water calculation measures, the smart decisions of the team working on the
King Abdullah Financial Districts led to a LEED-certified, water-conserving
irrigation system.
other water sectors are feeling the pinch. A case in point is
landscape irrigation which, in regions with low water supply
and deteriorating water quality, takes the back seat to more
pressing needs. Naturally, efficient design becomes all the
more imperative.
Financial District (KAFD) in Saudi Arabia (Figure 1), Dar's engineers
adopted the USGBCLEED code: "Water Efficient Landscaping"
(Credit WEc1) to benchmark their irrigation design, as per the
project requirement. The team's hard work on the three parcels
paid off when the final design was awarded the maximum of
all four points.
conservative criteria. Dar's team adopted the Leadership in
Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Green Building System,
an industryrecognized set of guidelines that helps irrigation
designers approach their design cases more conservatively, and
make genuinely sustainable decisions.
Riyadh's scorching desert environment. The flora, a mix of native and
ornamental palms, trees, shrubs, and ground cover (Figures 2 and 3),
enjoys low to medium water consumption and low maintenance
requirements.
Greywater is domesticallyproduced wastewater that contains
no sewage. Factoring water consumption rates into the design,
the Dar team designed a site that was able to capture greywater
onsite and reuse it very efficiently as irrigation water.
awards the LEED, or Leadership in Energy
& Environmental Design, certifications
that recognize bestinclass green
building strategies and practices. The
worldrecognized certification program
allows designers and engineers to
approach their cases more conservatively
and make genuinely sustainable
decisions.