A Framework of Sustainable Design for the Region of Palestine
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Arts & Architecture A FRAMEWORK OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN FOR THE REGION OF PALESTINE A Thesis in Architecture by Hala Marwan Haddad © 2010 Hala Marwan Haddad Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture December 2010 The Thesis of Hala Marwan Haddad was reviewed and approved* by the following: Ute Poerschke Associate Professor of Architecture Thesis Advisor James Wines Professor of Architecture Madis Pihlak Associate Professor of Architecture Alexandra Staub Associate Professor of Architecture *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii Abstract: Many definitions of sustainable design have emerged in the past twenty years, most of which focused on the environmental part of the design process. In recent years, especially with the emergence of sustainable design as an international trend, more attention has been directed towards the social and economic part of sustainable design for a building to be truly sustainable and able of fitting in any context, for the long run. This thesis explores into the different dimensions of sustainable design, studying what makes a building sustainable, and using that as a base to define sustainable design in the region of Palestine, a small country in the northern part of the Middle East and east of Mediterranean, to define a framework of sustainable design. The framework achieved at the end of this study uses the vernacular as a passively sustainable prototype of sustainable design, for its environmental, socio cultural and economic complexity of a building, integrated with modern active techniques, that helped define the framework and helps define the future of the vernacular as a sustainable structure in different regions of the world. To define the framework, a case study is chosen in Nablus; a city in the core of the West Bank (Palestine). This already built case study is examined for its energy use, and social qualities, and later iii transformed into a courtyard structure, with the same occupancy and spatial praxis. Later the two buildings are compared, to examine the ability of the courtyard structure to serve as a sustainable building from all facets of the sustainable process. At the end of this study, the main features of the courtyard house are going to be extracted into a framework of sustainable design, to help start acclimating the region to sustainable design. iv Table of Contents: List of Figures: ..................................................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables: ..................................................................................................................................................... xii Chapter One: ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Defining a framework of sustainable design in Palestine: ................................................................................. 1 Introduction: .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Research Questions: ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Sustainable Design, a Definition: .................................................................................................................. 4 Environmental Factors: ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Social Factors: ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Economic Factors: .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter Two: ...................................................................................................................................................... 14 Review of Literature: ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Sustainable Design and the Courtyard House: ........................................................................................... 15 Regional Architecture and Sustainability: .................................................................................................... 17 Integration within Sustainable Design: ........................................................................................................ 22 Sustainable Design in Palestine: ................................................................................................................. 24 Chapter Three: ................................................................................................................................................... 27 Local sustainability: The Case of Palestine: ................................................................................................... 27 Historical background: ................................................................................................................................. 27 v History: ........................................................................................................................................................ 29 Geography: ................................................................................................................................................. 32 Climate: ....................................................................................................................................................... 33 Politics: ........................................................................................................................................................ 33 Economy: .................................................................................................................................................... 34 Culture and social structure: ....................................................................................................................... 34 Architecture: ................................................................................................................................................ 35 Urban Fabric: ........................................................................................................................................... 36 The Vernacular: ....................................................................................................................................... 37 The Religious Building: ............................................................................................................................ 39 The Public Building: ................................................................................................................................. 41 The Residential Building: ......................................................................................................................... 42 The Vernacular and Sustainable Design ........................................................................................................ 46 - Sustainability of the Courtyard House: ...................................................................................................... 50 Environmentally responsive features of the traditional Palestinian courtyard house .................................. 51 Socially sustainable features in the courtyard: ............................................................................................ 52 Economically sustainable features of the courtyard house: ........................................................................ 54 Chapter Four: ..................................................................................................................................................... 56 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 56 Project Profile: ................................................................................................................................................ 57 Location: ...................................................................................................................................................... 57 Climate: ........................................................................................................................................................... 60 Case Study: .................................................................................................................................................... 65 vi Urban Structure: .......................................................................................................................................... 67 Design: ........................................................................................................................................................ 68 Building Profile ............................................................................................................................................ 69 Courtyard Design: Concept: Preview: ........................................................................................................