Climate (MENA) 
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The blueprint for climate-resilient homes: Britain’s largest homebuilder Barratt Developments is teaming up with French construction materials group Saint-Gobain and the University of Salford to build a climate resilient concept home that could serve as a blueprint for the future of architecture, they announced in a statement last week. If successful, the plan could change the way homes are built globally including hot regions like MENA and the GCC, the statement notes.
Introducing the Energy House 2.0: The world-first concept is a specially-designed and built climate chamber that will simulate temperatures ranging from -20°C to +40°C. The chamber — the biggest of its kind globally — is also set to simulate wind, rain, snow and solar radiation. The global developer and manufacturer built a three-bedroom family house — known as eHome2 — within Energy House 2.0 to test the climate resilient building design. The home will also examine a set zero carbon performance in varying temperatures and weather conditions to recreate extreme climate conditions.
The details: eHome2 will be home to an advanced timber frame solution, pre-insulated walls, and lightweight render-based bricks. The home can also be fully built in 3 to 3.5 months — half of the time needed to construct a basic standard home.
Why is this important? A 2022 report by Greenpeace found that MENA is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average — with temperatures increasing at a rate of 0.4°C per decade since the 1980s. Buildings in the MENA region consume up to 80% of the electricity generated due to reliance on power air conditioning during usually hot seasons, according to Cityscape Intelligence. That’s why several countries in the region have embarked on sustainable designs, reviving traditional architecture and district cooling systems.
The region’s getting a helping hand: Germany’s International Climate Initiative rolled out a EUR 5.7 mn BUILD ME initiative which aims to introduce an energy classification system for buildings to streamline finance access for buildings that meet sustainability criteria. The first phase of the project has already been finalized, with a second phase running until spring 2025. The countries included in the project include Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Algeria.
