On Tuesday 22 April the top three group projects of the American Corner's Green Building Project displayed their winning green scale models at the “Down to Earth” Environmental Projects Exhibition and Earth Day Environmental Bazaar hosted at the Red Crescent Building in Ramallah. An-Najah students designed environmentally friendly buildings as part of their work and training on sustainable development.

The event was attended by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Walid Assaf, Mr. Jameel Mitour, Deputy Chairman of the Environmental Quality Authority in Palestine, Mr. Nasser Samarah, Chairman of the Palestinian Centre for the Environment and US Consul General, Mr. Michael Ratney.

The Green Buildings Project was the culmination of an intensive five week course on sustainable architecture in the USA and Palestine. The project was launched by the American Corner Nablus in partnership with Arizona State University and with particular support from ASU's sustainable development scientist Dr. Harvey Bryan.

 The project included around 45 of the top achieving students from the architecture and engineering faculties. After an initial intensive, one week workshop delivered by Dr. Harvey Bryan in March, the students designed their own environmentally friendly and sustainable villas inspired by US architecture taking into account the geography and climate of the West Bank. The students produced scale models, poster presentations and powerpoints of their project proposals.   

The models were judged by a panel of sustainable experts from An-Najah and Birzeit Universities. The Panel judged the models based on strict criteria, marking them against things such as: site sustainability; energy efficiency; indoor environmental quality; sustainability and suitability of materials and resources; and water efficiency.

Notes:

1. The Green Building project was launched on 10 March 2013 at An-Najah University, in collaboration with the American Corner Nablus.
2. The event also included student projects that formed part of the six month programme sponsored by the Palestinian Centre for the Environment, as well as displays of organic products and sustainable businesses. 
3. The event was also attended and addressed by the Press attaché at the US Consulate General, Mr. Richard Buangan and Mr. Mahmoud Takruri, representative and Board member of the Palestinian Centre for the Environment.