Sustainability+Project

media type="youtube" key="bORRQuGQLUc" height="315" width="420" **Sustainable design ** Sustainable design (also called environmental design, environmentally sustainable design, environmentally conscious design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. **Sustainable design principles ** While the practical application varies among disciplines, some common principles are as follows:
 * Low-impact materials: choose non-toxic, sustainably produced or recycled materials which require little energy to process
 * Energy efficiency: use manufacturing processes and produce products which require less energy
 * Quality and durability
 * Design for reuse and recycling
 * Design Impact Measures for total carbon footprint and life-cycle assessment for any resource used are increasingly required and available.
 * Sustainable Design Standards and project design guides are also increasingly available and are vigorously being developed by a wide array of private organizations and individuals.
 * Biomimicry: "redesigning industrial systems on biological lines ... enabling the constant reuse of materials in continuous closed cycles..."
 * Service substitution: shifting the mode of consumption from personal ownership of products to provision of services which provide similar functions.
 * Renewability: materials should come from nearby (local or bioregional), sustainably managed renewable sources that can be composted when their usefulness has been exhausted.
 * Robust eco-design: robust design principles are applied to the design of a pollution sources).

**Masdar city ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Masdar (Arabic: مصدر‎, ma <span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">ṣ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">dar, literally source) is a project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is a planned city, which is being built by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the government of Abu Dhabi. Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners, the city will rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste ecology. The city is being constructed 17 kilometres south-east of the city of Abu Dhabi, beside Abu Dhabi International Airport. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Masdar City will host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The city is designed to be a hub for cleantech companies. Its first tenant is the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which has been operating in the city since it moved into its campus in September 2010. **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Design and intent ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The project is headed by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC). Initiated in 2006, the project was projected to cost US$22 billion and take some eight years to build, with the first phase scheduled to be completed and habitable in 2009. Construction began on Masdar City in 2008 and the first six buildings of the city were completed and occupied in October 2010. However, due to the impact of the financial crisis, Phase 1 of the city, the initial 1,000,000 square metres, will be completed in 2015. Final completion is scheduled to occur between 2020 and 2025. The estimated cost of the city has also declined by 10 to 15 percent, putting the development between US$18.7 and 19.8 billion. The city is planned to cover 6 square kilometres and will be home to 45,000 to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses, primarily commercial and manufacturing facilities specialising in environmentally friendly products, and more than 60,000 workers are expected to commute to the city daily. Automobiles will be banned within the city; travel will be accomplished via public mass transit and personal rapid transit systems, with existing road and railways connecting to other locations outside the city. The absence of motor vehicles coupled with Masdar's perimeter wall, designed to keep out the hot desert winds, allows for narrow and shaded streets that help funnel cooler breezes across the city. **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Renewable resources ** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Masdar will employ a variety of renewable power resources. Among the first construction projects will be a 40 to 60 megawatt solar power plant, built by the German firm Conergy, which will supply power for all other construction activity. This will later be followed by a larger facility, and additional solar panels will be placed on rooftops to provide supplemental solar energy totalling 130 megawatts. Wind farms will be established outside the city's perimeter capable of producing up to 20 megawatts, and the city intends to utilise geothermal energy as well. In addition, Masdar plans to host the world's largest hydrogen power plant. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Water management has been planned in an environmentally sound manner as well. A solar-powered desalination plant will be used to provide the city's water needs, which is stated to be 60 percent lower than similarly sized communities. Approximately 80 percent of the water used will be recycled and waste water will be reused "as many times as possible," with this greywater being used for crop irrigation and other purposes. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The city will also attempt to reduce waste to zero. Biological waste will be used to create nutrient-rich soil and fertiliser, and some may also be utilised through waste incineration as an additional power source. Industrial waste, such as plastics and metals, will be recycled or re-purposed for other uses. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The exterior wood used throughout the city is Palmwood, a sustainable hardwood-substitute developed by Pacific Green using plantation coconut palms that no longer bear fruit. Palmwood features include the entrance gates, screens and doors.