From radical ecology to consumer-oriented
market approaches?
Kirsten Gram-Hanssen and Jesper Ole Jensen
Gram-Hanssen and Jensen explore the development of green buildings in Denmark over
the last three decades, identifying differences in design philosophies and techniques.
They look at four approaches to green buildings: as energy-saving devices, as ecological
grassroots alternatives, as subsidised large-scale urban projects, and as consumer
products in a market approach. Using detailed case descriptions, the chapter asks to
what extent it is possible to define some buildings or some approaches as more ‘green’
than others. The authors suggest that in order to more fully understand sustainable
buildings we must account for the social structuring of both the identification of environmental
problems and their resulting embodiment in built form.
Introduction
Green buildings in Denmark vary widely with regard to all aspects of physical and social
solutions as well as ideological rationales. Sometimes this has led to controversies
among different actors in respect of the definitions and content of green buildings. We
present these different rationales and describe how each in its own way has contributed
to a general development of green buildings. We argue that a common definition of
green buildings is not necessarily needed and that many different approaches to such
buildings might be more useful than one.
Wew use the term ‘green buildings’ as a unifying and neutral notion of what different
actors in different contexts have described as ‘sustainable’, ‘resource-saving’, ‘ecological’,
‘self-supplying’, ‘natural’, ‘healthy’, etc. However, in some of our case descriptions,
when describing the rationales of actors we use some of their own words. The chapter
looks at four approaches differentiated by different understandings or concepts of
green buildings and by different actors:
• Green buildings as energy-saving devices: after the oil crisis in 1973, strong efforts
were made to develop building technologies to improve energy performance, as
well as regulations for implementing these technologies.
• Ecological alternatives emerging from the grassroots: as a radical critique of
modern society, a number of alternative and green rural settlements grew up in the
1980s and 1990s, emphasising community, self-sufficiency, alternative technologies,
lifestyle and spirituality.
• Subsidised large-scale urban projects: commitment to the 1987 Brundtland
Report created a public drive towards green buildings, aimed at testing, approving
and institutionalising alternative technologies, with ample public funding, primarily
in impressive building projects under the Urban Renewal Act.
• Green buildings in a market approach: in recent years we have seen a trend
towards considering green buildings as individual market-driven consumer products.
Here green labels and life cycle analysis (LCA) tools aim to give consumers a
central role in the development of such products, based on the market and on
ecological modernisation rather than on public subsidies.
The different approaches partly follow a historical path. However, it is important to
note that these approaches and their actors coexist at the same time. A key question is
how far technological development in green buildings has been a matter of interaction
between the physical and the social contexts. As a background to this way of analysing
and presenting the subject, the chapter starts with an introduction to social theories of
technological development, especially in relation to environmental and urban issues.
Very different aspects of green buildings have been emphasised in different historical
periods and by different actors. An actor-oriented approach may ask whether
different notions of green buildings are just a matter of different social constructions or if
it is possible to define them independently of the actors by measuring their degree of
sustainability. In the conclusions we try to answer this question, maintaining on one
hand that we need to measure ‘greenness’ or sustainability but on the other that every
way of measuring it is problematic and limited.
Theoretical approaches to technological development
Different theories help in understanding how technologies develop in relation to the
social environment: the theoretical field known as the social construction of technological
systems (SCOT theories); the theory of ecological modernisation; and new urban
technological studies.
SCOT theories
The zero-energy house of 1975 garnered major national and international attention.
SCOT is a research area that is based on the view that technology is socially
constructed, in opposition to technological determinism, which sees technology and
science each as autonomous and separate from society. This area can be divided into
three approaches (Bijker et al. 1987).
First is the social constructivist approach, which claims that technological artefacts
are open to sociological analysis, especially with respect to their design and technical
content. This approach looks at the social structures behind the growth and assimilation
of a technology. It introduces the concepts of ‘interpretative flexibility’, ‘closure’ and ‘relevant
social groups’, and Bijker’s study of Bakelite is one of the core examples (Bijker
1987).
The second approach treats technology as a ‘system’ metaphor and stresses the
importance of focusing on the links and relations between technology’s physical
artefacts and institutions and their environments. In his study of the electrical system
Hughes argues that technological systems are socio-technical, because besides their
technical elements they also comprise organisation, legislation, knowledge and
financing, woven together into a ‘seamless web’ (Hughes 1987). He distinguishes
between radical and conservative innovations in relation to the existing systems. The
success of the new radical technologies depends on, among other variables, how the
innovators tackle the ‘reverse salients’ – the weak parts of new systems – so that the
166 Alternative design new technology can compete with existing systems. The aim of the ‘system builders’ is
to shape a system by excluding other systems and components and, if successful, by
adding momentum to the system, giving increased stability over time.
