by Uzma Mirza

Jan/Feb 25

Green buildings are designed and built with a more thoughtful, inclusive, holistic, and systems-based approach that takes long-term environmental and human impacts into consideration and offer a solution. They have been shown to reduce energy use by up to 50%; reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33%; and reduce solid waste by up to 70%, and, and reduce water use by 40%percent. They also and lower maintenance costs by over 10% and can significantly increase the occupant satisfaction with human, economic and environmental benefits. 

Designing a Green Mosque 

The greenest mosque is one that is retrofitted, or an existing building renovated into a mosque. This strategy minimizes the embodied energy of its material use, and helps maximize its inhabitants’ comfort and well-being, while minimizing energy consumed. 

There are four climate regions in the U.S.: cool, temperate, hot-arid, and hot-humid. Understanding climate zones helps determine energy-saving passive design strategies, which vary by region. The following is a brief guide to of what will necessarily be a complex strategy, depending on the climatic region.

• Orientation. This means to position a building in relation to the Sun’s path during winter and summer based on the climate zone to optimize heat gain It should be oriented east/west to improve control of heat gain and shade. A south-facing façade factors heavily in passive designs, especially in cool regions. Having orientation options for a building allows one to reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 80 percent.

• Site/ Landscape features to advantage. A passive solar design considers summer/winter comfort and careful positional location of the structure based on the building’s climate region and shade requirements. Shading and evapotranspiration from trees, shrubs, and ground cover lower surrounding temperatures up 6℉ and reduces the asphalt paving and heat island effects. Use landscape windbreaks (i.e., deciduous trees) for shading, and evergreens for protection against the wind. Xeriscaping for water conservation and landscaping is good in arid regions.

• Energy Efficient Building Envelope. The building’s exterior walls and roof are important in passive design. Depending on the climatic region, use good thermal ratings for exterior walls and to enhance air quality. Use cool roofs or green roofs that feature reflective materials as a light colored, or a garden roof. Manage stormwater runoff from the roof. Vent pitched roofs to avoid heat loss. Install vapor barriers correctly. Use a modular building design.

• Wind. Design the building first to naturally ventilate. Wind generally moves at 10-15 mph, thereby creating positive and negative pressures on a building that impacts air leakage in and out. Use the “Chimney Effect,” which is an internal wind. Hot air rises and cold falls due to the differences in atmospheric pressure. This effect can be used to create a naturally comfortable temperature within the mosque by taking advantage of the movement of air from  the top to the  bottom of the building due to temperature variances. 

Materials and Best Green Practices

High-efficiency windows are those that are properly installed and air-sealed, thereby creating a good thermal performance. Typically, double-glazed or triple-glazed windows with insulating glass composed of air, argon or krypton gas between panes and a low-E coating are considered high-efficiency. By preventing radiant heat from crossing the window plane, they improve window performance and minimize a building’s energy consumption.

Interior materials should be selected with an eye towards low emissions to include low-volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which eliminate material  off-gassing and thus result in healthier indoor air. The interior materials’ recycled content and end-of-life recyclability should also be considered in order to reduce future waste to landfills as well as lower the extraction of virgin natural resources for mosque construction -also called the embodied energy of a product. Using sustainable building materials like bamboo, recycled steel, and low-VOC paints is therefore an essential component in green mosque construction and should be a priority for all new builds as well as retrofit projects. 

Harvested rainwater and site runoff from roofs and other horizontal surfaces can be reused on the property itself. This recycled water can replace grey or black toilet water if permitted by the local jurisdiction. The construction and implementation of systems to collect and reuse rainwater for ablution or irrigation is, therefore, crucial for greening Islamic centers.

These practices can be integrated with purchased energy from fossil fuels, or electricity and natural gas, to keep buildings comfortable. This purchased energy can then be applied to such mechanical system components as air-conditioning, heat pumps, radiant heating, heat recovery ventilators, electric lighting/LED, and Energy Star-rated appliances. 

Integrating energy systems generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar power systems, wind turbines, biomass energy, hydropower, or geothermal sources is an integration strategy that will maximize green energy usage in mosques for the foreseeable future, “[c]onventional electricity generation is a significant source of emissions and the single largest source of U.S. air pollution. Green Power generates less” (EPA). 

Green power refers to environmentally preferable energy and technologies garnered from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal, and hydropower. Biomass, or organic plant and waste materials can also be applied to energy consumption in lieu of coal, oil, natural gas, or nuclear energy. Replacing each kilowatt hour (kWh) of traditional power with renewable power eliminates more than one pound of emitted carbon dioxide (EPA).

Green-e-Energy and Carbon offsets

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) certify energy products as green in a competitive electricity market. These tradable instruments, used to meet renewable energy targets and comply with energy policies, can be purchased directly through a green electricity supplier or via local or state government vendors. An REC certificate represents the generation of one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity from an eligible renewable energy source (Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) | US EPA). Onsite green power systems can be installed directly on site or purchased outright or via a third party  Each method leads to green energy generation or green energy credit via the accumulation of RECs.

Carbon offset practices help organizations lower their emissions by storing carbon to reduce GHC and a different instrument than a RECs., i.e. land/forest restoration used to store GHC in trees/soil, and trees stabilize soils, afforestation increases biodiversity. 

Designing a green mosque should apply a good mix of both passive and active strategies, and should take into account the most appropriate  renewable energy sources based upon the climate and government policies of the mosque’s specific community. This mixed approach should also include, the purchase of green energy certificates and carbon offsets to reach the goal of building a zero-energy mosque. 

Finally, it is highly recommend that community leaders contract professional consultants at every stage of this process. 

Therefore, a green mosque is one that uses as little energy as possible, by first minimizing embodied energy of the building’s materials, and minimizing energy use with passive design and on-site power generation. Then renewable technologies and active design can be applied to generate power for internal use in addition to power pulled from the grid. 

Next, carbon emissions can be minimized by using outside renewable sources to reach a net-zero building via green power as RECs and offsets. Hence, we need to move towards net-zero buildings, remaking the local mosque into a “building that has low embodied energy, energy efficient, does not emit greenhouse gases and powered solely by clean energy.”

Honoring God

Building green mosques reflects the community’s gratitude to God for the gifts He has temporarily blessed humanity with as part of His mercy. The environment in which we live and which we call home is an intrinsic part of these gifts. Thus, we must regain control of our nafs (self) and remember to balance our carbon and ecological footprint when designing our mosques in order to instill green values  in our spiritual centers. In so doing, we would be participating in  a revival of the Prophet’s (salla Allah ‘alayhi wa sallam) sunnah. 

Uzma Mirza a registered/licensed architect and is LEED AP BD+C certified member of the ICC and AIA, and the ISNA Green Initiative team. That team includes Huda Alkaff, Saffet Catovic, Nana Firman, and S. Masroor Shah (chair).

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