We are pleased to announce that the data collection phase is complete. Thank you to all the participating properties! We have moved into the data verification and analysis phase, and the findings being published at the end of the year. Stay tuned! Learn more about the Benchmarking Project here and in the FAQs.

The Benchmarking Project is being carried out in a partnership with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, a project supporting the City of 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.

If you have any questions, please 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. Sponsorship will support the analysis and reporting of the project as well as the development of an online platform, thus supporting further expansion of the benchmarking program.

This year’s flagship event will be held on Tuesday 9th October with the theme Targeting Zero: a vision for future cities.

The Annual EmiratesGBC Congress will cover Net Zero Buildings and their contribution to sustainable cities. It will explore progress in the approach to net zero and how efforts can be scaled up to create net zero cities with minimal ecological impact in the UAE and beyond.

Each session takes inspiration from the values of the Year of Zayed which celebrates the Late Sheikh’s vision for human development and his belief in investing in infrastructure to improve the UAE’s social, economic and environmental outcomes.

With the support of this year’s venue sponsor, Majid Al Futtaim, the Congress will be held in the Pullman Dubai Creek City Centre Hotel in Dubai.

Visit the Congress webpage for further updates on the agenda and speaker over the coming months.  Registration will soon be open through the website.

We would like to invite you to become a strategic supporter of the Annual EmiratesGBC Congress through sponsorship. A  number of opportunities are available to organisations with an early bird discount applicable before the 15^th August 2018.

To learn more about the sponsorship packages, click here or contact engagement@emiratesgbc.org.

With an unprecedented number of applications, the 2018 MENA Green Building Awards celebrated the achievements, success stories and best practices across the region. Each month we will be showcasing our winners and provide more information regarding the projects and products.

This month we congratulate the winner of Sustainable Building Design of the Year which recognized the green design of a building in planning or under construction.

Winner: The Yas Bay Arena submitted by WSP

The Yas Bay Arena was designed to ensure that sustainability is at the forefront of its development process. The project has achieved a 2 Pearl Estidama Building rating and the design incorporates a unique self- shading façade that reduces heat gain on the envelope by 53%. Other energy-saving strategies incorporated into the design translate to over 1.8 million AED per year of savings.

Congratulations also to the shortlisted applicants in this category: KEO International Consultants & Dubai World Trade Centre for the Expo Village (Phase 1) project.

To find out more about this year’s awards and category winners, take a look at the post-event press release.  #MENAGBAwards

On June 19^th, EmiratesGBC participated in the first committee workshop organised by the Ministry of Energy and Industry to develop the UAE National Green Building Code in line with the Ministry’s National Demand Side Management (DSM) Progam 2050. The Code aims to enhance the built environment across the UAE by preserving resources and reducing the environmental impact of new buildings. Stakeholders who participated in the workshop shared their experience in developing local green building regulations and advised on recommended options for the national code.

EmiratesGBC is honoured to be part of the national committee. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the ministry to support our shared goal of advancing sustainability in the built environment.

Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, is setting ambitious sustainability targets for its new flagship Dubai community, Tilal Al Ghaf, with plans to become the first mixed-use development in the emirate to achieve a ‘very good’ rating under the BREEAM sustainability accreditation programme. Energy, water and waste are among key metrics measured to enhance the community’s environmental, social and economic sustainability performance as per BREEAM’s assessment.

Read the full story here

Created in 2004, the objective of Saint-Gobain’s students’ contest is to develop a project based on the principles of the Multi-Comfort concept: an optimum indoor environment ensuring the right level of fresh air, thermal, visual and acoustic comfort provided in a sustainable and energy efficient manner.

The task for the 14th international edition of the Saint-Gobain’s MultiComfort House Students Contest, developed in close collaboration with the Planning Department of Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Properties Group, consisted in creating a vision for a transcultural vibrant community development located in the perimeter of Dubai’s Cultural Village, a multi-purpose area located along the Dubai’s creek Al Jaddaf shoreline. The challenge lay in Dubai’s very hot and humid climate. Students had to find a way to reconcile the reduction of energy consumption of cooling and ventilation systems with a beautiful and highly efficient building envelope. This without compromising any of the inhabitants’ comforts, and while providing optimum connection with the environment and having a minimum impact on it.

Read the full story here

Last week we bid farewell to our wonderful and cheerful colleague, Sheena Khan, who for the past three years has expanded the EmiratesGBC Education & Awareness program and most recently successfully led the UAE’s Green Key program. Sheena’s passion for education and sustainable development has been apparent in her own continued capacity building through LEED and WELL qualifications as well as in her persistence to influence and educate youth about the green building industry, demonstrated in her facilitation of a yearly student forum.  Her contribution will continue to serve the green building movement as we build on what has been achieved.  We wish Sheena all the best in her new endeavors, on both a personal and professional level.  We will miss her friendly smiles and readiness to help as she epitomises the roles of a leader and team player seamlessly.