The third approach takes the system metaphor a step further, developing ‘actornetwork’
theory, which breaks down the distinction between human and non-human
actors (Callon 1987; Latour 1987). According to this perspective, to create new technology
is to persuade, seduce and motivate actors to participate in a network around
the new technology. One of the studies using this approach looked at electric cars,
an area in which the successful engineer has to combine consumers, ministries and
the battery electrons, convincing them all of the roles they have to play (Callon
1987). A key controversial element in this approach is the consideration of nonhuman
actors, such as electrons, as belonging to the same network as consumers and
engineers.
These SCOT approaches focus on technological development in general, with no
specific emphasis on green or urban technology. We supplement the approach with
insights from theories that follow the same lines but with a more specifically green or
urban viewpoint.
Ecological modernisation
The notion of ecological modernisation brings together discussions of society, ecology
and technology, though it is difficult to say if it is actually a social theory, a political
programme or a broader discourse in the public debate. Hajer distinguishes between
different approaches – or ideal-typical interpretations – to ecological modernisation and
to the reactions against it (Hajer 1998). According to Hajer, a central element in ecological
modernisation is the rationalising of ecology so that it can be built into programmes,
politics and institutions. Another element is about ‘technicalisation’ of ecology, whereby
some of the big international firms, helped by non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
are changing moral and ethical concerns into technology and market issues. In opposition
to this trend, one critic of ecological modernisation questioned: ‘Why try to resolve
the ecological crisis by drawing on precisely those institutional principles that brought
about the mess in the first place?’
Ecological modernisation is often associated simply with more effective production
methods and win–win situations where companies can earn money on cleaner technologies.
According to Spaargaren, however, the central point in ecological modernisation
is not that greening of production can bring profit but that a process of monitoring and
guarding of all the major substances and energy flows follows modernisation, through
the introduction of instruments such as LCAs and environmental performance indicators
(Spaargaren 2000). In this approach, the objective of ecological modernisation is
to bridge the gap between the technical and social environmental sciences, by bringing
real material flows into the over-socialised social sciences and to bring social systems
and human behaviour into the under-socialised natural and technical sciences. Furthermore,
the task as outlined by Spaargaren is to introduce a more consumer-led perspective
into the theories to make an effective tool for analysing domestic consumption of,
say, water and energy. The question that Hajer and other more radical social ecologists
ask is whether ecology is primarily a question of material flow management or whether it
is a cultural task of redefining society. As the case studies demonstrate, questions like
this are prominent in the debate and in the technological development of urban ecology.
Urban technological studies
Ecological modernisation discusses ecology in relation to social and technical questions,
but urban and housing issues have not yet become significant in this area.
Recent studies have rectified this lack. Guy and Shove have used the SCOT
approach, among others, to understand the development of different paradigms for
energy efficiency in buildings (Guy and Shove 2000). Graham and Marvin combine
SCOT theories with spatial political economy to describe recent developments in
urban technologies and state that cities are the greatest ‘socio-technical hybrids’ of
them all (Graham and Marvin 2001). One of the inputs for a spatial or geographical
political economy is Castells’ theory of how urban structures (as well as everything
else) are changed in the new, integrated, globalised society of networks (Castells
1996, 1997, 1998). Castells describes how new information technologies are some
of the prime supporters of global networks of everything from criminals to NGOs and
big international companies. As some of the old structure of the capitalist society fades
away, for example the nation state, new structures built on the power of identity emerge.
Before 11 September 2001, Castells had already described the strength of global
networks of religious fundamentalists and had also described the influence of the global
green movement.
Four paradigms of green building in the Danish context
Using these theories of technological development in an urban and ecological context,
we describe four different paradigms that can be found in the Danish development of
green buildings.
Green buildings as energy-saving devices
The first period of sustainable building in Denmark began in 1956, when the Suez crisis
threatened the country’s oil supply. Denmark was heavily dependent on imported oil for
heating in buildings as well as for all its other energy-consuming activities, so the crisis
gave strong support to researchers’ ideas for increasing the energy efficiency of buildings.
