To reduce its overall environmental footprint, As you walk through Masdar , you will The on-demand Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) The PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) Station City’s urban planning emphasises high-density, notice that it looks both extremely modern system of electric-powered, automated, marks the beginning of the Masdar City pedestrian-friendly mixed-use development, and traditional. That’s because the City single-cabin vehicles offers the privacy, comfort experience for most visitors. The floors are low-rise construction and easy access to public incorporates many passive design features and non-stop travel of a taxi service, and the constructed with prefabricated concrete slabs transportation. Streets and public plazas have been which don't require energy to deliver benefits. sustainability of a shared public transport system. that are manufactured offsite and fitted ‘activated’ to encourage people to spend time in These features have been used by urban Operated using a touch screen to indicate your together on site, dramatically reducing them. dwellers in the region for millennia. preferred destination, the vehicles run along construction waste. Benches are made of Passive sustainability strategies include: PRT-only corridors located under the street level polished low-carbon concrete. • Windows that make up less than 40% of exterior Some of these techniques are obvious, such as of the Masdar Institute campus. The passenger wall surfaces the window shading, narrow spaces between cars run on a 1,700-metre track that passes from Backlit recycled-glass walls accent the PRT the parking garage PRT station to the Masdar • Well insulated and airtight building buildings and colonnades. Others are less so, station entrance. Inside, the eye-catching Institute PRT station. envelope to help reduce energy consumption such as the northeast-southwest orientation of glass-walled numeration of the PRT berths the city streets, which optimises shading of and multiple smaller international numbers • Horizontal and vertical shading prevent direct streets and building walls, and facilitates The cars are controlled by computer and use are embedded into the single large Arabic sunlight into buildings natural airflow throughout the City. sensors to ensure nothing is in their path and to numeral. • Fully shaded colonnades reduce direct sunlight locate magnets that have been embedded in the on building walls to ensure cooler temperatures These strategies combined contribute to the concrete floor every two metres to assist vehicle The parking berths have recharging panels in • Stairs are prominently located, while elevators perceived notion that Masdar City’s outdoor navigation. An overhead leaky coaxial cable the floor, allowing vehicles to recharge while are hidden away to encourage the use of stairs spaces are much cooler than other parts of antennae runs the length of the PRT corridors on standby in the station. This is the opposite of what is found in city. and provides a wireless link between the individu- conventional buildings al cars and the PRT system computer. • Fountains, which flow water over surfaces, rather URBAN DESIGN than spray water in the air, help lower the TRADITIONAL DESIGN PERSONAL RAPID TRANSIT (PRT) PRT STATION perceived temperature

The Masdar Institute Laboratory buildings are As you rest on any of the benches across the Masdar Institute’s residential buildings are One of the most distinctively shaped buildings characterised by air-filled Ethylene city, note that unlike other concrete used in the defined by the terracotta-coloured, undulating in the City, the oval-shaped roof of the tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) cushions that limit city these are made from ‘low-carbon’ glass-reinforced concrete (GRC) balcony institute’s Knowledge Centre reflects the the heat re-radiated to the street. A reflective concrete. This concrete has a significantly ‘screens’ that serve much the same role as designers’ efforts to optimise photovoltaic (PV) foil-clad inner layer behind the cushions sends lower environmental footprint because up to traditional Arabic mashrabiya screens. They energy harvesting through the building orienta- light to the pedestrian street below. Behind the 60% of the energy-intensive Portland cement is provide shade and privacy, while allowing air to tion and the inclination of the PV panels on the foil is a highly insulating and highly sealed replaced with ground granulated blast-furnace pass through to cool the balconies. roof’s curved surface. The roof’s large self-shad- panel. slag (GGBS), a waste product from iron making. ing overhang prevents direct sunlight from The use of this slag has resulted in concrete Inside, these buildings have a central enclosed causing heat gain inside, while still allowing All of Masdar City’s buildings advocate wall that is more resilient against moisture and Abu atrium that naturally ventilates the common natural light to illuminate study areas and insulation in addition to strict air-tightness Dhabi’s hypersaline soil. space for much of the year. During the evening, providing a full wall of glass that will look out standards aimed to control the infiltration of cool air flows from vents opened on the ground over one of the city’s parks. hot, humid air. Most of the aluminium used across Masdar City level, cooling the interior walls and flowing out for sheeting, windows and door frames is through open louvres at the top of the buildings. Although the glulam (glued laminated) timber Those windows that are not already shaded by comprised of 90% recycled aluminium, a In warm weather, these openings are closed structure is graceful and beautiful, the reason it adjacent buildings have vertical louvres to product that has one-eighth the carbon during the day to keep cool air in. The buildings was chosen over steel was because sustainable block morning and afternoon sun plus footprint of conventional virgin aluminium have solar PV panels on their roof tops to timber reduces the building’s embodied carbon horizontal ones to block midday sun. sheeting. The use of this 90% recycled harvest the sun rays and generate clean footprint. aluminium is a world first in the construction . industry. All timber is certified as sustainably Covering the northeast section of the building’s sourced, while steel reinforcing bars are made Walls cooled by the night air then provide exterior roof, sustainable folded zinc cladding with recycled scrap. thermal cooling to keep the interior hallways provides ventilated shading to parts of the pleasant throughout the day. The world’s first building and nearby public spaces. BUILDING FAÇADE GREEN BUILDING MATERIALS 90% recycled-aluminium sheeting is the same RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS KNOWLEDGE CENTRE terracotta colour as the GRC screens.

