Reduce Your Carbon Footprint - Follow Masdar
When we talk about sustainable energy designs, Masdar City comes to everyone’s mind but not many are familiar with the various energy harnessing techniques employed there. So, let me give a brief on those that may help us in designing our own ‘Sweet-Homes’ on similar philosophies.
Billed as one of the most sustainable cities in the world, construction of the 6 km sq. Masdar City in Abu Dhabi began in 2008. It is presently the best showcase of emerging clean technologies of the world ever marketed, researched and developed. With the potential to house up to 40,000 residents and 50,000 commuters when fully built in 2025, Masdar City will also be home to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENE) and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). The anticipated cost of the entire development is $18bn to $19bn.
The planning and architecture of the entire city has been approached with sustainability in mind, with a focus on natural cooling. Streets are built to be optimally oriented on a southeast – northwest axis thereby providing some shading at street level throughout the day. Located throughout the city, parks are intended to provide convenient, shaded oases for residents, workers and visitors, incorporating walking, jogging and bicycling trails, benches and other recreational facilities. The location of the parks is based on the principle of wind movement from a wider space to a narrower space, flushing the parks with wind to make them cool and pleasant.
Most buildings are shielded with ETFE (ethylene tetra fluoroethylene) cushions to ensure almost no solar gain on the structures, as well as limiting the heat radiated on the street. A wind tower, which rises 45 meters above a podium allows the capture of upper level winds which is directed to a square base – a recreational space having cafes and restaurants. When the temperatures hit a certain level, the wind louvers open, suck in the air and direct it down the tower. The temperature in the courtyard gets a bit cooler and more comfortable.
Masdar’s 10MW solar power plant is the largest grid-connected plant of its kind in the Middle East. Constructed in 2009 at a cost of $50m, the 22ha plant provides clean energy to the MIST campus within the city, Masdar’s temporary on-site offices and the ongoing Masdar City construction activities. The plant is said to be energy-positive as it produces more than what Masdar City presently consumes. The excess power is transferred to the grid. In addition to the power plant, there is a 1 MW rooftop installation at MIST and a smaller installation near site offices. The new solar technology, the beam down or concentrated solar plant has been employed, which is more energy efficient and cost effective than the prevailing technologies.
Sunlight is also used for the primary purpose for illumination. A solatube passive day-lighting system is employed, which can transfer sunlight for up to 15 meters while blocking UV rays. Daylight capturing dome lenses and in-dome reflectors redirect low angle sunlight rejecting strong midday sunlight. The systems in the room can also detect whether it needs to use the integrated electric light kit to provide additional illumination in low daylight and night conditions.
The landscaping also targets a 60% reduction in water usage per square meter through a number of strategies including micro-irrigation minimizing plant evapo-transpiration. For this purpose, 100% treated wastewater is used while water features are shaded to reduce evaporation.
The contract also encompasses the operation and maintenance of rooftop photovoltaic plants, rooftop solar hot water systems, double effect absorption chillers, waste management, cleaning services and plumbing services. In the future, electric vehicles shall form part of Masdar City’s sustainable transportation goals.
If someone is planning to build his/her own house, and willing to reduce his personal carbon foot-print, similar standalone designs and installations could be thought of. The initial cost will not be higher than the savings in power bills lifelong.
http://news.yahoo.com/hobbs-nm-picked-scientific-ghost-town-172742847--finance.html
drsam, couldn't open the link...could you place it again?
who all are funding the project?
A $1 billion city without residents will be developed in southeastern New Mexico near Hobbs, to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and self-flushing toilets.
The point of the town is to enable researchers to test new technologies on existing infrastructure without interfering in everyday life. For instance, while some researchers will be testing smart technologies on old grids, others might be using the streets to test self-driving cars.
blisteringb, That's a good post. You talked about the technologies that they plan to implement. Re-discovering architecture is one of the important things in natural cooling. Also, uses of special reflective paints, natural ventilation and possibly the use of solar absorption chillers would be a great idea if used all together. Solatubes is different from skylights..it can pass sunlight through a long tube to greater distances that a ventilator can. I agree, photovoltaics is not new and there are some limitations..but we must accept that construction will always trail technology and not the other way round. Having all such techniques put together, old and new, is a novel idea.
