Dubai Quranic Park Glasshouse
The glasshouse is among the most important elements of the Dubai Quranic Park, which houses plants mentioned in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as well as, shops selling herbs and plants mentioned in the Holy Quran. The park, which spans an area of 60 hectares at Al Khawaneej, consists of 12 gardens and solar trees inspired by Arab and Islamic calligraphy and aims to educate the public about the Holy Quran and its miracles.
Dubai Quranic Park Glasshouse is a glasshouse structure with walls and roof made of transparent glass material, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions will be grown. The native climates for these plants varied from the Mediterranean, tropical, subtropical, and North American climates. Given the local environmental conditions, growing plants in the glasshouse require special ventilation and air conditioning design. EMergy was appointed to design the ventilation and air conditioning (VAC) system of the glasshouse in order to control the climate and atmosphere as per the plants’ conditions. In addition, the VAC design should be suitable for visitors with indoor comfort conditions that might be different than certain plants.
Accordingly, EMergy approach was to provide personalized conditions and “localized” cooling for each type of the plants and for the visitors. A combination of displacement ventilation (floor supply of cool air and ceiling return), floor radiant cooling,
In displacement ventilation, contaminants from people and plants will rise to the higher levels instead of being mixed in the breathing zone, in case of the mixed system. Moreover, the “localized” cooling offered by the displacement ventilation will allow better control of the thermal conditions to match the plants requirements.
The floor radiant cooling better satisfies the total human thermal comfort, because not only indoor air temperature but also mean radiant temperature can be controlled. Furthermore, floor radiant cooling will reduce the amount of sensible load, and, accordingly, the capacities of the air handling equipment.
In addition, suspended elements have been avoided, as they will block a portion of the daylight, required for the photosynthesis process of the plants, and accordingly, will have negative impacts on the plant growth.
The “localized” cooling for the plant has been also designed to have the CO2 gas being injected in the supply duct of the relevant air handling units serving the planting areas. Moreover, external shading has been designed to reduce the amount of heat gain compared to the external shading. This resulted in a more optimized the cooling load of the glasshouse.
Category: Design Services (Special Projects)
Scope: Microclimate Simulation and VAC System Design
Client: Dubai Municipality
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