However, the first attempts to gain the attention and support of authorities in regulating
energy efficiency in buildings and to begin research studies in energy efficiency
failed, as the Suez crisis faded and oil prices fell to their lowest point ever. Thus the
development of the first low-energy houses was largely the result of a few visionary and
ambitious people. One such was Professor Korsgaard at the Danish Technical University.
The professor and his colleagues at the Thermal Insulation Laboratory were ready
and able by 1975 to build the zero-energy house, the first solar heated house in
Northern Europe (Fig. 10.1). This gained major national and international attention,
making the zero-energy house one of the most renowned examples of low-energy
houses of its time.
The zero-energy house’s aim was to show that it was possible to build a house at a
reasonable cost with already existing technology and that it could be heated and
provided with hot water simply through the use of solar heat, efficient insulation and
recycling of heat from ventilated air. Theoretically the only external energy supply would
be electricity for normal domestic consumption and for pumps and ventilation. The 120-
square-metre house was supplied with a 42-square-metre solar collector, and hot water for seasonal heat was stored in a 30-cubic-metre insulated water tank, the first of its
kind in Denmark. The house was built with insulation (mineral wool) as the prototype
constructive element, reducing the cold bridges. Other elements included switches to
turn off the convector fan when the windows were opened and a ventilation system with
heat exchangers, a feature widely used today in low-energy buildings. A two-year monitoring
period showed that the house had very low heat consumption, although not quite
zero – one main reason for this was that the heat loss from an underground storage tank
was much higher than expected.
An important factor in the attention given to the zero-energy house was that in the
1960s and 1970s Denmark experienced strong economic growth and the construction
of more than a million new detached houses – an extremely high number, given the
population then of approximately five million. These houses were all built with ample
space, and little consideration was given to energy consumption, and therefore half of
all imported oil was used to heat buildings, making oil a heavy burden on the national
budget. Given this, it is no wonder that the first low-energy buildings were also
designed as detached houses.
The zero-energy house was the first of a series of several other types of low-energy
building in the following years, the most remarkable of which were the Hjortekjærhusene
(six low-energy buildings built in 1978–9) and Skivehusene projects (1977, 1979 and
1984) (see Box 1). These buildings demonstrated potential for energy savings of up to
70 per cent, but with large variations among them. The amount of energy consumed for
heat, although considerably lower than in traditional houses, was often higher than
calculated. Surveys showed that the main source of this was the heat distribution
system and furthermore that the question of heat storage was crucial (Byberg 1984).
This indicated a lack of development of other technical components and the necessity
for a parallel development of the local infrastructure. Moreover, at the end of the 1970s
it was clear that diffusion into the market of the concept of low-energy building was
slow. The whole building market had declined, and low-energy buildings cost more than
traditional buildings, largely due to the fact that anything developed from a prototype will
be relatively expensive (Byberg 1984). On the other hand, findings from these pioneer
low-energy buildings have to a large extent been incorporated into Danish building
regulations and consequently have had a major impact on the construction of new buildings
(Saxhof et al. 1988).
The oil crisis of the 1970s also led to a fundamental restructuring of Danish
energy policy. The Ministry for Energy was formed in 1975, and in 1976 the
Programme for Energy Research was launched, leading over the next 25 years to
massive research and development projects concerning energy efficiency in buildings
and renewable energy (Energistyrelsen 2000). These projects were strongly
influenced by the people who were behind the first low-energy buildings. The development
of low-energy buildings in Denmark can therefore be described not just in
terms of technical development, but also in terms of its basis in an ‘infrastructure’
consisting of political and financial support, institutional security (the Thermal Insulation
Laboratory was established in 1959) and access to influential legislators.
Energy research in Denmark can be characterised as a ‘closed community’ (Guy and
Shove 2000), with close relationships between researchers, ministries and industry
enabling, such influence.
The researchers’ efforts are to some degree parallel to Thomas Hughes’s notion of
‘system builders’ (Hughes 1987). A moot point is whether their low-energy buildings
are to be seen, in Hughes’s terminology, as radical or conservative technology. On
one hand, the ideal was to establish a system that is based on low-energy buildings
and a renewable energy supply, which would mean a radical break with the existing
energy infrastructure. Furthermore, potential ‘reverse salients’ (such as problems with
heat storage) reduced the economic competitiveness of the low-energy buildings. For
those making low-energy buildings it was also a problem to get integrated effort from
the rest of the actors in the building industry. On the other hand, low-energy building
has, in Hughes’s terms, to a large extent been institutionalised, as basic concepts
have now been incorporated in building regulations, and must accordingly be considered
a conservative technology. This viewpoint also reflects a certain flexibility in the existing system (in spite of the momentum, according to Hughes), allowing change
and adaptation to new demands, rather than requiring the substitution of a whole new
system.
