Research summery:
Recently, Energy and environmental consideration are the most serious challenges face people. The acceleration of consumption rates, the depletion of resources and pollution resulting from human activities moved many world countries forward studying the environmental effect of all activities and project, which called ecological foot print calculator. These countries pursue raising lifestyle standard for their inhabitants altogether with achieving balance between its ecological foot print and biocapacity.
In Egypt the ecological foot print exceeds the biocapacity, it was 1.98 (in global hectares) 2014, meanwhile the biocapacity was .47 (in global hectares), it is called national ecological deficit which has been increasing despite of deteriorated living standard, large group of people suffer from poverty, low income and shortage to meet their needs.
Built environment is the most influential sector on the natural environment as it represents greatest part of the continuous building production to solve housing problem. In Egypt – Developing Country – there is no commitment of environmental criteria in spite of governmental speculations and laws. The government implementing varied and huge projects to face housing problem but it doesn’t consider the environment aspect which result in buildings causes burden to environment, drains it resources from the beginning of construction to demolishing, it also burdens to inhabitants cost them expenses of comfortable thermal atmosphere as well as fares of remote work, schools and services places. There for it has to consider these huge governmental projects to study its ecological foot print because it is the greatest part of the ecological foot print of the country. These projects neither inconvenient for inhabitants nor the developing country that faces many national issues which many governments attempt to solve but in vain. This research studies ecological foot print of these project trying to conclude planning criteria aiming to reduce ecological foot print of the existing as well as the upcoming projects through the following:
Firstly; Theoretical study: It shed light on the most influential factors on ecological foot print of buildings in Egypt.
Secondly; Practical study:
It reviews ecological foot print analysis study of two Mubarak housing projects in Sohag governorate (Elmahamda el baharya village – Elkawthar), in order to end up planning criteria can be applied on study case to reduce the ecological foot print.
Conclusion: The research concludes the most planning fundamentals to reduce ecological foot print of housing projects are: achieving full use of available natural resources in the area beside adopting compact planning patterns of buildings to get less distance between home and work, home and school