Towards an environmental approach for the sustainability of buildings in Algeria

المجلة: Energy Procedia

سنة النشر: 2017

تاريخ النشر: 2017-07-24

Abstract Sustainable architecture (HQE in France, Green Buildings in the USA, Sustainable Buildings in Northern Europe) is a profound initiative whose objective is to achieve sustainability of buildings. This concept has spread throughout the world and each country worked to develop its approach (depending upon its physical and cultural conditions) to minimize the negative impacts of buildings on the natural environment and improving the comfort and quality of life. These international initiatives are characterized by multi-criteria vision, contextuality, flexibility and scalability. What strategy should be developed for sustainable buildings in Algeria? This is the fundamental question for which we try to provide some answers. On the basis of a thorough study of the Algerian context, we aim at the presentation of the foundations of an approach to the sustainability of buildings which would be adjustable to different regions of the country and whose peculiarity lies in the consideration of the major concerns of our country and its specificities. Including, for instance seismic risk, sociocultural practices of the population, as well as the diversity that characterizes the climatic and geographical data of the entire national territory, by following the existing national legislation, regulations and standards.

Sustainability of the Expansion Areas for Coastal Touristic Sites “E.A.C.T.S” Such as the case of El-Aouana in Algeria: Indicators for considering biodiversity

المجلة: Energy Procedia

سنة النشر: 2017

تاريخ النشر: 2017-07-24

Abstract There are many forms of tourism that can be described as "viable" industries, but fail to take into account biodiversity when studying the planning of sites. All these forms of tourism seek to achieve sustainability differently but all agree for the need to minimize the negative impacts of human activities on the environment. However, they consume more non-renewable resource for the search of comfort to satisfy customers who become more and more demanding and sensitive to the ecology of the visited places. Coastal biodiversity offers inestimable wealth in terms of flora and fauna but this diversity is threatened by human activities that attack it directly by soil erosion, overfishing and pollution. Various methods for evaluating sustainability of urban planning instruments and touristic sights are applied throughout the world with different names and impact studies on the environment. Our purpose here is to explore the research works done in this subject and implement the role of biodiversity in the tourism and hotels and to verify which indicators could be adopted for taking into account the biodiversity in the studies of the Expansion Area and Touristic Coastal Sites (E.A.C.T.S) such as El-Aouana town situated in the west of Jijel city, Algeria.

Compact cities as a response to the challenging local environmental constraints in hot arid lands of Algeria

المجلة: Energy Procedia

سنة النشر: 2013

تاريخ النشر: 2013-07-16

Abstract Compact settlements or “Ksur” have been commonly used in the hot dry climate of Algeria in response to imposed local environmental conditions through passive design strategies or means. These strategies include three major levels: settlement planning, building design and building components. A compact settlement provides a protective thermal environment and responds favorably to the harsh environmental stresses. It is built to withstand the excessive heat and mitigates the stresses imposed by the environment on people occupying outdoors and improves indoor comfort with minimum energy consumption. Although, there are now technical means that would allow building design to ignore the climate, there are still good reasons to adopt passive techniques, not only economic, but also to promote environmental sustainability at both local and global levels. This paper aims to give an overview and a comprehensive understanding of the compact city concepts and strategies to cope with the harsh conditions of the desert in a sustainable way. Recommendations and basic principles that may be of benefit in sustainable building and settlement design in the future are also discussed. Erreur ! Signet non défini.