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This study aims to introduce the design and the design process for an innovative sanitary fixture to be used in public facilities for the purpose of ablution. This purpose-made fixture is needed to support the hygienic, safe and comfortable performance of this essential function in public facilities in many parts of the world. The study also clarifies the need for this function and critically reviews current designs to address it.

The study started by critically reviewing the standard built-in models for ablution. It also identified and analyzed new approaches to designing standalone ablution fixtures. The study then specified the characteristics of a better ablution fixture and involved drafting a design based on these characteristics, making a wooden prototype to test the design and receiving users’ feedback. The design was adjusted and tested again for more feedback. Finally, the study resulted in the development of a final design. It used digital fabrication to create the design prototype with improved aesthetics, tested it again and received user feedback.

A survey of users showed that they found the innovative fixture more comfortable and safer than the commonly used built-in models. The main concern was the potential for water to splash on clothes from the high faucet.

In addition to showing an innovative design for a purpose-made sanitary fixture for ablution, the study makes the reader aware of the various challenges of providing a hygienic, safe and comfortable facility for users to perform this function. This is very useful for the many designers and facility managers who deal with the issue.

Interior workspace environments use exclusively artificial light, resulting in a loss of biological connection and natural light quality, as well as greater energy consumption. The purpose of the study is to identify a suitable system that can provide natural light to such interior spaces throughout the day while supplementing it with artificial light when necessary. The fundamental aim is to provide insights into the most effective solutions for energy-efficient lighting design in the UAE's environment, with the potential to lower energy consumption related to interior lighting.

The study adopted an empirical approach to gather and analyze primary data based on field measurements to understand and assess existing lighting conditions, as well as DIALux lighting simulation software to test the efficacy of the proposed HLS in terms of natural light delivery, illumination quality and energy consumption. A branch of a local bank in the United Arab Emirates, situated inside one of the shopping malls where there is no natural light penetration, has been chosen as a case study.

The findings of comparing the base case to four probable scenarios that used HLS revealed that the third scenario, which uses 100% pure sunshine and 35% artificial LED light during daylight operations and 100% LED light during night duty, is considered to be optimal in terms of illumination quality and energy efficiency.

The study demonstrated the potential of innovative lighting to improve the visual working environment in interior spaces with limited access to direct natural lighting, especially in arid regions, where sunlight is plentiful throughout the year. The study contributes new insights into the establishment of lighting-related recommendations and standards for the UAE context. This may include advice for sustainable construction practices, lighting guidelines or incentives to encourage the use of hybrid lighting technology in commercial and institutional buildings.

Recently, there has been a shift toward the embodied energy assessment of buildings. However, the impact of material service life on the life-cycle embodied energy has received little attention. We aimed to address this knowledge gap, particularly in the context of the UAE and investigated the embodied energy associated with the use of concrete and other materials commonly used in residential buildings in the hot desert climate of the UAE.

Using input–output based hybrid analysis, we quantified the life-cycle embodied energy of a villa in the UAE with over 50 years of building life using the average, minimum, and maximum material service life values. Mathematical calculations were performed using MS Excel, and a detailed bill of quantities with >170 building materials and components of the villa were used for investigation.

For the base case, the initial embodied energy was 57% (7390.5 GJ), whereas the recurrent embodied energy was 43% (5,690 GJ) of the life-cycle embodied energy based on average material service life values. The proportion of the recurrent embodied energy with minimum material service life values was increased to 68% of the life-cycle embodied energy, while it dropped to 15% with maximum material service life values.

The findings provide new data to guide building construction in the UAE and show that recurrent embodied energy contributes significantly to life-cycle energy demand. Further, the study of material service life variations provides deeper insights into future building material specifications and management considerations for building maintenance.