Although the low-energy building approach peaked, in terms of public attention, in
the 1970s, the funding, research and influence on building regulations have remained
until today, and there has also been a major diffusion of technologies to other types of
sustainable buildings. Recently, however, funding for energy research has, for the first
time since the energy crises in 1973, been drastically reduced, which implies a radical
change for low-energy building and research. But from 1985 ‘sustainability’ widely
replaced ‘energy saving’ as the key term in green buildings. This was due to the
Brundtland Report, which made possible a much broader interpretation of the themes
and technologies relating to green buildings.
Grassroots alternatives
A very different approach to green buildings is found in grassroots and citizen-initiated
projects (Box 2). The catchwords for the technology of this approach are closed cycles
and self-sufficiency, with inspiration coming from similar actors all over the world. Water
and waste should be recycled, energy locally produced from renewable resources and,
very importantly, the technologies should be organised in neighbourhoods to
strengthen and revitalise local social life. The ecological vision is followed by a social
vision of a more holistic everyday life – a life that is not split between work, family and
home. In this sense the urban ecological movement follows in the footsteps of the
collectivist movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and is a reaction against the lifestyle of
detached suburban houses. Furthermore, for some at the grassroots there is a spiritual
dimension to the relationship between humans and nature; for others there is an ethical
concern for future generations. Common to both groups is that human–nature relationships
need to be reconsidered.
Green buildings in Denmark 171
Box 2: Examples of grassroots or citizen-initiated projects
Projects in existing neighbourhoods
Baggesensgade 5 (Copenhagen) 1983
Hyldespjældet (Albertslund) c.1988
Vestergror (Copenhagen) 1988
BO-90 (Copenhagen) 1992
Øko-byen (Copenhagen) 1984
New-build eco-villages
Bofællesskabet Sol og vind (Beder)1980
Dyssekilde (Torup) 1990
Andelssamfundet (Hjortshøj) 1992
Munksøgård (Roskilde) 2000
Friland (Djursland) 2002
ECOFEATURES
• Orientation and plan • Thermal mass • Winter solar heating • Summer cooling
• xeriscape
DESCRIPTION/BRIEF/CONCEPT
The Meir House is located in the first solar neighbourhood in Israel, Newe Zin, and
was designed as a prototype towards creating an energy-conserving urban buildingcode. It combines external insulation and internal thermal mass with open plan.
Through QUICK simulation prior to construction and monitoring post-construction,
the Meir House proves the success of an integrative approach to the design of a bioclimatic
desert house.
ECOFEATURES EXPLAINED
Orientation and plan
Considering the
site’s geometry and climatic constraints, among them solar angles, air
temperatures and wind directions, the log axis of the house is east–West, with four
bedrooms and the living room to the south. The ground floor is exposed in all fourdirections. The kitchen, baths and laundry room are located at the northern part of the
plan and the garage serves as a western buffer. All spaces, excluding the garage, are a
single thermal zone. The house also includes a number of verandas and balconies
facing in different directions. Main fenestration is placed to the south, with smaller
openings to the north for cross-ventilation. However, all rooms have openings in two
directions to ensure appropriate ventilation. There are only a few, small, recessed
openings in the west façade. The second floor is exposed in all four directions.
Winds are north and northwesterly in the early noon and evening hours, whereas
at night and early morning they may turn northeast by southeast. Average maximum
windspeeds range between 40kmh1 in winter and 30kmh1 in summer. The environmentally
responsive open plan layout proved to be successful as far as heat transfer
and circulation are concerned.
Another advantage that the Meir House integrates with its form is weatherprotected
adjacent open spaces. The south and north verandas and the southeastern
balcony are protected from wind by the mass of the building to the north and west
and by the garden wall to the west. These spaces are shaded partly by overhangs,
partly by deciduous plants (such as vines and Prosopis), and partly by pergolas with
agricultural shading fabric that has a 75 per cent shading coefficient.
Thermal mass
The wide diurnal temperature fluctuations characteristics of the Negev Desert climate
dictate the use of thermal mass, both for internal temperature damping and for
energy storage. Based on simulation results, the construction optimises thermal performance
by using medium-weight exterior walls and heavy-weight interior vertical
and horizontal partitions. The exterior walls are 250 mm cellular concrete (YTONG)
blocks, painted with a high reflectivity ochre-coloured paint. The low conductivity
(0.2Wm1 C) of the YTONG blocks eliminates the need for traditional sandwich wall
sections or external insulation that demands precise construction. Floors are reinforced
concrete poured in place. The roof is cast reinforced concrete, covered by extruded
polystyrene, aerated sloped cement and waterproofing.
