In the third and final instalment of EmiratesGBC’s ‘After LEED Certification’ green building tour series, we will visit the recently certified LEED Gold University of Dubai campus. Led by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce team, this morning session will explore the journey taken by the stakeholders over the past 3 years to achieve LEED certification and discuss what is in store next for the academic institution. Advanced registration is mandatory and free of cost to attend. Only open to EmiratesGBC Members and strategic partners. Date: February 15^th, 2017 | Time: 8:30 – 11:30am.

Dubai Opera is the city’s first purpose-built multi-format performing arts theatre and the definitive destination for quality entertainment productions and performances. Led by Janus Rostock, Regional Design Director of Atkins, EmiratesGBC member and architecture design firm for the Dubai Opera, we will hear about the unique challenges and experiences involved in designing and constructing the iconic landmark. Advanced registration is mandatory and free of cost to attend. Only open to EmiratesGBC Members and strategic partners. Date: Wednesday, February 22^nd, 2017 | Time: 9:00 – 11:00am

The deadline to apply for the 2017 MENA Green Building Awards is fast approaching.  Please submit your application(s) by February 16^th. Short-listed organisations will be notified by April 30, 2017 and winners will be announced during the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner taking place in Dubai on 17 May 2017.

This year we have also increased the number of categories to 15 in order to better reflect the green building scene in the region and approach a broader range of stakeholders that can positively impact the built environment.  Categories include:

Green Building of the Year (including four sub-categories covering schools, hotels, residential and commercial buildings); Sustainable Design; Contractor of the Year; Developer of the Year; Facility Management Organisation; Green Building Material/Product Award (including four sub-categories covering energy management, water management, indoor air quality and conventional construction materials); Green Building Research Award; Retrofit Project of the Year; Best Operations and Maintenance (existing buildings).

Do not miss your chance to be part of this sustainability story and showcase your achievements and innovations!

Submit your application today or register to attend the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner.  For more information please contact EmiratesGBC at awards@emiratesgbc.org. Good luck!

A Call to UAE-Based Students!

The Dr. Owainati Student Excellence Award, supported by EmiratesGBC Co-Founder Dr. Sadek Owainati, targets UAE based students from a recognised university in the United Arab Emirates who have conducted exceptional research work in a subject related to green buildings in the Middle East.

Students are invited to refer to the EmiratesGBC website to see the list of requested documents that need to be submitted by 7 March 2017, the deadline for receiving submissions.  The winner will be announced alongside the Professional Awards during the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner taking place in Roda Al Murooj Hotel, Dubai on 17 May 2017.

Contact us at awards@emiratesgbc.org  for more details.

The Emirates Green Building Council in conjunction with Heriot-Watt University is inviting all tertiary level students to the 2^nd edition of the student-industry green building forum on Wednesday, 8^th, February 2017 from 2-4pm. Aimed at encouraging undergraduate and graduate students to learn about the green building industry by providing them with valuable career advice and industry insights, we welcome all students and universities to join. Please contact us to learn more.

We are pleased to announce that the 6^th Annual EmiratesGBC Congress 2017 will be held under the esteemed patronage of Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. Save the date for 17-18 October 2017! We will be announcing our exciting lineup of speakers in the coming months.

Sponsorship opportunities are now open, click here to view sponsorship packages.  For more information on how to support this flagship event, please contact us at engagement@emiratesgbc.org.

This year marked the first year for the Energy Efficiency Expo of which EmiratesGBC was a founding Knowledge Partner. A huge thank you to our members: Building Doctor, Caparol, Fujairah Rockwool Factory and Gerab Energy for joining the EmiratesGBC Pavilion at World Future Energy Summit’s Energy Efficiency Expo during Abu Dhabi Sustainability week from January 16-19. The event was a huge success for EmiratesGBC and we look forward to participating again in 2018.

