Sustainable living is no more a dream
abu dhabi — Sustainable living has become a reality in Abu Dhabi. It is cast in concrete, literally, and sits on a 900sqm plot at Masdar City.
Welcome to eco-villa, the world’s first energy efficient house that produces as much energy as it consumes.
“We call it Net Zero energy concept,” Chris Chi Lon Wan, Head, Design Management at Masdar, told Khaleej Times during an exclusive tour of the structure on Tuesday.
“People misconstrue energyefficiency living to be equivalent to zero use of electricity. But what it does is use electricity from the grid and feed back the same amount,” explained Wan. The villa is connected to the national grid and even as it uses energy from the grid, the energy generated from the villa’s roof-top solar panels are given back to the grid. After a 12-month cycle, it is expected to supply 40,000kWh of electricity to the national grid.
not an ordinary villa
From outside, the villa looks quite ordinary. There are no outstanding aesthetic features, here. But the cream colour exterior, its blue and grey colours and clean cuts and straight lines of its architectural design have more than what meets the eye. It is futuristic, yet family-friendly. The open-roofed and spacious courtyard is flooded with sunlight. The glass windows and panels allow the sun to swoop down into every nook and corner of this 400sqm house.
The ground floor houses a living and dining area, a bedroom, a majlis that opens to the compound, a detached kitchen, storeroom, laundry and a maid’s quarters with attached toilet.
There are three bedrooms, all ensuite, on the first floor plus a family area and open terrace.
“We asked many Emirati families one question: How do you like to live? The villa is designed based on the feedback we received,” said Wan.
“We wanted to test a villa that is not just green but fits in with the concept of Emirati living economically, environmentally and socially as the three pillars of sustainability,” said Wan.
Energy efficient design
The architect says there is no one single technology that explains why the villa is energy efficient.
“It is a combination of many factors,” says Wan. For example, the plot sits on a north-south orientation because most of the sun’s impact comes from the east and west direction. “So we have deliberately reduced windows in this direction to keep the heat off the building.”
To ace the energy efficiency, the villa has also used many smart fixtures and fittings like water-efficiency pipes taps, LED bulbs and high- thermal insulation walls that will keep the building cool. According to him, the eco-villa uses about 72 per cent less electricity and 35 per cent less water than a standard villa of the same size.
The villa is also water efficient by way of recycling water collected from air conditioners for irrigating the garden.
anjana@khaleejtimes.com