Israel's biggest mall to be built in Beersheba

Article published on Ynetnews.com July 6, 2009
By Ilana Curiel

County's first green shopping center to be built in southern city at total investment of NIS 700,000. Construction scheduled to be completed in 2012

"This is my life's work," entrepreneur Eli Lahav, CEO of the Lahav Group, stated last week in reference to the Beersheba Mall, which is planned to stretch over an area of about 100,000 square meters at an investment of NIS 700 million (about $180.5 million).

According to Lahav, the mall – which is scheduled to be ready in three years – will be the biggest in Israel and the first green shopping center in the country.

Shem Tov Tzruya, head of the architects' team at the Moore Yasky Sivan company, spoke of the mall's green characteristics, which will be a consumption, recreation and social center for residents of the Negev's capital and its surroundings.

Alongside the green design, which saves on energy, the mall's appearance is also aimed at making an impression and breaking the city's desert-like appearance.

Simulation of new mall

Lahav and Tzruya made the remarks at a ceremony held Sunday in the Negev's capital to expose the project.

The mall's main entrance will have three waterfalls. "The water expresses prosperity and life," explained Tzruya. In addition, the mall will include a pool for collecting rain water and air-conditioner water and reusing it for irrigation, as well as use of natural illumination and solar energy.

A green park will be built near the mall on an area of about 8,000 square meters. Special bicycle lanes will be developed around the mall.

"On the roof we'll have thousands of photo-volt cells in order to save on energy. A special glass will be installed at the entrance to the mall which will be transparent without absorbing the sun's energy," explained Tzruya.

According to the entrepreneurs, the mall will be twice bigger than the Ramat Aviv Mall in Tel Aviv. It will have 40,000 square meters of commercial area for rental, 1,800 parking spots, and about 5,000 square meters for recreation and leisure.

The transfer of the IDF bases to the Negev and the fact that the land reserves in central Israel are increasingly disappearing have led Lahav to realize that Beersheba could be the next economic center.

'A huge youth cultural center'

The mall will be built on the ruins of the nostalgic (Neot Midbar) Desert Inn Hotel. The recreation and leisure center created is expected to serve hundreds of thousands of the region's residents.

"When I was offered to buy Neot Midbar, it took me a few second to realize the deal's potential, and within 24 hours everything was already signed," explained Lahav, who was born in Beersheba.

"They asked me 'why Beersheba?', and I said, 'The news will come out of Beersheba.' This is one of the leading consumers' cities in Israel, a district city with half a million people. This is the next great thing. This is a world view, a concept, a center combining recreation and leisure and a communal center. This is in fact a huge youth cultural center."

Lahav aspires to turn the mall into the residents' second home. The mall will take part in activity for the communal life together with municipality bodies for all layers of the population, including hosting classes encouraging local handiwork, a center for youth movements and soldiers' meeting, a recreation center for children, and a golden age club.

Behind the social aspect hides a financial motive as well. Beersheba is already filled with shopping centers, and therefore the Beersheba mall must make itself particularly attractive for the audience it is slated to serve.

Avi Shayat, Lahav Group's business development manager, explained that this would also leverage the business-economic activity in the city.

"The more you stay here the level of expenditure per capita rises, and the proceeds increase," said Shayat.

The army is also a key part of the business. "There will be shuttles from the bases to the mall. Those going on leave won't escape. In the night the soldiers will be driven back to the bases."

'Mall will be a source of inspiration'

"People will come and learn from us. The mall will be a source of inspiration," said Lahav. "We are creating a public center."

He added that the mall would be planned as an inseparable part of the city, but that this would not hurt the other centers. "There will be a battle on giving better service. There is room both for that and for that."

The mall's construction is expected to being in 2010, but the earth works have already begun. The construction is expected to end in 2012. In the area near the mall the municipality is interested in setting up a hotel, and the Lahav Group is competing for the area in a tender.

Some 300,000 vehicles pass every day on the Toviyahu Boulevard route, where the mall will be built. 35% of the city's population lives at a distance of 1.5 kilometers from the mall.

No one was wise enough to realize the potential hiding in this valued area so far, and Lahav decided to build his life's work, his vision, in the area: A metropolitan commercial center combining communal activity.

However he is still asked, "Why Beersheba?"

