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Masdar is an architectural project in Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates that is being built by Marsdar a subsidiary of the Mubadala development company. The city is located 17 kilometers east, south east from Abu Dhabi, Dubai international airport. Foster and Partners is a British firm that designed the city that relies on renewable sources of energy such as solar energy, wind energy amongst others to cool the city. Masdar city is the headquarter for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) (Reiche, 2010.p. 378).
The city also hosts the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology which offers mainly courses for post graduate studies namely for master studies and Phd studies. The total cost of constructing the city was US $ 18-22 and it was built for a period of eight years. The building of the city started in 2006 and it has expected to provide a home for more than 45,000 as well as over 1500 business mainly commercial and manufacturing facilities that produces environmentally friendly products Reiche, 2010.p. 379-382).. The report is about students visit to Masdar city, the observation the students made and what they learned from the visit
The professor of Masdar Institute of Science and Technology welcomes us and gives us someone who will take us through all the activities that takes place in the Masdar city. The professor who is a man in his late forties tells us that the place is a place for mutual interaction, teamwork and expects us to be disciplined. Our host who happens to be a woman who is very friendly and full of information about everything that goes on in the Masdar City. The woman takes as around but while we are still in the lecture hall, she shows us the office of the Professor and students desks in the hall. In the hall, she tells us there is a business solar behind us that we will look at it when the show is over.
The wind tower is an inspiration from the old architecture that is a very tall that has a sensitive on the top that senses wind direction. The wind tower is a symbol of the city that can be seen from a distance. The sensitive opens up and brings the wind down to podium level and cool the city in the long run. The wind tower has shower type sitting at the top that mystifies the wind as it comes down and helps in cooling of the city(Janajreh et al.,2013.p.1-15).
The wind tower lights up at night with a color that is reflective of the city energy uses, for instance, if it is bluish/purple we are on track, but if the color is red it means the city is using a lot of energy. The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology has only mastered and PhD programs with no undergraduate programs that have different blocks for males and female students. The students were taken in the wind tower and had a glance to see how the city is cooled. The city has a smoking zone where people who smoke can smoke freely.
We learned that the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology has a campus in Masdar city that offers only environmental causes for postgraduate students. We also learned how the wind tower works in cooling the city. The wind tower is a tall structure that has wind sensitive that opens up and brings the wind down to podium level and cool the city in the long run. The wind tower lights up at night with a color that is reflective of the city energy uses, for instance, if it is bluish/purple it means the city is conserving the energy, but when the color is red it means the city is using a lot of energy.
A renewable source forms the basis of cooling very hot cities in the world. Wind energy is used in the wind tower to cool Masdar city. Masdar Institute of Science and Technology has a campus in Masdar city that offers only environmental causes for post graduate students only (Janajreh et al.,2013.p.15)
Reference
Reiche, D. (2010). Renewable Energy Policies in the Gulf countries: A case study of the carbon- neutral “Masdar City” in Abu Dhabi. Energy Policy, 38(1), 378-382.
Janajreh, I., Su, L., & Alan, F. (2013). Wind energy assessment: Masdar City case study. Renewable Energy, 52, 8-15.