Neom in Saudi Arabia

22 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Living, Working, Building, Sustainability Reading Time:  12 minutes

© neom.com

© neom.com

Neom is a city being built in Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is planned to incorporate smart city technologies and function as a tourist destination. The site is north of the Red Sea, east of Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba, and south of Jordan. It is planned to cover a total area of 26,500 km² (10,200 sq mi), extending 170 kilometres along the coast of the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia aimed to complete major parts of the project by 2020, with an expansion completed in 2025, but it is behind schedule. The project has an estimated cost of $500 billion. On January 29, 2019, Saudi Arabia announced that it had set up a closed joint-stock company named Neom. The aim of this company, which is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, is to develop the economic zone of Neom. The project is planned to be totally powered by renewable energy sources.   read more…

Smart City

22 April 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Design & Products, Energy, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building, Sustainability, Environment Reading Time:  26 minutes

© flickr.com - Wilgengebroed/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Wilgengebroed/cc-by-2.0

A smart city is an urban area that uses different types of electronic data collection sensors to supply information which is used to manage assets and resources efficiently. This includes data collected from citizens, devices, and assets that is processed and analyzed to monitor and manage traffic and transportation systems, power plants, water supply networks, waste management, law enforcement, information systems, schools, libraries, hospitals, and other community services. The smart city concept integrates information and communication technology (ICT), and various physical devices connected to the network (the Internet of things or IoT) to optimize the efficiency of city operations and services and connect to citizens. Smart city technology allows city officials to interact directly with both community and city infrastructure and to monitor what is happening in the city and how the city is evolving.   read more…

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

1 April 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Energy, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, House of the Month, Intelligent Buildings, Sustainability, Environment, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Aboluay/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Aboluay/cc-by-sa-4.0

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a private research university in Saudi Arabia. The University’s core campus, located on the Red Sea at Thuwal, is sited on more than 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi), encompassing a marine sanctuary and research facility. The university is 20 km away north of the King Abdullah Economic City. KAUST is part of a small number of highly planned, specialized, research and technology-intensive municipalities in the world that incorporate a living environment, similar to Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates or Tsukuba Science City in Japan.   read more…

Theme Week Abu Dhabi – Masdar City

23 March 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Design & Products, Energy, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building, Materials, Sustainability, Environment, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  15 minutes

© fosterandpartners.com

© fosterandpartners.com

Masdar City is a planned city project in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is being built by Masdar, 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 relies on solar energy and other renewable energy sources. Masdar City is being constructed 17 kilometres (11 mi) east-south-east of the city of Abu Dhabi, right beside Abu Dhabi International Airport. 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.   read more…

King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia

23 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  8 minutes

Overview @ kaec.net

Overview @ kaec.net

King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) is a megaproject announced in 2005 by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the then king of Saudi Arabia. With a total development area of 173 km² (66.8 sq mi), the city is located along the coast of the Red Sea, around 100 km north of Jeddah, the commercial hub of the kingdom, the city will also be approximately an hour and 20 minutes away from the holy Islamic city of Mecca and 3 hours from Medina by car and an hour away of all Middle Eastern capital cities by plane. The total cost of the city is $86 billion (around SR 207 billion), with the project being built by the Tadawul-listed company Emaar Properties, a Dubai-based public joint stock company and one of the world’s largest real estate companies, and SAGIA (Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority) which is the main facilitator of the project. The city is divided into six main components: Industrial Zone, Sea Port, Residential Areas, Sea Resort, Educational Zone, and a Central Business District (CBD) which includes the Financial Island.   read more…

Songdo International Business District in South Korea

2 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  9 minutes

Songdo International City © Swlee8851/cc-by-sa-3.0

Songdo International City © Swlee8851/cc-by-sa-3.0

Songdo International Business District (Songdo IBD) is a new smart city or “ubiquitous city” built from scratch on 600 hectares (1,500 acres) of reclaimed land along Incheon‘s waterfront, 65 kilometres (40 mi) southwest of Seoul, South Korea and connected to Incheon International Airport by a 12.3-kilometre (7.6 mi) reinforced concrete highway bridge, called Incheon Bridge. Along with Yeongjongdo and Cheongna, it is part of the Incheon Free Economic Zone. The Songdo International Business District will feature the Northeast Asia Trade Tower and the Incheon Tower. Schools, hospitals, apartments, office buildings and cultural amenities are to be built in the district. Replicas of architectural hallmarks, including New York City’s Central Park and Venice’s waterways, will also be incorporated. This 10-year development project is estimated to cost in excess of $40 billion, making it one of the most expensive development projects ever undertaken.   read more…

Taipei 101, second tallest building of the world

2 April 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings Reading Time:  7 minutes

Taipei 101 - New Year's fireworks 2008 © Ukyo Hsieh/cc-by-sa-3.0

Taipei 101 – New Year’s fireworks 2008 © Ukyo Hsieh/cc-by-sa-3.0

Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District in Taipei. The building ranked officially as the world’s tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and became the tallest and largest green building in the world. Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture. The construction was finished in 2004. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening. Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year’s Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media.   read more…

The solarCity in Linz

26 September 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Green Buildings, Green Technologies Reading Time:  4 minutes

© solarcity.at

© solarcity.at

The solarCity is an energy-saving living district in Linz-Pichling, Austria, which provides living space for about 4,000 people. The houses were built using a low-energy design. The idea and motivation for providing energy efficient living arrangements stems from the fact that fossil fuels contribute to global warming and that their use should therefore be avoided.   read more…

The Rance Tidal Power Station

23 May 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Green Technologies Reading Time:  7 minutes

Aerial view: Saint-Malo on the right, Dinard on the left © Tswgb

Aerial view: Saint-Malo on the right, Dinard on the left © Tswgb

The Rance Tidal Power Station is the world’s first tidal power station and also the world’s second biggest tidal power station. The facility is located on the estuary of the Rance River, in Brittany. Opened on the 26th November 1966, it is currently operated by Électricité de France, and is the second largest tidal power station in the world, in terms of installed capacity. With a peak rating of 240 Megawatts, generated by its 24 turbines, it supplies 0.012% of the power demand of France. With a capacity factor of approximately 40%, it supplies an average 96 Megawatts, giving an annual output of approximately 600 GWh. The barrage is 750 m (2,461 ft) long, from Brebis point in the west to Briantais point in the east. The power plant portion of the dam is 332.5 m (1,091 ft) long. The tidal basin measures 22.5 km2 (9 sq mi).   read more…

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