdren and Smith, 2000, p.82). The majority is used by the construction and transportation industries. For example, in the USA 40% of energy is used in residential and commercial buildings (US Department of Energy, 2008, p.8). There are a number of issues emanating from the increasing use of energy, especially in construction: 1) Emissions of CO2, and NOx – these would increase with growing energy use based on non-renewable-; 2) The effects of these emissions such as climate change and global warming; 3) High-voltage transmission towers used to supply energy between rural and urban can present health risks for the people living near them. These aspects are particularly important and should be taken into account especially as the Middle East is a large producer of non-renewable energy in the form of crude oil. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) "the countries of the Middle East continue to rely on liquids for Sizable portion of their electricity supply, remaining near 25 percent in 2030" (EIA, 2009). Therefore, they have to consider renewable energy as one way of supplying part of their energy needs. This proposal will address the problem of energy efficiency and the advantages using renewable energy. Objective The objective of this research study is to highlight the advantages of renewable energy over traditional sources of energy. In recent decades, there has been much emphasis on the use of renewable energy. This has been necessitated due to the effects of fossil fuels on climate and the resulting change in climate patterns that has become the topic of debate in recent months. (Martin, 2008) The Middle East is especially suited to invest in renewable energy like Solar and Wind Power. This is because of the fact that temperatures in the region touch the high forties and hence the use of Solar Power as an alternative to conventional sources of power can be encouraged. Added to this is the other source like Wind Power that can be harnessed as well thanks to the relatively high velocities of wind circulation in the region. These two factors make the prospect of using renewable sources of energy in the Middle East favourable from the cost as well as environmental points of view. (Roberts, 2004) If we consider the effects of designing buildings in the Middle East to harness the power of the renewable energy, it is apparent that the benefits far outweigh the costs as can be seen from the results of the studies that indicate a drop in carbon emissions by as much as 80% once renewable energy is used to power the buildings. (Emmott, 2003) Further, the proposal to use renewable energy in the building design would also make eminent sense from the perspective of investing for the future as the fossil fuel resources would be used sparingly giving future generations a chance to fully transition from this source of energy. (Toffler, 1980) As an example of how building design in the Arab world can be made sustainable, one needs to consider the following fact that has been reported by the Carboun website on alternative building design: “Throughout the Arab World lighting constitutes a large percentage of total energy use. For example, in Egypt lighting accounts for nearly 23% of the total electricity consumption, half of which is consumed in the residential and commercial. However, in spite of this high percentage, no policies have emerged to encourage the transition to more efficient lighting methods.” (Carboun, 2010) The above paragraph demonstrates the need for sustainable building designs that would take care of the energy efficiency and the non-polluting nature of such buildings can only enhance the eco-friendliness of the same. Hence, this is definitely a pointer to the fact that there is a growing need for “green” buildings in the Middle East and hence my research proposal focussing on the same is timely and relevant. Research Method The research methodology to be used for this study is shown pictorially in Figure 1. There are several components to this research study. First, this research study would review the existing literature in the western world about renewable energy and the kind of issues that scholars and researchers in this field have encountered. Further, the use of natural resources and sustainable design would be studied as well. Secondly, the data about emissions from using fossil fuels would be analysed to detect patterns about which sector (transportation, buildings etc) are the major polluters and whether a sustainable building design would improve matters. Finally, the research study would develop methods to apply the clean energy technologies to the building design and suggest ways to incorporate them into the plans for new buildings in the Middle East. Figure 1: The research Method Plan of work Figure 2: Plan of work The plan of work that is proposed to be carried out would consist of the literature review first. This task is expected to take around a month to complete. Then the case study task that is integrated with the latter parts of the literature review would be done. The combination of literature review and case study would be presented along with the systems study. The next step would consist of preparing the questionnaire as well as collecting relevant data from the field. This would be followed by the data analysis and the conclusion to the research study would be the culmination of the effort that would also include review and preparation of the thesis thus compiled. Conclusion In conclusion, this research study aims to study the effects of using renewable energy in the design of buildings in the Middle East as a means to improve the returns per unit of energy used or in other words, to improve the energy throughput arising out of usage of renewable energy. (Cottrell, 2000) The research will also analyse the patterns of fossil fuel emissions and propose ways and means to minimize the impact of the same. Finally, the research would compare the efficiencies involved in using renewable and conventional energy in terms of sustainability and planning for the future. The aim of this research proposal is to study the links between clean energy and building design and to examine the correlation between the two with a view to establish methods where energy efficiency can be improved and sustainable building design can be promoted. This way, it is hoped that this research study would add to the literature on improving the quality of life in the Middle East. References Cottrell, Fred. 2000. Energy and Society. McGraw Hill. London EIA (2009) International Energy Outlook 2009, http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/world.html (accessed 1st March 2010) The State of Energy Conservation Policies in Middle East Buildings.2010. Carboun Website. [Online] Available from: http://www.carboun.com/sustainable-design/the-state-of-energy-conservation-policies-in-middle-east-buildings/ [Accessed Mar 25 2010] Emmott, Bill 2003. 20:21 Vision. Allen Lane. London Holdren, J.P., Smith, K.R. et al. (2000) Energy, the environment, and health. In: Goldenberg, J. et al. (Eds) The World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, New York, United National Development Programme, 61–110. Martin, James. 2008. The Meaning of the 21st Century. Penguin books. London Roberts, Paul. 2004. The End of Oil. Bloomsbury, London. Toffler, Alvin. 1980. The Third Wave. Penguin. London US Department of Energy (2008) Energy efficiency and renewable energy, 32pp. Read More