The Greenest City on the Planet
is the claim Al Masdar makes. This is a new US$22B development I visited last week when I was in the United Arab Emirates on a project for my solar power business.
Along with Dongtan City in China, this new zero-carbon community designed by Sir Norman Foster is setting the bar for triple bottom line development.
This new city is seeded by a US$15B investment from the Abu Dhabi Emirate, and is located 10km from the center of the city.
Scheduled to be complete by 2016, this new 640 hectare [ 1,700 acre] home for alternative energy industries and research will be home to 50,000 people, create 70,000 jobs, and 1500 companies. Passive solar design and energy efficient design will result in a community that
- uses 80% less energy,
- 50% less water--a big deal when all your water is produced by desalinization, and
- 1% of the waste going to landfill
than current community needs.
Green design principles will enable this community to save over $2B in oil consumption over the next 25 years, and add an estimated 2% to the GDP of Abu Dhabi. A streamlined regulatory environment and a unique enabling environment, and a location in the trendsetting UAE completes the feasibility picture.
A Chicago architecture firm recently won the commission for the headquarters--using a positive energy, mixed use program.
A great example of developing like you give a Damn.
