We are pleased to invite Hotels, Shopping Malls and Schools in Dubai to participate in the EmiratesGBC Energy Benchmarking Project carried out in a partnership with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, a project supporting Dubai’s participation in the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA). Dubai is the only city in the Middle East that has committed to the Building Efficiency Accelerator, a global initiative under the United Nations program Sustainable Energy for All.

Under this initiative, we will benchmark at least 100 buildings in three focus groups (Hotels, Schools and Shopping Malls). All participants will receive tailored scorecards to assess their performance metrics against the city average. Learn more about the Benchmarking Project here and in the FAQs. To participate in this project, contact the EmiratesGBC office at 04-3468244 or send an email with your interest to BEA@emiratesgbc.org.

BEA Sponsorship opportunities are also open, and we invite you to learn more by clicking here or contacting engagement@emiratesgbc.org.

Join us on Wednesday 9th May at Roda Al Murooj, Downtown Dubai where we will be announcing the winners of the 2018 awards and celebrating achievements, success stories and best practices across the region.  These 2018 awards are with the support of our Platinum Sponsor Majid Al Futtaim and Gold Sponsor Jotun.

We are proud to announce that this year’s event has been certified as Carbon Neutral with emissions offset through the DEWA – CDM Project – Chiller Station L project.

The 2018 MENA Green Building Awards are endorsed by WorldGBC and in partnership with MENA Green Building Councils from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine.

We encourage you to visit our website to understand more about the awards and our sponsorship packages.

 Please also take a look at last year’s Awards Brief for a comprehensive overview of what the awards entail, as well as to meet the 2017 winners and shortlisted organisations.

Endorsed by WorldGBC and in partnership with MENA Green Building Councils: Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine, we are looking forward to another successful event.

EmiratesGBC is hosting a training session introducing the WELL Building Standard on Wednesday 25th April. The two hour session will provide an overview of the WELL Building Standard’s development, structure, and certification system, helping attendees learn how to harness the built environment as a vehicle to support human health, well-being, and comfort.

The session will be facilitated by Kate Rube, Vice President of Market Solutions at the International WELL Building Institute. With expertise in active design, urban planning, and policymaking, Kate brings extensive experience in project management, policy development, and training to her position.

The event is open to members and strategic partners (cost: 50 AED) and non-members (cost: 150 AED). For further details and to register to attend, please visit the event webpage.

We are pleased to welcome three newly elected corporate members to EmiratesGBC’s Board of Directors for the 2018-2019 term: Griffin Project Development Consultants, KEO International Consultants, and Sodamco S.A.L. – Abu Dhabi.

Griffin, KEO and Sodamco have been actively engaged members with the Council through various platforms, and we look forward to their strategic support as we continue with our feat, to help achieve a unified vision of sustainable urban development in the UAE.

Spaces are still available for The Building Retrofit Training (BRT) Level 1 (Beginner) courses being held on Tuesday 17^th April in Masdar Knowledge Center, Abu Dhabi and on Monday 30^th April in EmiratesGBC office, Dubai. If you are interested to attend a course but not able make the April dates, future Level 1 courses are already scheduled and listed on our website.  Please visit the BRT webpage to register your interest and see all the dates for the upcoming courses.

We have received a number of inquiries on the BRT Level 2 (Advanced) course, and rest assured we are working hard to have the course launched and running in summer 2018!

Visit our Meet the Facilitators page for a chance to learn more about our expert facilitators.

The BRT Program is in partnership with the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) and is designed to teach the fundamentals of building retrofit with emphasis on Audits, HVAC, Envelope, Air Quality, Solar PV/T, Water, Waste and Management.

Join us for a special training session delivered by WorldGBC’s Project Manager, Victoria Burrows, for the global Advancing Net Zero (ANZ) project on April 12^th, 2018. The ANZ project is working with Green Building Councils globally to accelerate the uptake of net zero carbon buildings to 100% by 2050; in which EmiratesGBC is participating.

The session will present the work being carried out by the Advancing Net Zero project, the opportunities for net zero buildings in the region, and global trends towards reducing emissions from the built environment. You can click here for registration!  The cost to attend is AED 50 for Members and AED 150 for Non-Members.

This month’s tip:  Use efficient water fixtures only.  Repair all faucet leaks, even if they seem minor, as this can potentially waste hundreds of litres annually.

The EmiratesGBC Green Building Tooltips is a rich online platform serving to further educate the industry and community on simple green building practices.   The interactive designs cover three different building typologies, showcasing a home, school and office building.  The initiative is powered by BASF and Legrand, EmiratesGBC board members underlining their commitment to promoting sustainability.

