EmiratesGBC is pleased to announce our first WELL Building Standard training to be held on May 11^th at the EmiratesGBC office open only to our members and strategic partners. See details below and email events[at]emiratesgbc.org to register to attend one or both of the sessions.

People spend 90 percent of their time in buildings, the design and operations of which have profound impacts on our health and well-being. This two-part workshop introduces the WELL Building Standard®, the world’s first building standard focused exclusively on the health and wellness of the people in buildings. Participants are encouraged to visit the wellcertified.com
website and to review the WELL Building Standard online in advance of this workshop.

Session 1 (Free of cost) 2 Hour Intro to the WELL Building Standard session: This morning session will focus on 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.

Session 2 (AED 400/participant) 4 Hours: The in-depth 4-hour afternoon workshop will build on the morning session and provide an overview and the medical basis for each of the WELL Building Standard’s 7 concept areas (Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Fitness, Comfort and Mind), along with design and construction strategies included within those areas to create healthy buildings and places. The afternoon session will also include examples of project case studies, an engagement exercise, and best practices in supporting the WELL Certification of projects.

This year’s Awards had some very tough competition and we’re all anticipating the announcement of the winners. The shortlisted organizations have been notified and it’s now time to purchase your tickets to attend the 2017 MENA Green Building Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner. The event will be held on 17 May evening at Roda Al Murooj Hotel, Dubai.  We hope that you will join us by registering to attend this month’s Gala event.   A special thank you to our sponsors, Multiplex and AkzoNobel, and to our Green Building Council Supporter WorldGBC and Partners LebanonGBC and JordanGBC.  We are looking forward to an exciting evening celebrating green building leaders across the region.

Last month we announced that the 6^th Annual EmiratesGBC Congress 2017 will be held under the theme, Urban Energy: Powering Smart, Happy & Efficient Cities.  Each month until the Congress, we’ll be featuring one of our guest speakers in our newsletter.  This month, we recognise Eng. Aisha Al Abdooli, Director of Green Development & Air Quality at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. Aisha is responsible for supervising and driving the implementation of actions toward achieving National Air Quality Indicators & UAE Green Agenda 2015 – 2030 & environmental innovation across the country and she will be delivering a keynote address at the Congress.  To see other confirmed speakers, check out our exciting speaker line-up here.  Sponsorship opportunities are open, and we invite you to view the available Congress sponsorship packages.  For more information on how to support this important flagship event, please contact us at engagement@emiratesgbc.org.  Thank you to our Venue Sponsor Majid Al Futtaim.

The Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME) was created through an agreement signed between Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the Department of Energy of the United States of America, in June 2015, in order to organise a sustainable solar houses competition in Dubai in 2018.  The 2018 edition of this competition is organised by DEWA, in Dubai.  EmiratesGBC is honoured to support the SDME and looks forward to collaborating with DEWA on such a milestone initiative.

Congratulations to EmiratesGBC Corporate Members Diamond Developers and Emaar Community Management for each having won more than one Gulf Real Estate Award last month.  Well done! Read more here.

Congratulations to Majid Al Futtaim, an EmiratesGBC Founding Board member and the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, who on April 18th launched its Net Positive strategy in the presence of Dr Thani Ahmad Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment. The strategy aims to significantly reduce the company’s water consumption and carbon emissions to the extent that it puts more back into the environment than it takes out, resulting in a positive corporate footprint by 2040.  Well done on this path breaking initiative!  Read more here.

Congratulations to EmiratesGBC Corporate Member Adeeb Group who in honour of Earth Day, signed a deal for a retrofit eco-friendly lighting solutions in Nation Towers, Abu Dhabi.  Upon signing Eng. Ansari, Adeeb Chief Executive Officer said: “We have an expert team that is capable of executing sizeable projects with efficiency all aligned to the country’s vision of sustainability. We prefer to focus on sustainability, energy saving, and waste management in order to safeguard the interests of the community and ensuring our client’s satisfaction upon receiving quality services.” Read more here

The 4th Annual Smart Skyscrapers Summit taking place on 3rd and 4th May 2017 at Sofitel Dubai the Palm Resort and Spa will bring together over 400 senior industry professionals, including architects, high-rise construction experts, engineers, policy-makers, developers, contractors and building managers from across the GCC. As the region’s most prominent high-rise and skyscraper event, the summit will highlight innovations in building facades, design & technology, sustainability in tall buildings & urban habitats, importance of project management for tall buildings amongst many other topics. More information on the summit is available on http://linktrack.info/.29zpe

On May 8^th, Emirates Environmental Group will be hosting the next instalment of their panel discussion series entitled, Climate Action: Role of the Stakeholder. The session will be held at Emirates Concorde Hotel. Email eeg@emirates.net.ae to register.

