The Sustainable Development of Local Housing Units in UAE
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The Sustainable Development of Local Housing Units in UAE By Amani Mohammed Al Sammani Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of MSc Sustainable Design of the Built Environment Faculty of Engineering & IT Dissertation Supervisor Professor Bassam Abu-Hijleh May-2011 Abstract WWF (2010) ranked United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the country with the world's largest Ecological Footprint per capita in 2007, by means of that if the earth's population consumed and emitted carbons as much as UAE residents do, more than ―4.5 earths‖ would be required to sustain it. Accordingly, UAE has classed as one of the most energy consumers globally due to its massive economic development and abnormal population growth. Despite the fact that the urban development has formed the cornerstone of the Dubai economic growth; it has failed in creating sustainable urban environment. The immediate need for conservation and sufficient control of building development in UAE has led to initiate several foundations to ensure a sustainable development future of the country. Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council has produced the Pearl Rating System for Estidama while Dubai Municipality has set up the first edition of Green Buildings Regulations and Specifications. This study investigates the sustainable development of local housing units in Dubai from historical ages until the expected status after applying the Green Regulations on 2014 and compares the results with that of Estidama System of Abu Dhabi. Different computer simulation has been conducted using (IES-VE) to evaluate the energy consumption and thermal performance. It was found that the traditional unit has the minimum value of energy consumption among all other units. With the beginning of using cooling systems in 1970‘s, the total energy consumption has lifted up about four times than the total i energy of traditional unit. Remarkable reductions below 1970‘s – 1990‘s levels has recorded in future cases of Dubai (49% - 63%) and Estidama cases of Abu Dhabi (57% - 71%) due to new policy instruments, energy efficiency direction and thermal performance development. Simple payback analyses has been conducted and verified that the future green practices and sustainable developments have the ability to re-create environmentally friendly buildings that present green and comfort balance within an affordable price where the total construction cost of Dubai and Abu Dhabi green buildings has ranged between 0.46% to 2.04% above the levels of total construction cost of the year 2000 – 2010 levels. And the payback period has ranged between 1.3 to 3.6 years for the re-traditional design and 5.4 to 7 years in post-modern design. ii Acknowledgments I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Prof. Bassam Abu Hijleh, whose encouragement, supervision and assistance from inception to completion level has enabled me to conduct this study. Without his support, patience and guidance, this study would not have been completed. I owe sincere and earnest thankfulness to my parents. My deepest appreciation and love for their dedication and support during my undergraduate studies that provided the foundation for this work. I also would like to make a special reference to Building Department of Dubai Municipality. Without their corporation I could not have gotten such relevant data. Last, but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my husband Moana. He formed the backbone and origin of my success. His love and support without any complaint or regret has enabled me to complete this research. I owe my every achievement to him. iii Table of contents Abstract ............................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments ........................................................................................ iii List of Figures ............................................................................................... ix List of Tables ............................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1 - Introduction 1.1 Introduction of Dubai foundation .........................................................2 1.2 Dubai History and Building Development ...........................................2 1.3 Dubai History and Urban Development ...............................................5 1.4 Discovery of Oil and Urban Development ............................................6 1.5 The first commencement of government on buildings ......................7 1.6 The foundation of modern Dubai .........................................................8 1.7 The economic revolution and building regulations ............................9 1.8 Quality of life and Ecological footprint .............................................. 10 1.9 The economic crises and environmental problem recognition ....... 11 1.10 Green building revolution ................................................................ 12 Chapter 2 - Literature Review 2.1 Introduction sustainable development ............................................ 15 iv 2.2 Thermal comfort and vernacular architecture .................................. 15 2.2.1 Wind towers .................................................................................. 16 2.2.2 Courtyards .................................................................................... 18 2.3 Lessons to learn from vernacular architecture ................................. 21 2.4 vernacular and modern architecture in comparison ........................ 22 2.5 Sustainability in context of energy and thermal performance ........ 24 2.5.1 Passive techniques and energy consumption ................................ 25 2.5.2 Integration of passive and active techniques ................................. 26 2.6 Sustainable energy development ...................................................... 28 2.6.1 Minimizing energy loads and operation cost .................................. 28 2.6.2 Building design and energy consumption ...................................... 31 2.7 Regulatory and voluntary policy instruments .................................. 34 2.8 Successful sustainable development experience ............................ 36 Chapter 3 – Research Plan 3.1 Introduction to research phases ...................................................... 44 3.2 Motivations ........................................................................................ 44 3.3 Aims ................................................................................................... 54 3.4 Objectives .......................................................................................... 46 3.5 Justification ....................................................................................... 64 3.6 Research plan ................................................................................... 47 v Chapter 4 - Methodology 4.6 Method selection and justification ................................................... 49 4.1.1 Field observation and survey method ............................................ 49 4.1.2 Lab experiment method ................................................................. 51 4.1.3 Computer simulation method . ....................................................... 52 4.1.3 Literature review and case studies method . ................................. 54 4.2 Method selection conclusion ........................................................... 56 4.3 Selected method ................................................................................ 56 4.4 Selected computer simulation software ........................................... 57 4.5 Selected software validation ............................................................. 59 4.6 Analysis procedure ............................................................................ 61 Chapter 5 – Housing Units Selection 5.1 Introduction of housing unit selection ............................................ 74 5.2 Sustainable development timeline ................................................... 74 5.3 Selection and evaluation parameters .............................................. 74 5.4 Selected units.................................................................................... 74 5.4.1 Historical unit . .............................................................................. 73 5.4.2 1970‘s-1990‘s unit . ....................................................................... 73 5.4.3 1990‘s-2000‘s unit . ....................................................................... 73 5.4.4 2000‘s-2010 unit . .......................................................................... 73 5.4.5 2010-2014 unit . ............................................................................ 73 vi Chapter 6 – Simulation Models 6.1 Computer simulation models ........................................................... 74 6.2 Weather data profile.......................................................................... 74 6.3 Local housing units description ...................................................... 74 6.3.1 Historical unit . .............................................................................. 73 6.3.2 1970‘s-1990‘s unit . ....................................................................... 73 6.3.3 1990‘s-2000‘s unit . ....................................................................... 73 6.3.4 2000‘s-2010 unit . .......................................................................... 73 6.3.5 2010-2014 unit . ...........................................................................