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Spring 2012
Sustainability in the Built Environment
CIV 405
Section 1
Case study:
ADU campus sustainability

|Name |ID |
|Ahmad A. A. Inshasi |1002534 |
|Hasan Haytham Al Sadeq |1007151 |
|Abdallah Talal Al Mansour |1013397 |
|Umar M. Farooq Mirza |1002586 |
|Mohamed E. S. Shaat |1005410 |

Submitted On: 07 -06 - 2012
Submitted To: Dr. Yasemin Nielsen
Abstract

Nowadays, sustainability is all about how to help our environment to help us and the next generation who has the right to live a good and safe life with the availability of resources needed. Sustainability concepts should be applied in all our aspects of life because they help us to live a healthier life.
This case study is discussing and analyzing whether the campus of ADU is sustainable or it is not and it covers the following topics in our case study: • ADU classes.

• ADU corridors.

• ADU toilets.

• ADU Parking.

• ADU “Outside”.

Outline

|# |Title |Page |
|1 |Abstract |2 |
|2 |Table of Content |3 |
|3 |Introduction |4 |
|4 |ADU classes |5 |
|5 |ADU corridors |9 |
|6 |ADU toilets |11 |
|7 |ADU Parking |13 |
|8 |ADU “Outside” |14 |
|9 |ADU transport |16 |
|10 |Other suggestions |17 |
|11 |Conclusions and Results |18 |
|12 |References |19 |
|13 |Appendix |20 |

Introduction

Sustainability is “Forms of progress that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." (WCED, 1987). These days, sustainability is an international concern that made all the organizations and governments started to think about it and started to make future plans to insure applying the concepts of sustainability. Sustainability concepts mainly concerned of the rights of the next generations to have a safe, available resources and better place to live. As we know, many resources of the earth are exhaustible and nowadays we are living in the urban renaissance that required a lot of resources all the time. Most of the people are using the resources of the earth with the least amount of knowledge of the dangers that may happen to our world. People are being selfish and ignoring the fact that our behavior and practices are the biggest threat for the safety of the earth. (Sustainability, 2001)
This project will mainly discuss the sustainable and unsustainable practices at ADU campus and dorms and we are going to discuss the possible solutions to apply the concepts of sustainability and sum up with recommendations that may be useful tips to be used in the future for the following projects in Abu Dhabi University and other projects in the world.

ADU classes

[pic] [pic] “Figure 1” “figure 2”
[pic] [pic] “Figure 3” “figure 4”
We are going to discuss the following: • Chairs and tables: the chairs and tables of ADU “Figure 1” are made from un-sustainable materials which consume a lot of (wood, iron, cloth) that need a lot of materials because of the big numbers of chairs and tables needed in ADU. We can use the relief chairs which are made of recycle and recyclable materials which need small amount of fuel and other resources to make. We can use some screws instead of glue which is not sustainable and bad for our environment as well. Here are some examples for some sustainable chairs in “Figure 5”: (Sustainable chairs, 2004)

Another alternative is that instead of buying new chairs, the existing seats can be refurbished, i.e. the damaged fabric can be reupholstered but with eco-friendly material with recycled and natural fiber that are readily available in the market.

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• Windows: when we talk about the windows we should talk about the orientation, the materials used in windows, and also the framing. The orientation of the windows is good enough here in ADU “Figure 2” and we know that South-facing windows are the best solution to decrease the heat in the UAE because of the hot weather, and they were forced to put it like this in order to maintain the orientation of the university to be directly facing the street. Regarding the materials used in the windows, we can notice that these materials are allowing the heat of the summer to enter the ADU campus and affect the students, their health and also their performance as well. There are many options for the university regarding the materials of the windows such as the Insulated Glass which consist of two layers of glass and the air is insulated between them which will help to keep the heat in the winter and heat out in the summer. And here are some options for the materials as following in “Figure 6”: (Sustainable Windows & Doors, 2003)

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The windows of ADU campus are framed with aluminum frames form inside the university but the problem with the aluminum frames that they conduct heat easily. The best material to be used in the framing is the PVC “Figure 7” because they are inexpensive, energy efficient, low maintenance, highly resistant to moisture. [pic]

• Curtains: the curtains in ADU “Figure 1” campus are panel curtains and they are good for the unopened curtains. We know that curtains and blinds are used to decrease the effect of light and also keep the privacy as well. Curtains and blinds are also used when you open the windows and you want to keep the privacy. Regarding the material of the curtains, we think that they are good enough because they last for long time and they don’t require any a lot of care and changing. (Curtains & Blinds, 2010)

• AC remote control: The AC of ADU is controlled form the central center of AC`s and the AC remote control “Figure 3” are not usually useful in the university. For this point, we can say that is not sustainable to have lot equipments that require source of energy and they are not frequently used.

