Djamel Boussaa

Al Asmakh historic district in Doha, Qatar: from an urban slum to living heritage

In the face of rapid economic development, population growth, peoples increasing needs and their changing lifestyles, most historic centres in the Arab world have experienced problems. Located in a central position in the growing urban areas, these historic districts have to function as city centres. Previously, they kept the medina alive and they participated in the economic growth of the city; however, today this is not generally the case, as many of these centres have been erased, replaced by modern shopping malls and hypermarkets. Despite the fact that the trend for building modern skyscrapers is still popular, it is possible to counterbalance this drift by preserving the few remaining historic areas. We believe that one way of rediscovering the cultural identity of Doha is to go back to its initial roots and try to sustain them in harmony with the present and future trends of the city. Fareej (district) Al Asmakh, a model of Qatari heritage in the heart of Doha, presents an urgent case for urban conservation. Fareej Al Asmakh should be recognized as a valuable resource for future development. It is a reflection of Qatars cultural identity in the heart of Doha, and thus should be sustained in the face of the proliferation of alien high-rise developments around and adjacent to it. This research focuses on the role of Fareej Al Asmakh and other districts in reviving and injecting new life into the heart of Doha. In other words, the question is: can urban conservation be an adequate strategy to revive and sustain Fareej Al Asmakh, thus strengthening the citys cultural identity while participating in its growth and development?

User satisfaction and energy use behavior in offices in Qatar

The occupant behavior significantly contributes to the total energy use in buildings and its understanding is greatly needed in energy analysis/simulation studies. Uncertainties about the occupant behavior adversely affect the building performance predictability of the simulation models. As field data in Qatar on occupant energy use and behavior was unavailable, we conducted an environmental satisfaction and energy use survey in the city of Doha, Qatar in seven office buildings. Building occupants were highly satisfied with their work environments with respect to most of the environmental parameters excepting acoustics. Access to operable controls such as windows, thermostats improved their satisfaction. Subjects in private offices were more satisfied with their work environments. We noted the self-declared productivity of respondents to be high in general. It was significantly higher in offices with better occupant access to temperature controls. Noise level dissatisfaction was the highest in high partitioned cubicle offices and satisfaction was high in open plan offices. These findings provide vital design direction for new offices and environmental systems design and for managerial motivational campaigns. Practical application: Using field study data, we analyzed the occupant behavior and environmental satisfaction in offices in Doha, Qatar. The Middle East in general and Qatar in particular are known to consume enormous energy for buildings leaving a large ecological footprint. The finding of this study informs the designers of air-conditioning systems about the user behavioral patterns. Further, these findings help the building managers in designing targeted energy awareness/saving campaigns, as user motivation is vital in energy saving.

A method to estimate the heating and cooling degree-days for different climatic zones of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s energy consumption is increasing astronomically. Saudi Building Code prescribes a fixed base temperature of 18.3℃ to estimate the heating degree-days and cooling degree-days. Using historical meteorological data (2005–2014), this article presents the heating degree-days and cooling degree-days estimated for the representative cities in all the five inhabited climatic zones of Saudi Arabia. We used the base temperatures of 14℃, 16℃ and 18℃ for heating degree-days, and 18℃, 20℃, 22℃, 24℃ and 28℃ for cooling degree-days for Dhahran, Guriat, Jeddah, Khamis Mushait and Riyadh cities. We developed multiple regression models for heating degree-days and cooling degree-days at various base temperatures for these zones. Degree-days for other cities in similar climates with limited input data can be computed with these. Lowering of base temperature by 2 K from 18℃ reduced the heating degree-days by 33–65%. At 14℃ of base temperature, the heating requirement reduced by 60–95%. Elevating the base temperature by 2 K from 18℃ lowered the cooling degree-days by 16–38%. At 28℃ of base temperature cooling can be completely eliminated in Khamis Mushait, and reduced by 65–92% in other cities. This observation merits rethinking about use of appropriate base temperatures that properly link the outdoor environment to reduce the energy consumption. Practical application: Using historical data, we developed regression models for predicting heating and cooling degree-days for five cities of Saudi Arabia in various climate zones without the historic data. Using these, we can estimate the changes in heating/cooling load due to the variation in base temperatures. For example, lowering base temperature by 2–4 K from 18℃ reduces the HDDs by 33–95% and elevating the base temperature by 2–4 K from 18℃ lowered the CDDs by 16–68%.