Rising 45 metres above the plaza in which it The Siemens Building is a LEED Platinum-certi- The distinctive, ultra-modern façade of the This sports building and performance hall stands, the Masdar Wind Tower is a modern fied, high-performance office building, whose Incubator Building slopes outward as it rises in features an open-air swimming pool. Above the interpretation of one of the region’s most iconic unmistakable exterior façade has been designed an effect that reduces solar gain by up to 63%. pool is an indoor gym and a large multipurpose traditional architectural features. Its height like a ‘box within a box’. The inner ‘box’ is the The use of ‘fritting’ on the glass walls also keeps hall that is used for conferences and sporting highly insulated, airtight wall that provides allows it to capture upper-level winds and heat at bay yet still promotes diffused natural events. maximum insulation. Surrounding this is the lighting inside. direct them to the open-air public square at its ‘outer’ box comprised of a lightweight alumini- Ensuring accessible leisure and recreational base. Sensors at the top of the steel structure um external shading system featuring fins of These circular dots of ceramic frit are applied opportunities for workers, residents and visitors operate louvres to open in the direction of varying forms. These prevent excess solar heat more densely on windows higher up the building, to Masdar City is central to the sustainability prevailing winds and to close in other from reaching the inner ‘box’ and warming the where there is more direct sunlight, and less objective of creating a viable work-life balance. directions to divert wind down the tower. building’s interiors, while maximising views and densely further down. Some exterior windows That’s why streets and public squares are daylight. can be manually opened to provide natural intentionally designed to encourage sitting, A PTFE (Teflon) fabric membrane carries the The building, which is the company’s Middle ventilation of fresh air in cooler weather to whether for a work or informal meeting, to read wind downward, while mist generators at the East headquarters, ‘floats’ above and shades a significantly reduce cooling requirements. The or simply to enjoy the weather. Cafés and top further cool the air. This combination of public plaza, whose funnel shape accelerates design of walkways into the building’s open-air restaurants benefit from the City’s pleasant evaporative cooling and air movement help to prevailing winds underneath the building. This interior courtyard helps to ‘lock in’ the cooler micro-climate. Future development includes lower the perceived temperature in the flushes hot air out of the surrounding public shaded air. more open spaces such as parks, playgrounds and sports fields. courtyard. spaces using natural air-flow dynamics. Different coloured fritting has been applied to The atriums draw up the warm ground-level air different sections on the façade. Higher up the The unusual design choice of putting a building from the building’s plaza and expel it, allowing building, the dots are bright yellow and reflective, above an outdoor swimming pool optimises land MASDAR WIND TOWER SIEMENS MIDDLE EAST HQ natural daylight to permeate the interior office INCUBATOR BUILDING while ‘cooler’ colours are used towards the MULTI-USE HALL use and provides necessary shading to the pool. spaces. Smart metering systems are deployed building’s base. to monitor energy and water use.

