Evaluation of the Environmental and Economic Impact of Urban Development vs. 20th Century Modern Heritage Conservation in Kuwait City

Item

Title
Evaluation of the Environmental and Economic Impact of Urban Development vs. 20th Century Modern Heritage Conservation in Kuwait City
Description
Following a law passed in 2004 alleviating maximum building height, historic architecture in Kuwait City is under threat of demolition and replacement by high rise buildings. The impact is three-fold: first, the demolition of historic properties – many of which are the result of 20th century Modern Movement and are a local embodiment of the country’s “Golden Age” following the discovery of oil. Second, the consequent environmental impact –the loss of buildings that may have already been designed to adapt to climatic conditions by integrating passive design features. Third, the proactive depletion of embodied carbon stocks amidst a local and global need to draw down carbon emissions. This study looks to comparatively evaluate the individual performance and life cycle assessment of two commercial building developments:
1. An existing building attributed to the said Modern Movement, which calls for a lower carbon
capital investment.
2. A high-performance high rise (eligible for LEED Gold certification), which significantly increases
the built floor area on the site, and thus allows for increased economic productivity, and maintains
low/efficient operational energy use per square meter.
The results identify a preliminary framework for policy makers to evaluate the priorities in historic
designation/building reuse and high-performance urban development.
Creator
Al-Alawi, Fatma
Subject
Building Heritage Conservation
Carbon Productivity
Energy Efficiency
Life Cycle Analysis
Energy
Architecture
History
Contributor
Samuelson, Holly
Grinham, Jonathan
Date
2021-06-11T06:55:31Z
2021
2021-05-18
2021-05
2021-06-11T06:55:31Z
Type
Thesis or Dissertation
text
Format
application/pdf
application/pdf
Identifier
Al-Alawi, Fatma. 2021. Evaluation of the Environmental and Economic Impact of Urban Development vs. 20th Century Modern Heritage Conservation in Kuwait City. Master's thesis, Harvard Graduate School of Design.
28541119
https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37367877
Language
en