"Beersheba and the Negev are about to undergo a revolution in the coming years," says Yaakov Ben Yizri, president of the commerce bureau in the Negev. This is a good enough reason to understand why Beersheba of all places."

IAI and Airbus to Develop Environmentally Conscious Taxiing System

Article published on Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd website, June 17, 2009

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Airbus have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the 2009 International Paris Air Show to jointly develop and test an innovative environmentally friendly pilot-controlled towing semi-robotic system.
The Taxibot Dispatch Towing system, designed by IAI, allows both wide and narrow body commercial airplanes to taxi to and from the gate and the runway without the use of their jet engines.

The revolutionary Taxibot Dispatch Towing concept represents a potential to reduce annual fuel costs from $8 billion to less than $2 billion, CO2 emissions from 18 billion tons to less than 2 million tons per year, and noise emissions by a significant margin.

Yehushua (Shuki) Eldar, IAI's Corporate VP of Business Development and Subsidiaries says: "We are excited to work on the development of this eco-efficient taxiing dispatch system. The project demonstrates our commitment to the environment and utilizes IAI's robotics capabilities and technological experience.”

IAI and Airbus are studying the performance, operational, commercial, and safety aspects of the system on a series of ground taxiing tests on Airbus' A-340-600 airplane in Toulouse. The companies have agreed that following successful test period results, they may establish a Joint Venture (JV) to develop and certify the Taxibot and market the program.

According to plans, the Taxibot operational system is expected to be ready for first deliveries by the third quarter of 2011.

The special design of the Taxibot gives the pilot full control of the system during the taxiing process, and uses the existing airplane controls in the same way that the pilot is accustomed to when taxiing using the airplane's engines. The use of the Taxibot system requires no modification to the airplane and minimal modifications to the airport infrastructure which will not affect existing taxiways and runways.

For the last three years, IAI has invested R&D resources in environmentally conscious programs, including the development of renewable energy technologies, as part of a strategic plan to increase its civilian activities. Taxibot is a significant step forward that can modify the taxiing process in airports to save fuel, decrease noise levels and air pollution in comparison with today's ground operational processes.

Zenith turns an Israeli kibbutz solar

According to Solar Feeds website, ZenithSolar, an Israeli start-up company to license revolutionary solar energy technologies, will be launching its first “solar farm” in April 2009 based on Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) systems. Developed by Prof. David Faiman, Chairman of the Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics at the University’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, the system will harvest more than 70% of incoming solar energy (as compared to industry norms of 10% to 40%).

Journalists are invited on March 22, 2009 to Kvuzat Yavne for the first site visit and briefing to learn firsthand how this unique technology will generate electricity and thermal energy (hot water) for the Kibbutz and ultimately other Israel neighborhoods.
ZenithSolar is set to develop and mass produce the most reliable cogeneration solar power system – with a full vertically integrated strategy – that can be deployed as a distributed energy network. Founded in 2006, The ZenithSolar system is price competitive with traditional forms of energy without government subsidies. ZenithSolar concentrated solar energy generation system is based on a new paradigm in optical design and high-efficiency solar cells.
Additional link: http://www.zenithsolar.com/

Gas Drilling Begins Off Hadera Coast

Article on Arutz Sheva March 08, 2009
By Hana Levi Julian

The company which discovered abundant gas reserves off the coast of Haifa in January has begun drilling in a new site, west of Hadera.

Noble Energy Inc., the Houston-based partner of Isramco Ltd., Delek Group Ltd., and Avner Oil and Gas LP, said the new offshore well, named Dalit-1, is located approximately 60 kilometers west of Hadera.

The company moved its rig on the ship "Atwood Hunter" to the new drill site on Friday after having completed drilling at the Tamar-1 well 90 kilometers west of Haifa. The Tamar-1 find was eventually discovered to be more than 60 percent larger than originally estimated, according to Noble Energy officials -- reportedly more than enough to fuel the State of Israel for at least 15 years.

Gas Reservoir At Gelilot North Of Tel Aviv

The drilling is expected to last approximately two months and cost $130 million, company officials said. Once drilling is completed at Dalit-1, the "Atwood Hunter" will proceed to the next well, dubbed Tamar-2.

There is a 40 percent chance the company will find commercial quantities of up to 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas at the site, referred to as the Michal prospect, according to the Globes business news agency.