Masdar City Masdar City is a growing clean-technology hub The seven-storey, 32,000 square-metre The Masdar digital guestbook is an engaging P.O. Box 54115, Abu Dhabi, UAE that is pushing the boundaries of urban design complex comprises an atrium surrounded and interactive souvenir of your visit to 800MASDAR (627327) and renewable energy. The City features a Masdar City. Created by American artist [email protected] by three buildings home to the International www.masdar.ae 10MW solar photovoltaic farm with 87,777 Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Joshua Davis, the guestbook invites you to polycrystalline and thin-film modules that headquarters. The complex has a 1,000 sign your name on the screen. Based on Masdar Free Zone occupy a 22-hectare site. square-metre rooftop solar PV array that each signature, the guestbook software uses [email protected] will meet 10% of the building’s electricity randomisation to create a unique, www.masdarcityfreezone.com At its commissioning in 2009, the plant was the requirement. computer-generated art form that evokes a largest grid-connected solar facility in the schematic urban planning map. Masdar Institute Middle East. The farm produces approximately The office building, the first in Abu Dhabi to +971 2 810 9333 17,500MWh of clean electricity and diverts earn a 4 Pearl Estidama construction rating, The slower, more carefully you sign your [email protected] www.masdar.ac.ae reduces overall energy demand by more than 7,200 tonnes of CO2 annually. name, the better the resulting artwork, so be 60% compared to a baseline non-Estidama sure to take your time. Once the design is The rooftop PV arrays have a capacity of 1MW building in Abu Dhabi. It also uses 54% less created, the guestbook will send a copy to and produce nearly 1,500MWh of electricity a water than a comparable structure, and 75% your email. year. of its hot water demand is heated on site with solar heaters. The complex was constructed with advanced sustainable building materials, such as low-carbon concrete, recycled aluminium and steel, and FSC-certi- fied timber. ONSITE IRENA HQ DIGITAL GUESTBOOK MASDAR CITY VISITOR’S MAP Melius Restaurant is located on the ground floor. WELCOME TO MASDAR CITY A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Masdar Free Zone at Masdar City offers companies Masdar Institute of Science and Technology is the Government-owned Mubadala Development of all sizes an unparalleled opportunity to do world’s first graduate-level, research-driven Masdar is building one of the world’s most sustainable, Company, Masdar has a mission to invest, incubate business in one of the most dynamic and university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies. It aims to support Abu low-carbon urban developments, Masdar City. As one of and advance the establishment of a clean energy aesthetically-pleasing renewable energy and the most modern, sustainable communities and an Dhabi’s economic diversification by developing industry in Abu Dhabi and around the world. clean-tech clusters in the world. Located near the emerging technology cluster, it combines traditional highly-skilled human and intellectual capital and Arabic architectural techniques with current technology Masdar comprises three business units, namely Abu Dhabi airport, 20 minutes from downtown partnering with industry leaders. to create a cool and pedestrian-friendly environment Masdar Clean Energy, Special Projects and Masdar Abu Dhabi and 40 minutes from , this tax-free where people live, work, learn and play. Masdar City City & Free Zone. It is complemented by Masdar zone currently hosts 400+ companies, including The Institute, which was created in collaboration provides an environment in which businesses can thrive Institute, an independent, research-driven graduate General Electric, Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and push the boundaries of innovation. The development (MIT), includes graduate programs consolidated university. Industries and Lockheed Martin to name a few. is presently home to more than 350 companies which into four departments: Electrical Engineering and contribute to Abu Dhabi’s transition to a Computer Science; Engineering Systems and knowledge-based economy. A collaborative mind-set Today, Masdar is a renewable energy innovator and Committed to making registration, leasing and Management; Mechanical and Materials and entrepreneurial spirit energises Masdar City, investor that is preparing the sustainability leaders visa-processing a fast and seamless experience, Engineering; and Chemical and Environmental creating opportunities for investors and tenant Engineering. organisations alike. of the future. With each unit focused on a key Masdar City has set up a One-Stop Shop service component of the value chain, Masdar operates centre that allows new partners to establish their Its faculty and students explore a diverse range of Knowledge, research and learning are at the heart of with the broad scope necessary to meet the most businesses within just a few days. Businesses that issues – from water and energy to Masdar City’s unique ecosystem, which will incorporate pressing sustainability challenges of today and join the free zone at Masdar City have 100% foreign the full education cycle, from elementary and high microelectronics and climate change. Its research tomorrow. ownership, freedom of capital and profit repatriation schools to undergraduate and postgraduate institutions. activities are organized under five Institute Through Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, and complete access to the city’s state-of-the-art, Research Centers – the Institute Center for tenants have access to advanced research facilities, and energy and water efficient infrastructure which allow Energy, Institute Center for Water and every graduating class from the Institute adds to an lower operations costs. Environment, Institute Center for Smart and unmatched talent pool. MASDAR INSTITUTE Sustainable Systems, Institute Center for MASDAR MASDAR FREE ZONE Microsystems, and the Institute Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Main Buildings Services A Incubator Building 14 Al Hilal Bank B Knowledge Center 15 Al Manara Pharmacy B. Knowledge Center C Multi-use Hall 16 Post D Siemens Building 17 Etisalat E Wind Tower 18 Modern Laundry C. Multi-use Hall Masdar Institute Campus 19 NBAD Bank 20 The Doctors Medical Centre Cafés and Restaurants 1 Barbacoa Mexican Restaurant Corporate Offices 3 Presidential Flight Rd. Abu Dhabi - Dubai Highway 2 Café Cento 21 Etihad Airways 3 Caribou Coffee 22 Masdar City Offices Abu Dhabi International 4 IL Café Di Roma 23 Masdar Corporate Offices Airport YOU 5 Jim’s Kitchen Table 24 Masdar Free Zone Etihad Plaza One-Stop Shop ARE 6 Just Falafel 25 Siemens Middle East HERE 7 Osha Emirati Gourmet 8 Papparoti Café 2 Facilities 9 Quiznos Sub Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) 10 Spinneys Cafeteria Male Prayer Room 11 Sumo Sushi & Bento Female Prayer Room 1 1 3 Main Entrance Toilets Retail 2 Entrance 6 Masdar Reception 10 12 F-Mart Supermarket 5 13 Organic Supermarket Masdar Institute Reception 17 Building Entrance

8 18 Bus Stops Car Park (Staff Only) Public Bus 4 Big Bus 23 Entrance D. Siemens Building 9 Airport Road (E20) 19 Entrance

Entrance A. Incubator Building A 25

Khalifa Street 13 22 12

Entrance E. Wind Tower 24 Entrance

11

6 21 14 5 1 Siemens HQ 4 IRENA HQ Masdar City Station 4 2 Masdar Institute 5 Multi-Use Hall Metro line (future) 7 15 20 16 LR/BR Transit line (future) 3 Incubator Building 6 Knowledge Centre One-Stop-Shop Public Transport (future)