Registration is open for the next Level 1 Building Retrofit Training (BRT) courses taking place on 6^th September in Dubai and 25^th September in Abu Dhabi.  This introductory course is led by expert facilitators 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.

Please visit the BRT webpage to register for your place in the upcoming courses.

Hear what some of our previous participants had to say about the course:

‘The BRT course was perfect for me to further understand retrofitting requirements that are in line with The Emirates Green Building Council guidelines, as I plan to be renovating a hotel in the near future’

‘I have learned about aspects of design and maintenance, that impact efficiency in positive way, as well as minimize the impact on the environment’

The BRT Program is in partnership with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company).

The BRT Level 2 (Advanced) course is almost ready to be launched and new course dates will be announced during the summer.

We encourage you to improve your lifestyle, not just for today but for all of 2018, by adopting an EmiratesGBC Green Building Tooltips.  This month’s tip suggests you recycle.  Recycling diverts waste from landfills minimizing pollution and helping prevent methane emission, a gas which negatively contributes to global warming.

Various materials can be recycled, including aluminum, plastic and paper.  Recycling 1 ton of paper prevents the processing of 17 trees and saves 3 cubic yards of landfill space.

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 home, school, and office buildings.  The initiative is powered by BASF and Legrand, EmiratesGBC board members underlining their commitment to promoting sustainability, and is supported by Taqati whose mission is tied to achieving Dubai’s sustainability goals.

We urge you to visit the Green Building Tooltips on our website to test out this valuable tool and pursue a greener lifestyle whether it be at home, school or the office.

June’s Technical Workshop on ASHRAE 90.1 Standard presented an overview of the most widely used energy code, as well as related codes such as ASHRAE 62.1 for Indoor Air Quality. The workshop also looked at why ASHRAE 90.1 is used as an energy standard, how to prove compliance and the role of energy modeling for the standard. The changes in the most recent versions of the energy standard as well as synergies with the local codes were also addressed with members discussing the requirements as proposed by the Standard.

Our next workshop on July 17^th will include an introduction to the Living Building Challenge and its applicability in the UAE. The Living Building Challenge defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today and acts to diminish the gap between current limits and ideal solutions. The core framework of the Program, including the specific topics related to the different categories and requirements will also be discussed along with a rationale for restorative design principles.

Are you an EmiratesGBC member or partner and would like to facilitate a technical workshop? We are open for suggestions.  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.

Get inspired by reading our technical briefs from past monthly workshops by visiting the EmiratesGBC website here.

This month we look at the Framework for Carbon-neutral buildings and sites by the German Sustainable Building Council (DNGB). As the world moves towards decarbonisation, the framework guides stakeholders in achieving a massive increase in the rate of buildings being renovated into emission-free buildings and exhaust all organisational measures taken by operators and in facility management. It encourages users to implement climate protection in their buildings and generate added value for the national economy and private sector by supporting and laying down requirements for making cost-efficient investments in existing buildings.

Click here to read the framework.

The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) has recently published their most recent Annual Report 2017. The developments of all FEE programmes, including Green Key, are presented in the report.  The following achievements have developed in the Green Key programme during 2017:

• An increase to nearly 2,800 awarded establishments in 58 countries with the Green Key label.
• The UN named 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (IY2017) and Green Key was named a “Friend of IY2017”.
• Green Key organised its second Best Practice competition in 2017, focusing on partnership and local engagement for sustainable development.
• New corporate partnerships progressed with Orbital Systems, Eventplanner (online event planning platform) and Ecobnb (sustainable accommodation search website).

Click here to read more about the Green Key achievements in 2017.

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.

A programme has been launched to benchmark the energy and water consumption of around 165 private-sector schools in the UAE.

Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) has invited private schools to participate in its Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) Benchmarking Project, which is aimed at establishing the first industry energy and water benchmark for schools in the UAE.

Read more

Masdar City’s Etihad Eco-Residence has won the Green Residential Building award at the Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Green Building Awards 2018. A team from Multiplex Constructions LLC, which built the complex, received the award for the Masdar-developed project at a recent ceremony in Dubai.

Designed by project partners Woods Bagot and Brewer Smith Brewer Group (BSBG), the Etihad Eco-Residence is Platinum-certified according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building rating system – one of the world’s most widely used green building codes.

It is also rated 3 Pearls under the Estidama Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS), introduced for new buildings by the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities, Abu Dhabi.

Read more