Sustainable architecture, interactions and mutual relations: a case study of residential building facades

AbstractThis paper examines the design of the facades used on the residential buildings at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) campus. MIST is the first stage in the construction of Masdar City, a large-scale sustainable project sited in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The sustainable considerations on which the project is based are inspired by vernacular practices blended with modern technologies, a combination that targets specific climatic and cultural aims while taking into account the arid and harsh environment and also aligning design parameters with local needs. Through these considerations and responses, the paper highlights the residential building facades as important sustainable design strategies due to the fact that they envelope buildings and protect their units. Based on passive vernacular practices, they impact buildings and units in terms of cooling, shading, and lighting, meaning that an efficient design can reduce the energy requirements and reliance on active systems a...