We strongly urge you to visit the Green Building Tooltips on our website to test out this valuable online tool and fulfil your goal of pursuing a greener lifestyle whether it be at home, school or at the office.

The Technical Brief for February 2018 Technical Workshop, Fire Safety & Green Buildings – Complying with New DCD Codes, is available online here. The Technical Workshop was facilitated by Caparol Paints LLC, a corporate member of EmiratesGBC, and discussed the sustainability advantages of ETICS systems and the steps to achieving approvals under the latest Dubai Civil Defence Fire & Safety Code.

The upcoming April Technical Workshop will take place on April 17^th and will look into the Energy Efficient Innovations in HVAC Ductwork. This workshop session will provide an overview of the history of HVAC ductwork in the UAE, global case studies and best practice solutions which can aid in energy savings and recent innovations.  Technical workshops are open to EmiratesGBC members and partners only.  To register your attendance, contact us by email to confirm your participation.

Are you an EmiratesGBC member or partner and would like to facilitate a workshop? We are open to suggestions for 2018.  If you have any suggestions for topics you’d like to have addressed, we’d like to hear from you – email us at technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org.

This month we look at one of the most pressing issue being faced globally as emphasized in the Global Risks Report 2018 and Cape Town’s crisis: water. The recently published ARUP’s report ‘Cities Alive: Rethinking cities in arid environments’, highlights that cities in arid environment face complex challenges such as water scarcity, inadequate infrastructure, rapidly growing populations, and impacts on public health from the effects of urban heat islands. The report proposes a strategic rethink of how to plan and design cities in arid regions and proposes 36 actions that local governments, planners, architects and investors can consider to support the development of more inclusive, resilient and competitive cities.

Click here to read the report by Arup.

In 2017 Majid Al Futtaim Majid Al Futtaim launched its water and carbon Net Positive commitments. In practice this means that by 2040, the organisation will be using as little water as possible and creating more clean water for our communities.  Majid Al Futtaim is continuing its rigorous work towards this goal and we are pleased to share the release of their White Paper, which was developed with the goal of knowledge sharing and inspiring others to join them on their journey.

The paper outlines Majid Al Futtaim’s journey to reduce their water footprint, and suggests a six-point approach which you can follow to develop your water stewardship strategy.

You can read the white paper here

This month we bring you a program update in numbers:

To support UAE hotel properties in reducing their carbon footprint by improving water and energy performances, waste management, education and awareness, Emirates Green Building Council is now offering Green Hospitality Training.

Training modules have been developed in a format that can be tailored to assist any level of the hotel staff, addressing general facts on green hospitality for those less informed, while covering more technical aspects that can support engineering departments and technical staff. The training can also support UAE tourism authorities and professionals for implementation of best practices.  Selection of training modules include: Water Management, Energy Management, Green Procurement, Waste Management, Indoor Air Quality, Sustainable Food and Beverage, Green Housekeeping Practices, and Community Development & CSR.

Hotel groups or properties interested in some or all of the available training modules should contact the EmiratesGBC office for more details.

If you are interested in using EmiratesGBC office space for a workshop or meeting, please get in touch with us at 04-3468244 or send us an email to office@emiratesgbc.org. The room is fully equipped with AV and provides a nice environment for focused meetings or training workshops.

Click here to learn more about how the Technical Guidelines for Retrofitting Existing Buildings can potentially save your facility and/or home millions in utility bills and reduced operational costs.  Copies are available in both English and Arabic for purchase at the EmiratesGBC office.

EmiratesGBC also offers a free copy of the Technical Guidelines, as part of your registration and participation in the Building Retrofit Training Workshop. For more details, please click here to complete registration.

In this role, KEO will be contributing to the promotion of the council and its activities and directing the perusal of the council’s strategic plan.  The consultancy will be represented by Holley Chant, executive director of corporate sustainability, and supported by Martina Konrad, senior sustainability manager. “KEO’s support and active membership of EmiratesGBC over the past 10 years has been highly valued by the council and we look forward to even more accomplishments in the coming years,” said Saeed Al Abbar, chairman of the EmiratesGBC.

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s strongest advocates of green schools closed out 2017 with the formal launch of the Emirates Coalition for Green Schools. In a roundtable event convened by the Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), government representatives, academics, teachers, education and sustainability stakeholders and private sector representatives came together to discuss a national vision for healthy, high-performing schools.

As a founding member of the Global Coalition for Green Schools—which was founded by the Center for Green Schools at USGBC, in partnership with the World Green Building Council—EmiratesGBC has been leading the UAE’s green schools work since 2013.

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