Climatic conditions and termites exclude the option of
wooden frames for windows and doors. Aluminium
frames encase double glazing for acoustical considerations
and are fitted with mosquito screens. To further
reduce solar gains in the summer, external aluminium
rolling shutters filled with insulation (expanded
polyurethane) and interior venetian horizontal and vertical
blinds are fitted.
Winter solar heating and solar water heating
Approximately 24m2 (30 per cent of the south façade or
approximately 14.5 per cent of the total floor area) and
8m2 of the east façada is glass, achieving a passive
approach to heating the house. The addition of a collapsible
greenhouse (2.25m2) on the balcony, made of
polycarbonate 
sheeting recovered from a dismantled
agricultural greenhouse, yielded winter temperatures of
35–36°C during the afternoon (while the ambient temperature
was 14–15°C) increasing the room temperatures
by 1–2°C with the help of a small fan that pushes
the air into the living spaces. Through passive designs,
orientation, thermal mass and the collapsible greenhouse, savings of almost 90 per
cent on electric back-up bought from the utility company were realised, compared
with a typical electrically heated house in the Negev Desert climate. The Meir House
includes solar water heating using a high-efficiency solar collector (7000 kcal for a
1.5m2 collection area) and 150 litre water heater.
Type Heat only, excluding Unit cost (NIS) Cost of electric (NIS)
bathrooms (kWh m2 a1)
Meir House 5.5 0.25kWh 250.00
Typical house 72.2 0.25kWh 3250.00
Savings 66.7 3000.00
Savings are US$750.
Summer cooling and stack ventilation
Although the higher windows provide solar access to the
northern parts of the plan (necessary in the winter), the different
height of spaces and operability enhance stack ventilation
and exhaust hot air from the upper strata (during the summer).
North- and south-facing windows enable cross-ventilation during
summer nights, when outside temperatures are below
thermal comfort. Mesh screens play a definitive role by cutting
windspeed down to 20–25 per cent of external windspeeds,
but these screens are a necessity, keeping out pests and
insects.
Xeriscape
An intense post-occupancy project was carried out to reduce
by landscaping the amount of wind-driven dust. By laying
stone paving, pebble ground covering, and planting drought
and salinity-resistant plants, airborne dust is trapped and kept on the ground. Plants are drip-irrigated by a computer, providing a relative humidity
sensor by-pass to the automatic operation mode.
LESSONS LEARNED/PITFALLS
Initially a ceiling fan installed over the two-storey living area was thought adequate to
create air movement when windows remained sealed at times when ambient temperatures
were greater than interior temperatures. This proved insufficient owing to
the large volume and complex geometry of the space. To correct this, a smaller fan
was added on the ground floor to supplement circulation. The open plan has proved
very efficient as a strategy for the creation of a thermally uniform house, but has
drawbacks regarding acoustics, privacy and smells transferred from the kitchen.
Architect:
Isaac A. Meir, 1992–1994
Owners:
Orna and Isaac Meir with their three
children
Location:
Sede Boqer Campus, Negev Desert
Highlands, Israel; 30°N, 34°E; 470m
above sea level
Climate:
Arid, with hot and dry summers; cold
winters; 1017 degree days per year
Area:
208m2
The exploration of various types of recyclable materials and building components has been a favourite topic among architects interested in sustainability Green Architecture. Among these recyclables, the shipping container has found itself to be a reliable favourite. In this built project, four former shipping containers are utilised to be a low-cost play centre. ,
Many architects before PHOOEY Architects have exploited the shipping container's modularity, transformability and durability to suit their design intentions. Shigeru Ban transformed numerous containers into an art gallery while LOT-EK called their modular functional space Mobile Dwelling Unit or MDU, signifying the multiple usability/reusability of the shipping container. For the Children's Activity Centre, PHOOEY Architects staggered four reused containers to form intimate and private spaces for various kids activities such as studying, painting, dancing and lounging.
The project was not initially briefed to be a sustainable building with quantitative outcomes or benchmark standards; the local council and community had simply wanted a low-cost, low maintenance and durable centre at Skinners Playground for the children. Nonetheless, the architects decided that they could turn it into a more sustainable project.
