Overview
UrbanLab aims to design, research, and implement innovative solutions for urban development, emphasizing sustainability, eco-friendliness, and resilience. The lab envisions cities that harmonize human activities with the natural environment, ensuring a high quality of life for all inhabitants.
We collaborate with universities, government agencies, private companies, and non-profit organizations. These partnerships facilitate the exchange of knowledge, resources, and technologies to advance sustainable urban development.
Themes
In the sustainability domain, we focus on developing and implementing practices that promote environmental stewardship and sustainable development. Our work includes comprehensive sustainability assessments, green building consulting, life cycle assessments, and environmental impact analyses.
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Themes
Our resiliency theme centers on enhancing urbn areas' ability to withstand and adapt to climate change and other environmental challenges. We employ advanced risk assessment and adaptation strategies to help cities and businesses prepare for and respond to potential climate impacts.
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Themes
Livability emphasizes creating urban spaces that foster quality of life, health, and well-being for residents. Through innovative design, policy recommendations, and community engagement initiatives, we work to develop urban environments that are not only functional but also enriching and supportive for their inhabitants.
Pillars of our activities
Within these three themes, our multidisciplinary research focuses on the complexities of the built environment, training the next generation of scientists to develop innovative solutions for mitigating climate change, optimizing resource consumption, and improving quality of life. Our research is structured around five specific pillars.
Space & Mobility
We prioritize effective land development and sustainable landscape management. Our projects investigate the relationships between sustainability, walkability, and livability; assess neighborhood improvements and transportation modes; and develop life-cycle assessment models for transportation alternatives. Notable studies include the operational carbon footprint of urban landscapes and the surface urban heat island effect.
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Hydrological Cycle
We address the hydrologic cycle and water efficiency. Our projects range from water treatment technologies, such as environmental life-cycle assessment of MSF desalination and renewable energy-integrated water treatment, to end-use water solutions like sea-water toilet flushing and greywater recycling.
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Energy Efficiency
Our research enhances building energy performance through conservation strategies, efficiency measures, and clean energy technologies. We model the energy efficiency of green roofs and walls, investigate rooftop and building-integrated photovoltaic systems, and explore advanced thermal management for photovoltaics. Additionally, we examine solar-driven desalination as a cross-project with the Hydrological Cycle pillar.
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Materials & Resources
Our research enhances building energy performance through conservation strategies, efficiency measures, and clean energy technologies. We model the energy efficiency of green roofs and walls, investigate rooftop and building-integrated photovoltaic systems, and explore advanced thermal management for photovoltaics. Additionally, we examine solar-driven desalination as a cross-project with the Hydrological Cycle pillar.
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Environmental Quality
We assess indoor environmental quality and occupant behavior. Our projects include examining indoor air quality, integrating air quality into life-cycle assessments, assessing electromagnetic radiation emissions, studying pro-environmental behaviors, and optimizing daylight performance and shading solutions.
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Approaches
Across these pillars, we apply advanced computational techniques emphasizing life-cycle and systems thinking, regional climate change, resilient infrastructure, and occupant interactions. Our five cross-pillar approaches include:
Life Cycle Thinking
Assessing the social, economic, and environmental impacts of products and processes throughout their life cycle.
Resiliency Analysis
Enhancing infrastructure resilience to climate, disaster, and environmental risks.
Climate Analytics
Addressing regional climate change impacts on air and water quality, and human health.
Socio-economics
Examining the interaction between sustainability concepts and daily life activities.
Intelligent Computing
Utilizing integrative processes for collaborative design, construction, and operation of sustainable built environments.
Aligned with KAUST's
values and vision