At Environas we design buildings and spaces creatively according to the optimum environmental performance criteria focusing on the users’ comfort. Our designs ensures that our solutions create a continuous dialogue between the indoor and the outdoor.
GENERAL
INFORMATION
Environas has been established by Dr. Nihal Al Sabbagh in Cairo, Environas aiming to integrate environmental knowledge and expertise into practice through research based design approaches and tailored solutions.
Sustainability in every space
We design to maximize user comfort and reduce the environmental impact
Dr. Nihal is the founder and design director of ENVIRONAS, . She is an environmental expert with over 15 years of teaching and practical experience in architecture and urban design. She holds a Ph.D. from the AA School of Architecture in London and an M.Sc. in Sustainable Design of the Built Environment from the British University in Dubai. In 2021, she founded the Design Lab ENVIRONAS, aiming to improve environmental impact through research-based design methodology. Her publications focus on urban environmental assessments of hot cities, improving thermal comfort,encouraging walkability and sustainable transport,passive cooling for outdoor spaces and architectural learning education.
The ENVIRONAS team consists of architects and engineers with strong practice and research backgrounds, embodying the company's vision and growth. Their scientific expertise positions ENVIRONAS as a leader in environmental design solutions and interdisciplinary scientific research.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
urban design
We design urban masterplans that offer equitable, efficient, and environmental friendly settings to their inhabitants. Our design objectives always considers the dialogue between the open spaces, green areas and optimized building layouts to improve the microclimatic conditions of the surroundings.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
Architecture Design
We apply passive design strategies for ventilation, cooling and heating through the interior elements of the project focusing on efficient lighting, acoustic, design energy performance calculations and green material selection and vegetation.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
interior design
We apply passive strategies for ventilation and mechanical cooling by designing the components of the space. This includes efficient lighting, acoustic material selection, energy performance calculations, the choice of green materials, and integrating vegetation.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
landscape design
Our outdoor space designs interweaves the beauty of materiality with local greenery to achieve the optimum landscaped solutions taking into consideration the water consumption from irrigation and the influence of the microclimate.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
building energy
performance
We conduct EDGE, LEED, ESTIDAMA, MOTADAM, WELL…etc. and other green certifications energy simulations in buildings and urban areas to reduce the building operation costs from HVAC lighting, and electrical systems to avoids further environmental impacts.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
post occupancy
evaluation
We study existing urban projects and buildings according to the microclimatic and user comfort analysis to diagnose problematic areas such as IAQ, OAQ, urban hotspots, thermal stress and discomfort. The evaluation reports are used to improve the investments of future projects through an optimum performance and sensible environmental impact provided through the ROI of the solutions provided.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
micro climatic & Thermal comfort analysis
We conduct a CFD and thermal analysis for new urban areas, buildings and green spaces to detect high solar gains and wind flow patterns that informs the outdoor and indoor design. We predict thermal comfort inside buildings and in outdoor spaces to aid design narratives according to the optimum operation schedule and user’s analysis. Our design recommendations integrate the thermal, visual and/or acoustic parameters of each project.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
LIFE CYCLE
ASSESMENT
We evaluate the environmental impacts on buildings across their entire lifespan, from construction to demolition. Focus is given to the resource use, energy consumption, emissions, and waste generation to promote sustainable design and construction practices, guiding decisions that minimize environmental footprint and enhance building performance.
ENVIRONMENTAL research
walkability
This track investigates various built environments according to their climatic conditions and urban parameters that defer walkability. Previous explorations hot cities in UAE and Egypt are used to develop guidelines for pedestrian friendly environmnets. The interconnectedness between the social and environmental parameters is used to signify urban design attributes needed to promote walking. Researches focuses on mainly three tracks, dynamic thermal sensation, the influence of the thermal conditions on human perception, and commercial viability of the area.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
Environmental Research Methodologies
The track focuses on utilizing various methods and techniques using digital and meteroelogical tools to explore the environmental parameters of the outdoor environments, the indoor environments and their relation. Microclimatic simulation, building performance tools, environmental monitoring data sets, AI and machine learning methods is used to develop workflows to tackle heatrise problems.
ENVIRONMENTAL research
climate change
This track aims to downscale the effects of climate change to a user and street level through analyzing thermal comfort scenarios at various climatic and microclimatic conditions.We analyze the past and future projections of the outdoor thermal comfort extracting the mitigation and/or adaptation strategies needed to fight the warming of cities. Researches focuses on thermal comfort and the built environment.