What is building retrofit and what does it entail? On January 16^h-17^th and during the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) Energy Efficiency Expo 2017, EmiratesGBC held Tech Talks as a teaser to the official Building Retrofit Training (BRT) launch, to answer this question. The Tech Talks served as an introduction to EmiratesGBC’s upcoming Building Retrofit Training Program. The success of these sessions was tangible through the level of interaction and positive feedback received during the two days.

The BRT is a training program based on the EmiratesGBC Technical Guidelines for Retrofitting Existing Buildings. The program will provide capacity building with certification for the industry to retrofit existing buildings to be more energy-efficient. Candidates for the BRT are comprised of a broad range of stakeholders including building owners, end users and operators. We look forward to officially launching the program in the coming months.  To register your interest, contact us at eep@emiratesgbc.org

Hosted by the UAE Ministry of Energy and co-located with the world’s largest power event, Middle East Electricity, Solar Middle East is MENA’s leading trade focused event for the solar industry.

Run in strategic partnership with Dubai Municipality and the Government of Dubai, the exhibition focuses on the practical implementation of solar in the thriving regional marketplace.

For further information, please contact info@solarmiddleeast.ae or visit www.solarmiddleeast.ae.

Hosted by the UAE Ministry of Energy and based in Dubai, Middle East Electricity is the largest international trade event for the power industry, covering the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, including the renewable and nuclear energy sectors and the lighting industry.

For further details on the exhibition, conference or Future Generation, contact info@middleeastelectricity.com or visit www.middleeastelectricity.com.

Mass timber represents a rapidly advancing technology that can be employed as an alternative to steel and concrete to frame a variety of mid-rise building types. This presentation provides a detailed case study of the Mountain Equipment Co-op head office, a 100,000-square-foot mass timber building recently completed in Vancouver. Topics include design approach, building code requirements, and construction techniques. Cost considerations for mass timber relative to other building systems will also be reviewed. Email the Canadian Embassy to register.

The 3^rd Annual RetrofitTech UAE Summit & Awards is a leading platform for the UAE’s multi-sector retrofit programme and the Emirate-wide adoption of energy efficient technologies.

This summit is officially supported by Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, TAQATI and Etihad ESCO and will be held on 20-21 March 2017 in Dubai, UAE.

EmiratesGBC’s monthly Technical Workshops started off the new year with a comparative analysis of Predictive Maintenance (PdM) techniques. With the co-facilitation of Haris Al Afaq LLC, the workshop discussions centred around advantages of predictive maintenance over reactive and preventive maintenance.  Next month, on February 14^th, we will look at how various insulation measures applied to new and existing buildings in the UAE can offer potentially the single most effective building efficiency strategy.

EmiratesGBC Technical Workshops are free to members and partners. Spaces are limited so reserve your seat early by emailing us at technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org

Are you an EmiratesGBC member or partner and would like to facilitate a workshop? Do you have any suggestions for topics to be addressed? If yes, then we’d like to hear from you. Please send an email to technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has launched the State of Green Economy Report 2017, a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) backed publication. The report was launched at the World Climate Summit organised during the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC, in Marrakech, Morocco.

The State of Green Economy Report 2017 aims to help the UAE sustain its economic growth while keeping the green economy as the fuel for this growth. The report is created around the theme of Knowledge and aims to provide the public and private sectors with a clear overview of the government’s plans, as well as offer a benchmark on the country’s current standing in a green economy.

The World Tourism Organization is the UN agency in charge of IY2017 that has given Green Key the official status as “Friend of IY2017”. Green Key participated in the official launch of IY2017 on the 18^th of  January this year, at the international tourism fair FITUR in Madrid. Many current activities of Green Key are already supporting sustainable tourism for development, and at both an international and national level.  The planned Green Key activities, seminars and events in 2017 will be connected to IY2017.

For more information on the IY2017 and Green Key, contact greenkey@emiratesgbc.org

We are pleased to announce another year of high calibre exam preparation courses being offered in conjunction with British University in Dubai. Click here to see all training dates for 2017. Upcoming Training includes: Certified Energy Manager (CEM) on February 19-22, LEED Green Associate (GA) on February 24-25 and Certified Energy Manager (CEA) on March 14-16. Email us to learn more.

