Masonry Magazine May 2009 Page. 30
TRENDS IN GREEN
By Shahnaz Jaffari
Why Green
Masonry Matters
LAST YEAR DURING GREENBUILD, a panel presentation on Masdar City caught my attention. According to the panelists, Abu Dhabi has the largest per-capita carbon footprint in the world. To counteract this problem, Abu Dhabi has plans to build the first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city in the world. The speaker presenting the plans for Masdar City explained that their computer analysis had proven that historical city planning was the best choice to make in order to achieve the set sustainability goals. Such traditional local concepts as massive walls, narrow diagonal streets, walkable neighborhoods, and flat, accessible roofs have been essential in designing the carbon- and waste-neutral community. Once again, designers have had to go back to old, architectural concepts for the design of environmentally friendly buildings and sites.
It is time to analyze why previous generations made important buildings out of masonry. Their buildings looked beautiful, functioned well, and served as a cultural heritage for generations. Old masonry buildings around the world are signatures of the past, teaching us about the character of their builders and their way of life. Many of these buildings have passed their 100-year anniversaries, if not many hundreds of years, and have proven sustainable through fires, earthquakes and natural wear and tear. They talk to us about those who designed and built them, decorated them, and lived and worked in them. Old masonry buildings are, in a sense, illustrative history books that are beautiful, alive and inviting.
28 MASONRY May 2009 www.masoncontractors.org The Voice of the Masonry Industry