I have already planned to use some of these ideas in my house. At least I would be happy to say, I tried..:)
Yes wind power is rarely a good idea. Anywhere. I'm not advocating it - merely correcting a previous post which said it had not been considered for Masdar.
Solar generation in the form of Photovoltaic cells of whatever type is very expensive, the performance degrades as the temperature rises and somehow you have to clean them. Condensation on damp mornings plus the wind-borne dust give a coating that is difficult to remove. And what do you do for power after dark? Batteries - no thanks - nasty chemical thingys.
I doubt whether wave power or tidal generation would be viable in the Gulf? But in the right locations both are potentially useful. Wave power because it is virtually 24/7 and tidal because it can also include an element of energy storage.
Being 'green' in terms of energy and minimum carbon footprint is not easy anywhere in the World and more tricky hereabouts. Masdar City was a nice idea on paper. In practice, it's dead. RIP.
(BTW - I declare a lack of interest having been a staff member of one of a number of consultants who were serially kicked off the project. AFAIK the original architects are still 'earning' fees. No names.... )
From what I have read , Wind generators are the leat effective, since they are very prone to malfunction and have a high cost of production and maintenance.
I would have thought that solar power or wave power would be more effective..
Masdar as a city is not progressing - only the Post Grad University (MIST) has been built so far. No other permanent buildings. The HQ Building which was promised to IRENA is not yet started. No residential plots are being developed. A large part of the site is now being allocated to education/ university buildings - not in line with the original master plan.
There are many reasons why it is not happening but the bottom lines are cost and that no-one will now buy anything off-plan.
They did consider wind power and rejected it for the very good reasons that the average wind speed in that location is below the starting speed of most types of turbines, you cannot use high towers because of the proximity of the airport and lastly wind generators are noisy. (Abu Dhabi is using wind power on off shore islands where different criteria apply).
for more info on Masdar type "masdar Qatar" in Google and click the 2nd or 3rd on the list ...there are nice pics there ;)
Just drove past Masdar an hour ago and it looked pretty dead to me. You rarely see anyone in the construction area. My guess is that the photos were staged.
rooftop solar photovoltaic systems as used there is 1) Old technology
2) That the surface area is the least. They should have used Solar Shingles on the external side. A lot of People in US & UK are using Solar roof top. It is more advantageous to use on sloping roof as the surface area is relatively greater than say in a similar size Terrace building.
Also nowadays people use stick-on solar panels as against "mounted panels". Then there are foldable/rollable solar cells... next gen tech is paint-on Solar panels (and I dont think they have used any of these).
Roof water heaters have been in existance for at least 2 decades or more... is not new tech. Solatubes are good. But leting in the sunlight is also old technology well used in Glass buildings as in the West Bay. I believe all Old tile-houses also have a Glass tile to let in the light...
What they have done in Masdar is mostly architecture rediscovery... like using the high wind tower to catch the cooler breeze and channel it downwards... shaping the alleys and creating more shadow corridor... all these were used in the past and they have just used in new style.
Maybe... maybe ...what they might plan to do is make it and say "see we tried... but it didnt work... we put in research, design, used latest tech.... but we will always have to depend on OIL for all energy needs"... Well this could have serious repercussions as whenever any Free Energy Project will be mooted Masdar will be an example of how it failed.... (what will never be revealed will be how badly they tried to use Solar Energy).
Forgive me for my rant.... but Masdar did not stand for what it was promised to be.
I beleive there is nothing any layman can take from it... If any layman wants to seriously pursue this interest fortunately there is the world wide and there is so much interesting things happening that makes the whole of Masdar Redundant.
