Prof. Isaac A. Meir Architect / Town Planner sakis@bgumail.bgu.ac.il Tel: 972-8-6596880 Fax: 972-8-6596881 Mailing Address

Education

• 1981 . . . Bachelor of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel)
• 1984 . . . Master of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel)
• 2002 . . . Ph.D. in Archaeology Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology.

Research interests

Topics related to appropriate design for desert regions, including:

• Sustainable, environment conscious architecture in arid zones
• Evolution and adaptation of building technology and types, with special focus on the Byzantine period and concurrent climatic changes
• Urbanization among the Bedouin of Israel
• Alternative information dissemination and education frameworks

Professional activities and distinctions

• 2008 - Academic Coordinator, Conference - Green Architecture and Sustainable Design: Concepts, Strategies, Standards. Environmental Unit, Ministry of Environmental Protection /BGU-BIDR. li>2008 - External Assessor, Dept. of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace - HQAA - Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Hellenic Republic.
• 2007-8 - Organizing Committee, Conference - Environment, Water, Energy Conference. BGU.
• 2007 - Organizing Committee, Conference - Promoting energy conservation awareness in the local authorities, Symposium. Heinrich Boell Foundation, Towns Association for Environmental Quality Agan Bet Netufa, Sakhnin, Dec.6, 2007.
• 2007 - Standards Institution of Israel (SII) & Israeli Association for the Initiation of Sustainable Building Environment (IAISBE): Experts Committee, Pilot project - IS 5281 Buildings With Reduced Environmental Impact (Green Buildings).
• 2007-current - Member of Green Label Directorate, Standards Institute of Israel (SII).
• 2007-current - Member of Standards Committee 128 Environmental Quality in Buildings, SII.
• 2007-current - Member of Israeli Association for the Initiation of Sustainable Building Environment (IAISBE)
• 2007 - Reviewer for Energy & Buildings
• Researcher in Desert Architecture and Urban Planning, Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University, Israel (since 1986).
• Best Specialization Course (with H.J. Bruins) - Albert Katz School for Desert Studies, Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University, Israel (2001-2002).
• Best Tutor - School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK (2000-2001).
• Has taught at schools of architecture and environmental design in Israel (Technion and others), Denmark and the United Kingdom.
• Served as Head of the Negev Design and Construction Workshop (1988-1992).
• Organized interdisciplinary team for the Sustainable Community Solutions international competition initiated by the AIA & IUA (1992-1993)
• Served on technical committee for 11th PLEA International Conference, Dead Sea, Israel (1994)
• Served on organizing committee for meeting on Sustainability Through Climatically Responsive Low Energy Architecture, Delhi, India (1995).
• Served on advisory committee of Science-Technology-Society (STS) Project for Alternative Educational Methods, initiated by the Israel Ministry of Education and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
• Served on various planning and consulting teams initiated by institutions such as the Israel Ministry of Construction and Housing.
• Served as Head of Energy and Environment Work Group, Association of United Architects in Israel (1999-2000).
• Is a member of the Professional Experts Committee and the Board of Directors - Sustainable Development for the Negev (Registered Association), Israel, from 1999.
• Exhibited the design of a bioclimatic house built in the Neve-Zin solar neighborhood at the EQUINOX 2000/THERMIE exhibition (RIBA/Westminster University, 2000).
• Received the 'Best Paper' Award at the 2000 PLEA International Conference in Cambridge, UK, for the paper, "A GIS framework for studying post-occupancy climate-related changes in residential neighborhoods" (with Y. Etzion, B. Portnov, E. Erell and D. Pearlmutter).
• Received the Haim Sheba Prize for excellence, awarded by the David & Paula Ben-Gurion Fund ( jointly with E. Erell and D. Pearlmutter - 1988).
• Received the Dori Award for Technology (jointly with Y. Etzion and D. Faiman -1992).
• Is a registered architect in Israel.

Research students (dates in parentheses indicate estimated completion)

• A. Inbar (2011) Ph.D., Kreitman, BGU. Topic: Transformative Technologies: Technological Knowledge and the Potential for Impacting Social Change (with P. Motzafi-Haller & Y. Garb).
• A. Cicelsky (2010) M.Sc. , AKIS, BGU, BIDR. Topic: Parametric analysis of environmentally responsive (energy conserving) strategies for building envelopes specific for the Southern Arava Valley.
• J.Y. Golding (2009) M.A. Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies (AKIS). Topic: Assessing the energy efficiency of straw-bale domes in kibbutz Lotan, Arava.

Selected publications

Co-authored Energy Aspects of Design in Arid Zones, A Design Manual prepared for the Israeli Ministry of Energy (with Y. Etzion and D. Faiman); co-edited Architecture of the Extremes, Proceedings of the PLEA '94 Conference (with Y. Etzion, E.Erell and D. Pearlmutter) and the subsequent Special Issue of Energy & Buildings (Vol.23, No.3, with E.Erell, Y.Etzion, D.Pearlmutter and J.Cook); edited the Proceedings of the conference on Planning and Construction in the Dead Sea Region - Challenges and Design Strategies, and has published widely in Israel and abroad, including:

• Meir, I.A., "Integrative approach to the design of sustainable desert architecture - a case study," Open House International, Special issue on Environmentally Responsive Architecture, Vol 25, No.3, pp.47-57, 2000.
• Portnov B.A., Meir I., Deddis W.G. and McCluskey W.J., "Property tax, social equity and efficiency of local authorities in Israel," Journal of Property Tax Assessment & Administration Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 33-59, 2000.
• Meir, I.A, "Courtyard microclimate: a hot arid region case study," Architecture,City, Environment, Refereed papers of PLEA 2000, Cambridge UK, July 2000, pp. 218-222, 2000.
• Etzion Y., Portnov B.A., Erell E., Meir I.A. and Pearlmutter D., "A GIS framework for studying post-occupancy climate-related changes in residential neighborhoods," Architecture,City, Environment, Refereed papers of PLEA 2000, Cambridge UK, July 2000, pp.678-83, 2000. (Best Paper Award)
• Etzion Y., Portnov B.A., Erell E., Meir I. and Pearlmutter D., "An open GIS framework for recording and analysing post-occupancy changes in residential buildings - a climate-related case study," Building and Environment Vol. 36, No.10, pp. 1075-1090, 2001.
• Tang R., Meir I.A. and Etzion Y., "An analysis of absorbed radiation by domed and vaulted roofs as compared with flat roofs," Energy & Buildings Vol. 35, pp. 539-548, 2002.
• Portnov B.A., I. A. Meir. 2007. Urban Water Consumption in Israel: Convergence or Divergence? ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY, Vol 11(4): 347-358.
• Meir, I.A., Y. Garb, Dixin Jiao, A. Cicelsky 2008. Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE): An inevitable step toward sustainability. Journal of Advances Building Energy Research. Invited paper (Feb.2008). In Press.

 

Design projects

Has participated in numerous innovative design projects including:

• The Blaustein International Center for Desert Studies building at the Sede-Boqer Campus
• The Neve-Zin Solar neighborhood adjacent to the Sede-Boqer Campus
• The JNF-GADNA youth village in Beer-Ora
• 2000-current I. A. Meir, 1000 residential units neighborhood master plan, Ramot - Beer Sheva, Israel Ministry of Construction and Housing.

Graduate students

• See departmental student list.