This year’s Annual Congress is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Climate Change & Environment and will be held at Pullman Dubai Creek City Centre hotel on 9^th October with the support of Majid Al Futtaim as the official venue sponsor.  With the theme Targeting Zero: a vision for future cities, the Congress will explore progress in the Net Zero Building movement and how this can be scaled up to create sustainable cities.

Expert representatives from C40 cities, Signify (formerly Phillips), Integral Group, Masdar, Dubai RSB, Clean Energy Business Council and other organisations are confirmed to speak at this flagship event. Join the conversation by registering to attend today and finding out more about the EmiratesGBC Net Zero EmiratesGBC Net Zero Centre of Excellence ahead of the event.

We are honoured to have the following associations support for this year’s Congress:

• EWS-WWF
• Emirates Environmental Group
• Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
• Clean Energy Business Council
• Royal Insitute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
• Middle East Facilities Management Association (MEFMA)

EmiratesGBC members and supporting association members can register for discounted rates on both individual and group delegate passes: click here to secure your seat.

We would like to invite you to become a strategic supporter of the Annual EmiratesGBC Congress through tailored sponsorship packages.  Sponsoring a flagship event on a pivotal topic like the Net Zero Buildings movement can not only support your company’s efforts in the net zero space but also help it stand out in alignment with the UAE’s commitment to sustainable development.

To learn more click here or contact engagement@emiratesgbc.org.

We are pleased to announce that the data collection phase is complete. Thank you to all the participating hotels, schools and shopping malls! We have begun the data analysis phase and look forward to sharing the findings of our study by the end of 2018.

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 BEA, a global initiative under the United Nations program Sustainable Energy for All. Learn more about the Benchmarking Project here and in the FAQs.

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 have been updated to accommodate companies interested in supporting this pivotal project.  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.

World Green Building Week is an annual event that motivates and empowers us all to deliver green buildings. This year the focus is on Green Homes and encouraging everyone to take action and commit to making a change in the homes they build, lease or live in.

As part of Green Building Week, EmiratesGBC is hosting a focus day in partnership with Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry to explore how homes and residential communities in the UAE can become greener, healthier and more energy efficient.

Drawing on case studies from within the UAE, the event is a platform for industry experts and stakeholders to raise awareness and discuss the development of sustainable homes.

Using the EmiratesGBC home tooltips as inspiration, attendees will be invited to make their own #HomeGreenHome promises.

Click here to register to attend and contact engagement@emiratesgbc.org for the opportunity to be a sponsor for this one of a kind event.

EmiratesGBC will be hosting a workshop on the 2^nd October on the WELL Building Standard at our office in Al Quoz.  Facilitated by Kate Rube, Vice President of Market Solutions at the International WELL Building Institute, the workshop will outline the certification and cover the recently launched WELL.

The event is open to members and strategic partners (cost: 50 AED) and non-members (cost: 150 AED). Places are limited and registration is on a first come, first serve basis. Click here to register to attend.

Earlier this year Emirates Coalition for Green Schools launched the pioneering white paper, ‘State of Our Schools’ which provided a definition of green schools in the UAE and provided an overview of the current state of UAE schools in the context of this definition. The paper set out the coalition’s vision to ensure that every child in the UAE learns in a green school within this generation.

As the national platform for the advocacy of Green Schools in the UAE, the coalition will once again bring together stakeholders in a Roundtable event to be held in November focusing on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) of Schools in the UAE. The roundtable will be followed by a whitepaper which will explore the factors influencing IAQ in schools, the impact on students and potential solutions for improving IAQ.

To find out more or to register your interest in the event please contact lynsey.crerar@emiratesgbc.org.  Companies can also contribute through sponsorship, please email engagement@emiratesgbc.org or find out more here.

EmiratesGBC is pleased to partner with WFES (World Future Energy Summit) as Knowledge Partner for the 2019 Green Buildings Exhibition and Forum. The event is hosted by Masdar and is part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, taking place from the 14 – 17 January 2019 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

We are inviting corporate members to exhibit with us under the EmiratesGBC Pavilion at the Green Buildings Exhibition, co-located with World Future Energy Summit. Members will be able to access discounted rates on exhibiting as well as receive a special package of benefits.

Click here to learn more or contact Reed Exhibitions representative, Carla Fadel on +971 50 653 1940 to book a space under the EmiratesGBC Pavilion.

Each month we showcase a winner from the 2018 MENA Green Building Awards. This month we congratulate the winners of the Facility Management Organisation of the Year category, which recognises a facility management company that delivers key FM services to its building portfolio with a commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Winner: Burj Khalifa – Emaar Facilities Management

The application highlighted the role of the FM team in providing a safe, secure and sustainable environment to their customers by implementing an integrated facilities management strategy to achieve excellence in operations and maintenance. The organisation demonstrated exceptional customer service, significant enhancement in assets reliability and performance, and has excellent operations management driven by an innovative and talented team.

Congratulations are also extended to the shortlisted applicants in this category: The EMAAR/CBFA JV for Partnering Innovation Initiative

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

EmiratesGBC is pleased to announce the launch of the Advanced Building Retrofit Training Course on the 17^th & 18^th October in Dubai. This two day course is perfect for engineers and technical experts with prior experience or currently undertaking retrofit projects who wish to enhance and streamline their knowledge of retrofit principles and methods. Participants of the course will undertake an examination which will allow them to become an EmiratesGBC certified Building Retrofit Specialist.

Further information about this course and eligibility guidelines can be found on the website or by contacting events@emiratesgbc.org.

