Interpretation of Sustainability
When completed, the Masdar Initiative claims that Masdar City will ‘become the world’s first zero carbon, zero waste development, while maintaining the highest quality of living.’[1] It is important when assessing Masdar City in terms of its elements of sustainability to look at the ways in which the Masdar Initiative defined sustainability. Most significantly, the design claims to be based on the fundamental principles of One Planet Living (OPL)[2]; a set of ten guiding principles of sustainability as a global initiative developed by BioRegional and WWF. The principles include zero carbon, zero waste, sustainable transport, sustainable materials, local and sustainable food, sustainable water, protection of land and wildlife, reviving culture and heritage, protection and creation of economy and health and happiness. The environmental ethic was taken that these principals should not only be met, but be exceeded. This stance was taken because increasingly more and more of the world’s population are living in cities. Currently over half of the world’s population now lives in cities. This percentage is expected to rise to 70% by 2030. Because cities today are responsible for over 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions, a new city modal is required to combat the effect this will have on global warming. The Masdar Initiative has aimed at achieving their sustainable goals in a commercially viable manner, as sustainability is most likely to exceed if it is economically feasible. In doing this a new global city modal will be created for the new century.
Masdar presents an eco-technic city modal, as integration of global environmental concerns are developed into conventional building design strategies. The urban vision of the compact and dense city is exemplified here.
Zero carbon
To meet the Masdar Initiative’s aims for a carbon-neutral city, energy efficiency was at the forefront of all designs. Planners recognized that the biggest and least expensive environmental gains come from the most passive technologies. This stance, (in line with their aim for an economically viable sustainable solution), was acted upon through in the foremost through the city’s and buildings’ orientation and form with regards to the sun and prevailing winds. Passive building design strategies were inspired by the traditional designs in the region, where building materials possess a high thermal mass and wind towers are used for natural ventilation and cooling. On the scale of the city there is a permeable north wall to let in northern cool breezes, while pathways are narrow to provide shade. The employment of passive tools in the city’s design will allow Masdar to use a quarter of the energy needed by a conventional city.
The next most effective resource efficiency is through building performance optimization. World-class building insulation technologies, the latest low-energy lighting specifications, efficient high-performance building envelopes will be used
This includes a high-performance building envelope, smart systems and sensors, advanced lighting controls and smart building management systems which monitor and controls mechanical and electrical equipment will all be used. Stringent building efficiency guidelines are in place in areas such as insulation, low-energy lighting specifications, the percentage of glazing, optimising natural light, and installing smart appliances to control this.
Active controls, such as renewable energy, are the most expensive, while offering the lowest relative environment-impact returns. This is why passive tools, and energy efficiency were at the forefront of the designers’ plans. Currently, the city is fully powered by onsite renewable energy. As the city grows, a target of least 20% of the energy requirements will be met from onsite renewable sources, while the remaining required power will be sourced from offsite renewable sources. In order that the city may be fully powered by renewable energy, several energy projects are being undertaken. Masdar’s stone-and-mud walls will be covered in photovoltaic panels, while its pathways will be covered by fabric shades that convert sunlight into electricity. Likewise electricity is also to be provided by the larges grid-connected photovoltaic plan in the Middle East, a solar thermal power plant, a large wind farm on the city’s outskirts, and a waste to energy power plant. Other systems include the world’s first Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage plant and the world’s first hydrogen power plant.
[1] www.carboun.com
[1] www.oneplanetliving.org 
Zero waste
Zero waste will aim to be achieved by reducing waste, reusing where possible, and ultimately sending zero waste to landfill. Reduced waste will be implemented by the city’s high-density design, where services can be shared. Biological waste will be used to create nutrient-rich soil and fertiliser, and through waste incineration as an additional power source. Industrial waste, such as plastics and metals, will be recycled or re-purposed for other uses.
‘Encouraging low carbon modes of transport to reduce emissions, reducing the need to travel.’
-One Planet Living’s sustainable transport principle
Masdar City can be seen to encompass both of OPL’s sustainable transport principles through its public transport system and street design. The public transport system consists of electric buses and other clean-energy vehicles. Energy efficiencies can be made in this way, as public transport is more efficient than the private car. Jan Vleugel describes these advantages from a modal shift: ‘the use of space is more efficient, collective modes produce a smaller amount of solid waste, collective modes are safer, there is less noise and air pollution because of the use of electricity instead of fossil fuels.[1] These benefits in space have allowed for the planners to create a dense cityscape, which is an additional requirement to other aspects in the plan including shared building service lines and infrastructure. Abu Dhabi’s light rail and Metro lines will pass through the centre of Masdar City, providing additional transport within the city and serving as a link to the wider area. These transport systems are well integrated for effective travel using different modes of transport. Timothy Beatley describes this strategy as being commonly held in European cities, writing: ‘transit modes are generally integrated to an impressive degree, which means coordination of investments and routes so that transit modes complement one another.’[2]
To cater for private transport a system using Personal Rapid Transit vehicles will be piloted in the search for an appropriate and sustainable solution. The vehicles are ‘electric powered, automated, single-cabin vehicles that offer the privacy, comfort and non-stop travel of a taxi service, and the reliability and sustainability of a public transport system.’[3] This transport system will partially rely on an underground network, intensifying the use of space, as Peter Nijkamp writes, ‘the use of land can to some extent be intensified by using the ‘third dimension’ – air and subterranean space; this option may be especially important for the compact city concept.’[4] This system will be used initially on a limited scale, serving only as a link between the Masdar Institute to its parking lot, as it is still in an early stage of development. Other types of transport will also be evaluated over time, as technology changes, for use within the city.
