Abstract
It has been over three decades since the term “sustainable development” was coined in Brundtland’s report in 1987, and 28 years have passed since the world’s first sustainability assessment method for buildings was founded by the Building Research Establishment in UK in 1990. During these three decades, many sustainability standards, codes, and rating systems were created and used to help in designing, constructing, maintaining, rating, and labeling buildings with attaining the principles of sustainability. Yet by looking at the Arab world at the beginning of 2019, one can argue that, although the Arab countries have dedicated the effort and budget to save energy, water, and natural resources, the region as a whole is still struggling to shift the paradigm of the building industry from conventional to sustainable. This struggle raises some questions; are there any challenges that Arab countries must overcome to leap forward to a prosperous sustainable building design and construction practices? Why are existing green building rating systems such as Estidama in United Arab Emirates, global sustainability assessment system (GSAS) in Qatar, and ARZ in Lebanon lagging behind the trends of green building rating systems in the developed countries? What are the coordinated steps needed to expedite this movement across the region? The current study explores the limits and potentials of the green building industry in the Arab world through analysis of the green building initiatives, academic scholarship activities in architecture and engineering sectors, and feedback from green building professionals across the Arab world. This article introduces a theoretical framework to expedite the green building movement in the Arab region; the framework is shaped by the environmental, social, and economic factors that are crucial to the transformation of the building industry from conventional to sustainable. The study seeks to support a line of research that could help governments in the Arab world catch up with the global green building trends.
Highlights
In 1983, the United Nations chose former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland to lead the new World Commission on Environment and Development
The “Brundtland Commission” released its final report “Our Common Future”. It defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1]
A mixed-methods research design was used to elucidate the challenges and key factors of adopting sustainability in the building industry of the Arab world; literature review was conducted to explore the current status of the Arab building industry with regard to the global sustainability movement, and this included a critical review of “sustainability” and “green design” as keywords in architecture and engineering higher education across the region
Summary
The “Brundtland Commission” released its final report “Our Common Future”. It defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1]. As a result of this new definition, adopting the three dimensions of sustainability were incorporated in many fields and industries, such as planning, architecture, business development, accounting, agriculture, and design. The US Green Building Council was established in 1993 to promote sustainability in design, construction, and operation in the building industry in the United States of America, United States Green Building Council (USGBC) developed the first version of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design in 1998 [3]
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