Per Wikipedia, Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition.

In fact, in the Middle East, concerns for anything green were second to that fundamentally frantic development of buildings and all related infrastructure to nevertheless greater and greater awareness of their various environmental impact.  As a matter of fact, the brunt of all development was and still is located in the Arabian Gulf where carbon footprints of any urban agglomeration were recently assessed to be at critical levels.  Elsewhere in the Middle East apart from the large conurbation of Cairo, Damascus, Bagdad, Beirut, etc. things were less acutely perceived but still not exactly as clear of any criticism as one would have hoped.  Hence this ecoMENA write-up that elaborates fairly well on the subject.