But they do have beautiful buildings there :)
brit, What you said is true. I have been following the developments there too since it all started. However,my focus, as in this thread, was more into knowing what new technologies they were adopting.
Having followed Masdar's work closely over the past three years, I would agree more with Miss Mimi. The whole project has been scaled down considerably and the only ones who made the money are the original designers and the architects :O(
A Dubai based magazine named 'Construction' featured the developments of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi two months back. It showed photographs of the sites which proved work was in progress. It also discussed the philosophies and green technologies that would be adopted there.
Ummm, so far Masdar is one building (the MIT run University) and some port a cabins. Also, they most definitely do let cars on site. It's also not that big....not sure how they plan on fitting 40,000 people there.
Sadly Masdar is a lot of talk and misleading advertising. :(
I dont think they even considered using Wind Energy...
and they made a lot of noise of biring in a electric car that could dor 250kmph that had 25 seats then they realised that the car cannot go that fast too long... then they rejected the idea saying the "batteries were not invented YET".... what a Joke...
the superbus:
"This will be probably a forerunner for other such cities made around the world in future."
KH rightly said it. we must have a real prototype, to know if what was drawn on paper actually works. what are the problems, how to solve them, and build a more efficient city or abandon the whole idea. it is a prototype; a unestimably helpfull one. thx to petro dollar, they can afford to "try". and fair enough if they get the media attention.
That's right brit. You got to be prudent before making a decision.
Good idea. However, Masdar was supposed to be utilising leading edge snd experimental technologies. Also, many of these would be too expensive for the ordinary person - wouldn't they ?
I don't care how much they spend on this construction. I just wanted to share what techniques you can adopt in your homes to save energy.
the truth is that there is no accepted design... all design on Solar works are actually research in motion so to say...
I believe they wasted a lot of money on Design and Archicture... much more than that was necessary...
Start with a few blocks .... there is no rule that it has to start with a full city...
Presently the whole electricity man uses even in the desrt can be sourced from the Sun alone... only in the 6 hot months where AC is needed the consumption shoots up...
I believe they are not serious... looks liek they only want to be the 1st to do something like that.... they are more interested in how beautiful the thing looks rather than basing the whole thing on Solar Power...
I believe the Solar Power used there is going to be only about 30% of the Electricity consumed.
I mean how can they build a "Solar" building and put Solar panels only on the terrace and not on the Building sides... It is obvious that the sides that surround the building... have the greater Surface Area...
And they could have used Electric Cars and Electric Buses... something which Doha has started to use ;-)
Masdar was a great idea and vision, but reality has kicked in and the project has been downsized considerably..
It is clear that even Abu Dhabi cannot justify the costs involved..
moza, That's right what you said. Many European countries are well advanced in utilizing renewables. Back home in India too, I find roof top solar water heaters in many houses. But, in Masdar, they are trying to combine all existing green energy technologies together in a 6 km sq. area.This will be probably a forerunner for other such cities made around the world in future. True, its all because Abu Dhabi can afford the initial cost of such construction.
On the other hand, countries like UK and Germany have plenty of roof tops standalone systems..either photovoltaic or reflector heater type.
Sell fossil fuels and use the money to build an Eco city?
If they were really serious they would start with solar panels on the roof of all houses. He fact they UK has more houses with solar panels than in GCC countries is shocking.
kkforever, Abu Dhabi started this project in 2008...we hope the message will spread across the GCC once things get going there.
Ha ha so funny. Built on petrodollars and how many cars does the CEO have? THe biggest joke since Bush said we will cleanse the world of terrorists by invading Iraq
Sorry guys, environmental awareness in GCC is non-existing. I hope this will change some day...
I especially liked the idea of rooftop solar photovoltaic systems,roof water heaters and solatubes to light the rooms during the day time. Absorption chillers need a big set up for aircooling but I hope in the future designs will get more compact for individual apartments.
priceless info! thks
Automobiles will be banned within the city; travel will be accomplished via public mass transit and personal rapid transit systems