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Community Center Paves Way for Green Building in the West Bank
FrontLines - November 2010
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The eco-friendly construction of the Safeer Children’s Center is
expected to save a significant amount of energy.
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NABLUS, West
Bank—The new Safeer
Children’s Center, located on
the outskirts of the Askar
Refugee Camp here, is one of
the first buildings in the West
Bank designed and constructed
entirely with green
methods that will save natural
resources and promote
environmental awareness.
Now camp residents—
many of whom live in modest
housing and depend on outside
assistance—will have a modern
facility for community activities
and events. And the building’s
backers—USAID in collaboration
with the Palestinian organization
SAFEER and CHF International—
hope it will serve as a
model for other green-building
initiatives in the West Bank.
The $309,000 center
replaces a crowded, unventilated
facility that could only
accommodate 1,500 people. The
new center, which officially opens
in November, has space for
10,000 people and includes a
computer lab, library, and large
hall, and vast outdoor space for
events. The center hosts an array
of educational and health activities,
summer camps, child-friendly
entertainment, and counseling.
“Now we are free to conduct
all the activities we want to and
can serve the entire area around
Askar,” said Mohammad Abu
Kishk, the center’s chairman.
Community members are
pleased with the new facility and
the green concepts it promotes.
“Without a doubt, there is
growing interest in the community
in buildings that are environmentally
friendly. The idea of
being green and protecting the
environment is a new concept
for us, and the construction of
the Children’s Center is increasing
our knowledge in this area,”
said Amjad Al Asmar, a resident
of the Askar Refugee Camp.
“We are happy that USAID
funded the construction of this
building in our community, as it
will be cheaper to run since the
green ideas reduce the consumption
of water and electricity.”
Energy is an essential component
in the social, industrial,
technological, and economic
development of any country. In
the West Bank, where energy
resources are scarce, smart use
of resources is especially crucial.
The eco-friendly construction
of the center is expected to generate
energy savings of up to 59 percent
when compared with buildings
constructed using standard
methods. It was built with
recycled wood; its skylights and
energy-saving illumination reduce
power use; and the building’s orientation
and structural window
shading cut down on heat from the
sun. Also, double pane windows
reduce external noise and improve
the building’s insulation, reducing
heating costs in the winter. And
wall openings create ventilation
and control temperature naturally.
The center also has a rainwater
harvesting system and a gray
water treatment plant to process
water for reuse to irrigate outdoor
plants. The facility’s gardens feature
local plants that require fewer
pesticides and less water for irrigation
than non-native species.
To increase community members’
understanding and appreciation
of energy efficiency and environmental
issues, the center
provides learning tools and permanent
displays, ranging from
cut-outs showing the building’s
insulation layers to plaques alongside
each green element in the
building explaining its function.
Palestinian engineers involved
in the project say they gained valuable
experience they can apply to
future energy-efficient building
projects. “[We now] have skills
that put us ahead of many of our
peers who do not yet have experience
working with green methods,”
said Ghada Ibrahim, a civil
engineer involved in the planning
and implementation of the project.
USAID’s Emergency Jobs
Program, which funded the construction
of the center, aims to
create work opportunities through
small-scale infrastructure projects
to provide immediate economic
and humanitarian relief to thousands
of Palestinians.
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
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