[1] Milieugebruiksruimte voor Duuraam Verkeer en Vervoer, 1995
[2] Beatley, T. Green Urbanism, Learning from European Cities, p.113
[3] Brochure Masdar City, The Global Centre of Future Energy, p.40
[4] Sustainable Transport in a Compact City. The Compact City
City density has been a key planning element, where a low rise high-density compact design has been developed to encourage energy efficiency. This has informed the transport system, where a transit-oriented development has been designed as ‘relatively high densities are required to make public transit economically viable, and correspondingly, both automobile emissions and travel times are most effectively reduced by the availability of public transit.’[1]
Sustainable materials
The Masdar Initiative’s choice of materiality has been based on using sustainable and healthy products; using locally sourced materials with low embodied energy made from renewable or waste resources. This includes concrete that uses the industrial waste, ground granulated blasted slag, to replace cement, for a substantial reduction in its carbon content, while delivering performance and strength that are higher than conventional concrete. As an example, at the Masdar Institute campus’s building consideration has been made to factor in sustainability; properties including it’s recyclable nature, the low embodiment of energy and low carbon dioxide emissions. 100% fsc certified timber, from a sustainably managed forest have been used, while 90% recycled aluminium was used for the inner façade.
Local and sustainable food
As part of the OPL’s sustainable principles, locally sourced and sustainable food is one area, which Masdar has significantly failed to address. OPL’s principle specifies choosing low impact, local, seasonal and organic diets and reducing food waste. Food waste is addressed, using it to create nutrient-rich soil and fertiliser, and in waste incineration for power. However, obtaining a diverse locally sourced food in the dessert climate has proved difficult.
Sustainable water
Masdar has been designed to minimise water waste and maximise the efficiency of treatment and production techniques. The target for domestic water consumption, in the long term, is 105 litres per person per day; a figure far lower than neighbouring areas. Mechanisms include dealing with the highly saline ground water and capturing fog and humidity or use as drinking water. Wastewater, in line with the zero-waste aim, will be treated and all recycled water will then be used in landscaping, which is being designed to achieve a 60% reduction in water usage per square metre. This will be brought about through strategies including micro-irrigation and landscaping that minimises plant evapotranspiration and low-water-use. High-effici including low-flow showers, efficient laundry systems and real-time water tariffs will all aid in this.
Land and wildlife
Masdar’s location in the dessert has meant that little in the way of protection and restoration of existing biodiversity has taken place in order that Masdar could be classified a sustainable city. By designing the city as a high-density area, little impact has been made on the surrounding land. The use of on-site power plants has also helped with this.
Culture and heritage
‘Place is more than a location’[1]
- Edward Relph
In order to maintain this sense of ‘place’, which Edward Relph describes, local culture and heritage have been an important element in all stages of design. In order to avoid a globalized international architectural style, steps to revive local identity and wisdom were taken. Most significantly is the city design, where ‘a compact network of shaded streets and alleyways evoke the strong architectural identity of Abu Dhabi’[2]. Similarly the buildings will be of a similar height to traditional vernacular buildings. Building designs are rooted in the tradition of walled Medinas, using local passive design strategies.
The issue of globalization will inevitably affect some elements of the style and character of Masdar City as many of the design teams working on it, are global enterprises. Foster + Partners’ approved publication by Martin Pawley: ‘Norman Foster: A Global Architecture’, makes the reference that Foster regards the globalized elements of his work to be beneficial and a positive critique on his work. Relph writes on the subject, ‘cities are the driving force of the global economy. The challenge for the future is to determine how this force can pull with it an entire region without compromising our identity. In other words we must remain locally anchored in a changing global world.’[3] In this way we might place the character of Foster + Partners’ work on Masdar. There is a balanced relationship expressed in the architecture between the traditional local style of Abu Dhabi, and Middle Eastern architecture as a whole, and the modern international architecture, by which this is implemented. This balance relates to all areas in the city, from the techonologies, which employ both traditional passive elements as well as modern international technologies, to the systems of transport, where walking is favoured, but modern means of transport are also available.
Equity and local economy
One Planet Living defines its equity principle as ‘Creating bioregional economies that support fair employment, inclusive communities and international fair trade.’ Masdar City has aimed at fulfilling these guiding rules, by its main aim of looking not to relieve housing needs or about providing low income housing in the face of rising housing costs. Masdar City instead seems to be more about drawing in new investments and a new clean energy technology research industry in the emirate.
Health and happiness
In June 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Earth Summit brought sustainable development forward as a key issue. Action focused on areas that influence these factors, including economic, environmental, political, cultural, ethical, social and health factors. A definition of sustainable development used at the World Commission on Environment and Development described it as ‘development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’[4] Masdar City fulfills this ethic by encouraging active, sociable and meaningful lives, where health and sustainable development are interconnected. Price and Dube in ‘Sustainable development and health’ describe this relationship saying that this extends to the relationship between economic, ecological and community development influencing sustainable development.
[1] Modernity and the reclamation of place, p.37
[2] Foster + Partners Catalogue, p. 14
[3] Schmidt, H. Ministry of the Environment, Spatial Planning Department, p. 2
[4] Our common future