• Light switch: the light switches in ADU “Figure 4” are the normal light switch which provides the same amount of light in the day as night. We know that we don’t need that much of light in the day and especially in summer when the sun light is intense and warmer. The best equipment to be used to provide the appropriate amount of light is the dimmer. The most efficient type of dimmer is the rotary dimmer “Figure 8” which can give you exactly the amount needed at any time of the year without needing more equipment or source of energy. (Rotary Dimmer, 1996)

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ADU corridors

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We are going to discuss the following: • Trash cans: the trash cans in ADU “Figure 9” are made of aluminum which as we know that is not sustainable and bad for our environment since it cause pollute to the earth because they are difficult to decompose. There are some trash cans in ADU that are mixing all the waste and rubbish together without separation due to the material of these waste. Trash cans should be separate as some places in ADU campus (papers, cans. Others) in order to recycle what we can recycle later. In ADU, we can use some recycled trash cans “Figure 13” which are good for environment, and we can spread the separated material trash cans in all over ADU. (Leahy, 2006)

[pic] • Plants: We can notice the plants in all the corridors which are a good idea from ADU. Plants are providing the environment of ADU “Figure 10” with more Oxygen and fresh air. We can think of other types of plants which look better and provide us with more fresh air.

• Wall: the wall of ADU “Figure 11” is full of posters and announcements related to the university and its activities. These posters require a lot of papers and high quality ink. We can use the papers used in the announcement in another thing when removing them and we can also try to use other types of ink which are better for the environment. We can also use these empty areas of the wall for posters about how to be sustainable and a good friend for our environment.

Another alternative would be to remove the bulletin boards completely as the information posted on them are already circulated through the university’s website, blackboard and through SMS. This would significantly reduce the amount of paper used.

• Painting: first of all, we can say that the painting of ADU “Figure 12” is not good for our eyes at all since in one corridor you can see a lot of colors with their levels. We take care of painting because it became one of the most toxic sections in constructions. Painting is also a reason of water and air pollution when we clean it up and because of the off-gassing. There are many sustainable options for the university to use such as:

o Using low Volatile Organic Compounds paints.

o Using Heat Reflective paints to reduce energy usage

o Using products which reduce the possibility of chemical sensitivity

ADU toilets

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We are going to discuss the following: • Paper towel: the tissues in the toilets are so jagged that sometimes you just take them and realize the fact that they are not useful. The paper towel of toilet “Figure 14” allowing students to take a lot of tissues which most of it will be thrown in the garbage. We know that sustainability is also about using as much as we want without any extravagance. The best equipment to be used is the touch-less automatic paper “Figure 16” towel which working passing the hand in front of the laser to insure keeping the germs away. This method can provide you with the required amount of tissues you want. (Touchless-automatic-paper-towel-dispenser, 2003)

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• Hand washer “tap ware”: The hand washers in the toilets of ADU “Figure 15” are consuming a lot of water and there is always a leakage in them which lead to more consume of water. ADU have two options to solve the current problem of the tap ware. The first solution is by placing “Water Flow Controls” “Figure 17” at the tap ware to control and reduce the water consumption. The second solution is to have new tape ware which is “Infra-red tap ware” “Figure 18” which works by passing your hand in front of the laser and the water will automatically start to flow in a small rate and appropriate for the normal use.

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ADU Parking

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We are going to discuss the following: • Awnings parking: we can say that the parkings awnings “Figure 19” are good enough to prevent the sun light to go directly to the cars, but we can notice that the materials of the awnings reflect the sunlight back to the environment which contributes in rising up the temperature of the environment. For example we can change the painting used in the parkings awnings to insure preventing the lights to go directly to the cars and prevent the reflecting of the sunlight as much as we can. There is another solution which is planting trees around the parkings which will lead to more fresh air and more shadowing needed for the parkings.

• Orientation of the parking: because of the hot climate in Abu Dhabi, the parkings of ADU should be oriented in the south direction in order to prevent directly sunlight access to the parkings.

ADU “Outside”

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We are going to discuss the following: • Outside area: regarding the outside area of ADU, ADU tried to plant as much they can in some outside areas. There is a main point that has been forgotten when deciding to plant small plants, that ADU is lack of trees that they are important to prevent the heat of the sunlight. “Figure 21” and “Figure 22”

• Trash cans: the trash cans outside ADU “Figure 23” are mixing all the garbage together without any separation for them. Separated trash cans should be provided everywhere in order to know what is recyclable and which is not.

• Parking lights: There is a huge parking lot behind the university “figure 24” which is always empty yet all the lights are on in the evening. Even most of the parking spaces in the front are also empty later in the day. The security cabins in the front and back of the university should have independent switches for these lights so that they can be turned off when they’re not in use. This would drastically reduce power consumption as the light bulbs used in these lights draw a lot of electricity.