Besides leveraging on the containers' reusable nature, the architects focused on the operational energy required for the centre. The building is only open for two hours a day, thus, limiting the operational energy required. Even so, the designers decided to reduce the operational energy further by self-shading the containers with a timber deck, staircase, overhangs and awnings. Other passive features include ceiling vents to remove excess heat, and bulk insulation that fills both containers upstairs and downstairs to reduce the need for mechanical heating during cold days. The upstairs windows are oriented to the winter sun, allowing passive heating. In the summer, cool summer breeze from the nearby Port Phillip Bay flows through the strategically oriented openings. Energy-efficient reverse cycle air-conditioning and panel heating provide immediate climate control when needed. As a result, the embodied energy is comparable to the limited operational energy required for the total life-cycle energy of the building, which aids in prolonging-if not maintaining-the lifespan of this project.
Approximately 90 percent of the materials in the building are recycled: the windows, joineries, carpet tiles, timber and steel were salvaged from site demolition and local council facilities including the town hall. Even the smallest pieces of materials are not wasted. Timber off-cuts from the deck are reused for soffit linings and edging. The entire body of the Corten steel containers is used; the pieces cut out to make openings were re-fashioned into functional balustrades, sunshading and decoration to cover the adjoining dilapidated shed. The skins of the containers bearing their shipping companies' names were 'cannibalised' or shredded and rearranged into the final building design. Rainwater runoff from the corrugated roofs are channelled into a pond and reed bed.
The architects described this project as a visual catalogue of waste materials, educating not only the children but also the community at large that low cost does not just mean economically sustainable, it could also mean environmentally sustainable.
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this Green Building is obvious at first glance why the residence of Ridwan Kamil-the principal of architecture firm Urbane Indonesia-is called the 'Bottle House'. Sixty percent of the total surface area is covered by recycled bottles.
Located in northern Bandung, Indonesia, the split-level courtyard house occupies a site area of 373 square metres. The residence is divided into three zones: Zone 1 features the guest pavilion; Zone 2 comprises the living and the children's bedrooms; and Zone 3 includes the garage, kitchen, dining room and library area. With a gross floor area of 320 square metres, the house has an open layout with minimal wall partitions to promote spatial flow in the interior. The aim of the entire design was to reprise a resort atmosphere, which was achieved by recreating a tropical landscape and utilising the building setback for a water feature and swimming pool.
RECYCLED BOTTLES
Collected from a six-month period from the dumping ground, 30,000 recycled bottles were used innovatively in different parts of the house. They were used to form part of the exterior skin of the perimeter wall surrounding the house. Inside the residence, the guest pavilion wall is also made entirely of recycled bottles. The 'bottle wall' enables natural breeze to penetrate, allowing fresh air to circulate in the living room. Every private area such as the bedrooms gets full daylighting becauseo full glass exposure. However, this also means getting 'bad sun' in terms of gain from the west. To reduce the impact, the bottles were also used to fo exterior skin for the walls of the children's bedrooms, dining room and lib area, which was done by alternating panels of bottles and glass in a chess pattern with a 60-centimetre gap in between. The glass panels can be pu open to allow for ventilation.
Not only do the recycled bottles function as passive green elements, th also serve aesthetic purposes. The 'bottle walls' create an eye-catching f and in the interior, they also become pieces of artwork. The early morning evening rays that filter in through the bottles also create interesting patter and shades in the interior spaces, creating a special ambience. The warm of the recycled bottles also matches the timber flooring, further enhancing 'resort' feel.
GREEN SPACES
Green spaces have been specifically allocated in the residence. Ridwan home is peppered with at least five small areas that are dedicated to growing plants and flowers. Part of the 13-metre long perimeter wall bordering the swimming pool is made up of stacks of gardening pots containing flowers and vegetation. The bale-a rectangular-shaped small pavilion by the swimming pool-has a green roof. There are also plans to turn the flat concrete roof above the guest area into a green roof.
ENERGY & LIGHTING
the Green Concept is No air-conditioning is used in the house as natural ventilation concepts have been applied throughout the house. Sliding and folding doors as well as windows are designed to be fully opened when needed, and, together with the presence of three courtyards (a main courtyard and two small courtyards), fresh air is allowed to circulate, ensuring well-ventilated spaces. The water feature and the swimming pool situated at the periphery of the house also provide relief to the courtyard area, bringing cool air into the interior space. The courtyards also allow ample natural lighting into the house, minimising the need for artificial lighting during the day.