Sustainable building design has gained global significance as a strategy to address environmental challenges and promote healthier living spaces. This concept is particularly relevant in Saudi Arabia, where there is a growing emphasis on integrating sustainable practices into the design and operation of buildings, especially in educational settings. Amidst the global push for sustainability in workplaces, this study’s core lies in assessing and comparing the satisfaction levels with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of a Saudi Arabian higher education building against those in international green buildings, considering factors that comprise thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, acoustic quality, office arrangement, furnishings, cleanliness, and maintenance. Employing the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) IEQ survey tool, a comprehensive study was conducted among the building’s occupants. A literature review and benchmarking studies complemented this to gather data on international green buildings. This study aims to assess and compare the satisfaction levels with the IEQ of a Saudi Arabian higher education building against international green buildings. The comparative analysis aims to expose the commonalities and differences in satisfaction levels, exploring how various factors influence overall satisfaction with the IEQ. The research found that there is overall satisfaction with the IEQ parameters of the building under investigation, except with two parameters: acoustics and thermal comfort. The building is generally in alignment with the IEQ of international buildings. This research is presumed to contribute significantly to sustainability initiatives in educational buildings, fostering a healthier and more sustainable workplace environment.

Global warming and climate change are major concerns across multiple disciplines. Population growth, urbanization, and industrialization are significant contributing factors to such problems due to the escalating use of fossil fuels required to meet growing energy demands. The building sector uses the largest share of total global energy production and produces tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Emerging eco-friendly technologies, such as solar and wind energy harvesting, are being extensively explored; however, they are insufficient. Nature-inspired technologies could offer solutions to our problems. For instance, algae are microorganisms that use water, light, and CO₂ to produce energy and sustain life, and the exploitation of these characteristics in a built environment is termed algae building technology, which is a very efficient and green application suitable for a sustainable future. Algae-integrated façades show great versatility through biomass and energy production, wastewater treatment, shading, and thermal and acoustic insulation. In this paper, algae will be introduced as a robust tool toward a greener and more sustainable future. Algae building technology and its implementation will be demonstrated. Furthermore, steps for applying this sustainable strategy in Egypt will be discussed.

The building sector is a pivotal driver of global resource depletion and environmental deterioration, being responsible for 40% of raw material consumption, 16% of water usage, 25% of timber utilization, and 40% of total energy demand. It also accounts for 30% of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, predominantly CO₂. The operational phase of buildings is the most energy-intensive and emission-heavy stage, accounting for 85–95% of their total life-cycle energy consumption. This energy is primarily expended on heating, cooling, ventilation, and hot water systems, which are largely dependent on fossil fuels. Furthermore, embodied energy, the cumulative energy expended from the extraction of materials through construction, operation, and eventual demolition, plays a substantial role in a building’s overall environmental footprint. To address these pressing challenges, this study discusses sustainable innovations within green architecture and biomimicry. Our topic supports the 2030 vision Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both directly and indirectly (SDGs 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13). This study also explores cutting-edge applications, such as algae- and slime mold-inspired decentralized urban planning, which offer innovative pathways toward energy efficiency and sustainability. Considering the integration of renewable energy sources, passive design methodologies, and eco-friendly materials, this research emphasizes the transformative potential of biomimicry and green architecture in fostering a sustainable built environment, mitigating climate change, and cultivating a regenerative coexistence between human habitats and the natural world.

Street livability is widely recognized as a fundamental indicator of urban livability. Despite growing global agendas advocating human-centered, sustainable, and smart cities, the microscale implementation of streetscape interventions remains limited and non-integrated. This gap is particularly evident in developing cities’ contexts where policy-level frameworks fail to translate into tangible street-level transformations. Responding to this challenge, this paper investigates how streetscape components can enhance everyday street livability. The study aims to explore opportunities for improving street livability through the utilization of three core streetscape components: vegetation, street furniture, and lighting. The discourse on street livability identifies vegetation, street furniture, and lighting as the primary drivers of high-quality urban spaces. Scholarly research suggests that these micro-interventions are most effective when viewed through the combined lenses of human-centered design, environmental sustainability, and smart city technology. While the literature indicates that integrating climate-responsive greenery and renewable energy systems can enhance social interaction and safety, it also highlights significant implementation hurdles. Specifically, researchers point to policy limitations, technical feasibility in developing nations, and the socio-economic threat of green gentrification. Despite these complexities, microscale streetscape improvements remain a vital strategy for fostering inclusive and resilient cities.