ADU Transport

We have noticed that over the years as the number of students in the university grow, so does the number of cars in the university parking lot. This shows that a large number of students rely on their cars for their commute.
And the number of buses the university runs for student and staff transport have also increased.
We suggest the university should cooperate with the Abu Dhabi government and urge them to increase the number of public transport buses from the university to various parts of Abu Dhabi city. Since the public transport is cheap, both the students and the university would benefit from this. And since this would mean that more people would stop using their own car, the amount of fuel burned would decrease as a single bus could replace at least 10-15 cars. Consequently, the emissions from using the cars would also decrease.

Other suggestions:

The restaurants in the food court should be regulated and urged to not throw away the cooking oil once used. They should be told it to get in touch with companies that recycle used cooking oil into bio fuel.

Since the cooking oil cannot be purified into anything else it is usually chemically neutralized and disposed. If that is not done properly the oil is proven to be a serious contaminant of water.

The bio fuel from the recycled cooking oil is relative cheap and has fewer emissions than conventional fuels. Numerous sorts of vehicles and machinery can be run on this bio fuel after alteration.

Conclusions and Results

Sustainability concepts are the most efficient concepts nowadays because they already set to maintain the resources of the world and to keep the environment health for us and also for the next generations.
The results that we got from our case study showed that ADU campus is not sustainable and there are a lot of mistakes form the beginning of the construction of the campus. We think that the campus built with a lot of ignorance for the concepts of sustainability and its applications as well. After discussing and analyzing the sustainable problems in the campus of ADU and its partition we find that there are some problems that can be solved and there are non-solved problems. The non-solved problem refers to the orientation of the campus and the parkings and we can say that this problem occurred because the university should maintain the orientation of the university to be directly facing the street. There are some problems that can be solved by providing extra equipments such as the water flow control and others. The remaining problems are advisable to be solved by installing new equipments that lead to apply the concepts of sustainability.

References

1. Curtains & Blinds. (2010, September 01). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Build It Green: http://builditbackgreen.org/bushfires/interactive-green-building-guide/fitouts-and-finishes/curtains--blinds.aspx
2. Leahy, K. (2006, November 17). Nicole Howell’s ‘Toss With Care’ Trash Can Addresses Homelessness & Sustainability in NYC. Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Inhabit New York City: http://inhabitat.com/nyc/nicole-howells-toss-with-care-design-addresses-homelessness-sustainability-in-nyc/
3. Rotary Dimmer. (1996, february 09). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from LUTRON: http://www.lutron.com/Products/StandAloneControls/Dimmers-Switches/RotaryDimmer/Pages/Overview.aspx
4. Sustainability. (2001, January 13). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
5. Sustainable chairs. (2004, December 29). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Green Furniture: http://www.green-furniture.com/sustainablechairs.html
6. Sustainable Windows & Doors. (2003, february 07). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Wood Land: http://www.woodlandbuildingsupply.com/Products/Green-Products/Sustainable-Windows-and-Doors.aspx
7. Touchless-automatic-paper-towel-dispenser. (2003, October 09). Retrieved May 29, 2012, from Touch Free Concepts: http://www.touchfreeconcepts.com/products/touchless-automatic-paper-towel-dispenser.php

Appendix

|Figure # |Title |
|Figure 1 |Chairs of ADU |
|Figure 2 |Windows of ADU |
|Figure 3 |AC remote control of ADU |
|Figure 4 |Light switch of ADU |
|Figure 5 |Sustainable chairs |
|Figure 6 “Table 1” |Comparison table for the materials of windows |
|Figure 7 |PVC windows frames |
|Figure 8 |Rotary dimmer |
|Figure 9 |Trash cans of ADU |
|Figure 10 |Plants of ADU |
|Figure 11 |Walls of ADU |
|Figure 12 |Painting of ADU |
|Figure 13 |Recycled trash can |
|Figure 14 |Paper towel of ADU toilets |
|Figure 15 |Hand washer “tap ware" of ADU toilets |
|Figure 16 |Touch-less automatic paper towel |
|Figure 17 |Water flow controls |
|Figure 18 |Infra-red tap ware |
|Figure 19 |Awnings parkings of ADU |
|Figure 20 |Parkings of ADU |
|Figure 21 |Planted out sided area of ADU |
|Figure 22 |Un-planted out sided area of ADU |
|Figure 23 |Outside trash cans |
|Figure 24 |Backside parking lots |

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“Figure 5”

“Table 1”

“Figure 7”

“Figure 8”

“Figure 10”

“Figure 9”

“Figure 12”

“Figure 11”

“Figure 13”

“Figure 15”

“Figure 14”

“Figure 16”

“Figure 18”

“Figure 17”

“Figure 19”

“Figure 20”

“Figure 22”

“Figure 21”

“Figure 23”

“Figure 24”