For non-technical professionals looking for an overview of Building Retrofit Methods, we recommend the Introductory Building Retrofit Training (previously Level One). Led by expert facilitators, this one day course provides knowledge of sustainability to industry professionals looking to understand the basics behind building retrofit.

Please visit the Building Retrofit Training webpage to register for your place in the upcoming courses.

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

Hear what some of our previous participants had to say about the introductory 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 a positive way, as well as minimize the impact on the environment’

To register your interest in attending the Advanced course please contact events@emiratesgbc.org

In celebration of the upcoming World Green Building Week under the theme #HomeGreenHome, this month’s tip focuses on the home and how you can use simple tips to save energy.   Use efficient water fixtures only.

• Replace your existing light bulbs with LED lights.  They are 80% more efficient than incandescent or halogen light bulbs and can save you up to 1,000 AED per bulb over its lifetime.
• Consider lighting controls such as occupancy sensors and timers.
• Benefit from day-lighting when possible.

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.

August’s Technical Workshop on Designing for Health and Wellbeing gave an overview of incorporating these principles into buildings to maximize benefits to the occupants. Led by Cundall, the workshop focused on the use of the WELL Building Standard (v1) and its seven components showed how to tackle the challenges associated with meeting the WELL criteria. Cundall’s office in London was also used as a case study to demonstrate how to quantify intangible advantages such as productivity.

To read the brief, click here.

September’s Technical workshop will take place on September 4^th and will highlight how to balance the needs of clients through sustainability targets whilst placing the end-users at the forefront. The workshop will demonstrate how targets must be incorporated in an integrated Facility Managment & Energy approach, enhanced with smart solutions and extended by renewable energy (where applicable).

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 report by the Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF (EWS-WWF) – Enabling the UAE’s Energy Transition, which puts forth recommendations for federal and Emirate-level policies that are geared towards increasing deployment of renewable energy, in line with the targets set by the UAE National Energy Plan 2050. Some key recommendations include creating a pathway for CO₂ emissions reductions to complement existing renewable energy targets as well as promoting new green policies and funding mechanisms focused on customers.

Click here to read the report.

Green Key International has created a new video which provides an overview of the Green Key programme and the four steps of the application process. Click here to watch the video.

Green Key is an international eco-label for tourism facilities. Since its invention in Denmark in 1994, Green Key has been a leading standard of excellence in environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry. The Green Key programme is managed by the Foundation for Environmental Education globally and is operated by Emirates Green Building Council in the United Arab Emirates.

We invite UAE hotels to join the Green Key programme and showcase their environmentally friendly initiatives and commitment to the UAE’s sustainability agenda.  To find out more about Green Key, please contact us at greenkey@emiratesgbc.org.

Dubai Tourism has announced their ’12 Steps Towards Sustainability’ manual, which has been developed to guide Dubai hotels to reduce their environmental footprint and improve energy, water and waste consumption. Emirates Green Building Council is proud to have supported Dubai Tourism in this effort and commend the Dubai Sustainable Tourism initiative, where they are taking a holistic approach to ensure sustainable tourism in the emirate.

The manual is free for download here: https://dst.dubaitourism.ae/Home/Programme.

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.

Emirates Green Building Council, EmiratesGBC, an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, has called upon all businesses, entities, and cities in the UAE and the region to formally endorse and sign the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment.

Announced globally by the World Green Building Council, WorldGBC, the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment challenges businesses and organisations across the world to take advanced climate action by setting ambitious targets to eliminate operational carbon emissions from their building portfolios by 2030 and to advocate for all buildings to be net zero in operation by 2050.

These targets are set to meet the Paris Agreement ambition of below 2 degrees of global warming. This month, 19 global cities, representing 130 million urban citizens, committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by ensuring that new buildings operate at net zero carbon by 2030.

The commitment’s aim is to generate the next wave of high momentum to cut down global greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and inspire national governments to step up national climate action plans over the next two years.

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Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), in collaboration with the Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), has organised the Solar Decathlon Middle East Seminar. The seminar emphasised the importance of Net Zero Energy Buildings through the Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME), which is organised by DEWA. SDME is part of an agreement between DEWA and the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy with the US Department of Energy. Dubai will host the first two rounds of this competition; the first in November 2018 with the participation of 18 university teams from 13 countries, and the second in 2020 to coincide with Expo 2020 Dubai.

The seminar was attended by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA; HE Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EmiratesGBC; Faisal Rashid, Director of Demand Side Management at the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy; Dina Mustafa, Head of Sustainability at EXPO 2020 Dubai; Alia Busamra, Manager of Group Sustainability at Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC); DEWA’s Executive Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents; EmiratesGBC members; and a number of the university teams of SDME 2018 who presented their projects for the competition, which will be held at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park from 14-29 November 2019. The forum also included a panel discussion titles ‘Accelerating Net Zero Living Through SDME.’

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The Emirates Environmental Group (EEG), a UAE-based professional working group, with the mission of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the country, will hold a panel discussion on the topic of “Circular Economy: Bringing Waste Full Circle” on the 29th of August in Modul University Dubai. The event will be conducted in association with the Arabia CSR Network, Emirates Green Building Council, Clean Energy Business Council and with strategic support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-ROWA office).

“The nation-wide event will strengthen the information platform on circular economy in the UAE and bring together like-minded stakeholders from all of the 7 Emirates, leveraging resources and fostering open conversation and knowledge sharing amongst producers, consumers and other key stakeholders linked to the circular economy notion. Focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 12, the panel discussion will address sustainable consumption and production patterns and redirect investment towards resource efficiency”, said Mrs. Habiba Al Mar’ashi, Chairperson of the Emirates Environmental Group.

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