The EmiratesGBC Building Retrofit Training (BRT) Program aims to be a formally accredited building retrofit educational program that is designed to impart knowledge and awareness of the numerous industry-wide methods and systems available which can be utilised to retrofit existing buildings.

Try out our sample BRT question below that participants will be quizzed on. If you have any feedback, please contact us at eep@emiratesgbc.org:

A: Evaluating if the performance of new products will be in compliance with local codes and regulations

B: Understanding the building and its functionality

C: Collecting verification and measurement data

D: Understanding the new types and functionalities of latest products to be used for retrofit

Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for the answer!

As part of its commitment to advancing energy efficiency in buildings, EmiratesGBC has started working on a new paper on Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs). The paper will discuss the existing concepts of nZEBs and the factors that may influence these buildings’ targets, particularly within the context of the UAE.

For this study, EmiratesGBC is approaching corporate members requesting masked data on best practice projects. Collected data will include the sources of energy used in these buildings, the design and actual energy consumption, and the possible energy savings. To know more about the study and how to get involved, contact EmiratesGBC’s office at  04-3468244 or send us an email to office@emiratesgbc.org.

We would like to extend a big thank you to the Caparol team for providing the EmiratesGBC office with a brand new look.  We are thrilled with our freshly painted green walls and the character they add to our office and work space.  Thank you Caparol!

With more than 30 events held during the year, including networking events, seminars and our flagship events the Annual Awards and Annual Congress, Emirates Green Building Council offers event sponsorship that provides its sponsors with great exposure to all stakeholders of the green building industry in the UAE, including local authorities and peers from the industry.

Some sponsorship opportunities have “early bird” discounts so be sure to submit your inquiries early!

In addition to our events sponsorship is also open for EmiratesGBC publications, research papers and pilot projects.

The 2017 MENA Green Building Awards is on the horizon for 2017,  and as the Awards Program continues to instinctively grow, we would like to invite you to support this EmiratesGBC flagship event through sponsorship.  We are eagerly looking forward to even greater success at this year’s event, which will be held on 17 May 2017 in Roda Al-Murooj Hotel, Dubai.  Based on interest and demand, we have increased the number of award categories for 2017.

The Annual Awards Ceremony and Gala event regularly host over 165 guests, many of whom are key government stakeholders and regulatory bodies, industry professionals, NGOs and research institutions.

Below are the details concerning this year’s sponsorship levels: (click here for sponsorship package details)

• Platinum Sponsor: 55,000 AED

• Gold Sponsor: 40,000 AED

• Silver Sponsor: 25,000 AED

A 10% Early Bird Discount applies before 1 April 2017.  An additional 10% discount can also be offered should you be interested in a joint sponsorship package with the 2017 Annual Congress.

If your esteemed organisation would like to participate in this year’s event as a sponsor, please contact engagement@emiratesgbc.org or 04-3468244.  We can then discuss the potential for sponsorship with you further.

For more information on the awards please refer to our website https://emiratesgbc.org/awards/2017awards/ or follow us on #MENAGBAwards.

Building retrofitting is an integral part of the UAE’s commitment to managing energy use efficiency, and conserving our resources. Through the Tech Talk, we are putting the spotlight on our training programme, which aims to support federal and local government mandates with regards to improved energy efficiency in existing as well as new buildings in the UAE. Read more …

The Expo will be hosted by Masdar, in partnership with the Urban Planning Council of Abu Dhabi, Emirates Green Building Council, and the Clean Energy Business Council. WFES Solar Expo will highlight the latest solutions in solar photovoltaic applications and components, solar thermal, and energy storage, and will host networking at the Solar Village. Read more …

“We believe in responsible and sustainable practices without compromising on guest comfort, personal service, or value. In line with the commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, we are delighted to receive the Green Key Certification that is recognized worldwide”. Since 2013, Emirates Green Building Council acts as Green Key National Operator in the United Arab Emirates. Read more….