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Stress on environment for sustainable urban development

The lecture is the first of eight planned events that are set to take place throughout the year, aimed at increasing the level of community understanding on environment-related issues and challenges.

The UAE is a rapidly transforming country. The growth of opportunities in the major cities has brought an increase in urban population, with corresponding growth of housing and infrastructure. Growing demands on resources and escalation in emissions and wastes leave a negative impact on the environment. These complex issues can be addressed in various ways, but at the heart of the matter is the need for creating an environment conducive for sustainable urban development. 'Green' or sustainable buildings help in maintaining a clean and healthy environment. EEG has been a part of a growing campaign for sustainable urban development, joining efforts with a range of interested groups to drive pioneering initiatives in this field. For a few years now, EEG has been actively involved in highlighting and mainstreaming the concept of green buildings. This lecture was a continuing venture in that direction.

The stimulating presentation entitled "Dynamic Breathing Walls — an Innovative Green Building Technology" was given by Dr Mohammed Salah El Din Imbabi from the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, the University of Aberdeen, King's Collage, Scotland, United Kingdom.

The talk sought to establish linkages between a building's design and performance and a sustainable urban environment. The speaker introduced the basic principles of heat and mass transfer through dynamic insulation, green building features such as reduction of indoor and outdoor air pollution in urban settings, energy use, environmental impact and deployment options in buildings.

Dr Imbabi said: "A dynamic breathing wall system allows the building to ventilate at higher levels than would otherwise be possible while significantly reducing energy consumption. Combined with filtration of incoming air, this means that healthy indoor environments are sustainable even in the polluted urban environment of a large city such as London, New York or Dubai. The air exhausted will be cleaner than that taken in to ventilate the building, which also means that a dynamic breathing building of this type will clean the local environment."

The lecture was followed by a round of enthusiastic discussion between the speaker and the audience. The latter comprised a mixed group of academics, professionals, students and members of the community. EEG's lectures have been very successful in bridging the gap between specialists on a wide range of subjects and the public at large, and promoting a healthy flow of information and exchange of expertise.

The evening was opened by EEG's Chairperson Habiba Al Marashi, who gave an overview of the group's activities, objectives and achievements in the previous year. At the end of the lecture, she presented tokens of appreciation to the speaker and the host hotel and EEG member Ramada.

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