SI. 5281 for Green Building אדריכלות ישראלית Architecture of Israel #129 May 2022 | | 60 The 'new' Israeli standards differ little from those adopted in Europe forty years ago, despite innovations and new options in construction technology. Moreover, unlike what can be understood by the new standards, climate aware design and building does not depend on additional layers of polystyrene foam. Simply put, a return to the basic principles of architectural design deployed before the widespread adoption of air-conditioning would achieve thermal comfort without reliance on clicking a button. Unfortunately, schools of architecture emphasize visible creativity creating a situation where the very few who are interested in green building, adhere to foreign standards such as the US LEED. Such standards are not always relevant to Israel. In this respect, there is no need to categorically dismiss the use of airconditioning. Rather, every effort should be made to decrease their use through proper design and planning that can be summed up in six major interrelated aspects: shading, ventilation, insulation, sealing, proper exploitation of natural light and building positioning. food for thought green building standards Dr. Ami Ran, Shai van Vlijmen Worth mentioning here is the failure of the new standards to relate to the cumulative environmental impact of dense construction, which determines the micro-climate at the single building level. No less critical today is the threat of flooding and other climate disasters that demand solutions on a regional scale, thus render ridiculous any costly efforts to purify grey water in the buildings themselves. One of the most important elements in 'green building' lies in the distinction between sealing and insulation; there are materials that are highly waterproof, such as plastic sheet, with almost zero thermal resistance of the mantle to prevent transition of heat from the exterior of the building and vice versa. For this, there are composite materials which combine several characteristics relevant to their specific function (see Cladding & Coating article on page 30). In this respect, the question of timber building in Israel - expendable, easy to work with and with high thermal resistance - are not related to in the new standards, even though trees have a significant role in carbon dioxide reduction. Updated Green Building Standards (5281 and 1045) came into force in March 2022 with the overall goal of reducing energy consumption in new construction in regard to building materials, shading, ventilation, sealing, insulation and natural light. Overall, the response of those in this already over-regulated industry was antagonistic: the new standards are insufficient, overdue, largely superfluous, and they contribute nothing to simplifying already complicated planning processes and procedures. One must also mention the millions of bare-concrete buildings that for 70 years have dominated the building industry due to their economic, functional (and therefore beautiful) characteristics, when a 20 cm concrete wall performs less than 1/7 thermal resistance as the obligatory standard requires. Though the bare concrete building was developed during the 50s in order to resettle millions who had lost their homes during World War 2, for some reason, this style was adopted by prominent architects, most of whom had never attended school of architecture. Ironically, the return of this style was promoted by architects such as Tadao Ando who, like some of his predecessors, was also an autodidact. The place of 're-education' for green building must be at the schools of architecture, and not through irrelevant standards and over-regulation practiced by those who never planned a building. And the sooner the better (See also article about cladding on page 30). Special thanks to architect Prof. Jacob (Yasha) Grobman - Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion, Haifa, and architect Eyal Yossinger, for their professional remarks.
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