On April 17^th EmiratesGBC hosted a Technical Seminar on the GRESB Rating System which assesses the environmental, social and governance performance of real assets around the world. Participants in the seminar, facilitated by Ruben Langbroek, GRESB Asia, learned about the GRESB’s methodology, assessment aspects,  and its model.

GRESB assessment includes 42 indicators covering seven different assessment aspects including management, policy and disclosure, risks and opportunities, monitoring and environmental management systems, performance indicators, buildings certifications, and stakeholder engagement. New Construction and Major Renovations is also considered as an optional assessment aspect for development activities.

May’s Technical Workshop will provide a comprehensive introduction to chilled beams technology and how to effectively incorporate them within your building design with consideration of design constraints. Spaces are limited so reserve your seat early by emailing us at technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org

EmiratesGBC Technical Workshops are free to members and partners. 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 contact us.

There is a need for healthier environments, but there is also a growing awareness and expectation from patients to live healthily and be treated in health promoting environments. The white paper launched by HKS addresses the relationship between proper design of healthcare facilities and the patients’ health and well-being.

Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa in Dubai is ensuring its beach is clean and safe for its guests by implementing the use of an eco-friendly sand cleaning machine. The hotel uses a Sand Beach Cleaner Robot, which moves by remote-control on both wet and dry sandy terrain and can remove rubbish and other foreign matter on the surface and deep in the sand.  It uses only electric and solar power, thus taking away the need for any petrol or diesel, and its silent operation does not contribute to noise pollution of the surrounding area.

A clean beach is important for the health and wellbeing of its beach goers and hotel guests as well as critical for the health and safety of the gulf waters.  Green Key hotels take environmental responsibility seriously and look for innovative ways to protect the natural environment.

Contact greenkey@emiratesgbc.org for more information on the Program in the UAE.

EmiratesGBC recently participated in an industry focus group on hospitality and was pleased to share our knowledge and expertise alongside other important stakeholders in the field.  The focus group was just one of the many proactive steps taken by the Dubai Sustainable Tourism team at DTCM as they continue to advance sustainability across Dubai’s tourism industry.

Training offered jointly between British University in Dubai and Emirates Green Building Council include the following. Email us to learn more.

On April 20^th and the 24^th, EmiratesGBC was invited to participate at the 4^th Annual Earth Day Event hosted by corporate member Dewan Al Emara Architects & Engineers. To help celebrate the global event, EmiratesGBC conducted introductory workshops in both their Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices, highlighting topics that are part of EmiratesGBC’s upcoming Building Retrofit Training (BRT) Program.  The one-hour workshops included interactive discussion and dialogue sessions, where participants gained awareness about the sustainability principles behind viable retrofit methods that are proven to reduce energy wastage and increase savings.

As part of the EmiratesGBC Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs) Study, we aim to publish a statistical and analytical report that assists in determining a definition of nZEBs in the UAE that can be used as a reference to support future building regulations. The Report will be released during the World Green Building Week in September 2017 aligning with its focus on Zero Energy Buildings. For this study, EmiratesGBC has approached its corporate members, partners and iconic projects requesting masked data on best practice low-energy projects.

To evaluate the market readiness and feasibility of nZEBs in the UAE, EmiratesGBC is also developing a survey to support its research. If interested in filling the survey, contact the EmiratesGBC office at  04-3468244 or send an email to Majd Fayyad  majd.fayyad@emiratesgbc.org.

We are pleased to invite Dubai Hotels, Shopping Malls and Schools to participate in a Benchmarking Project in line with Dubai’s commitment to the Building Efficiency Accelerator, a global initiative under the United Nations program “Sustainable Energy for All”, in which EmiratesGBC is working in collaboration with the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy.

Under this initiative, we will benchmark at least 100 buildings in three focus groups (hotels, schools and shopping malls). To participate in this project, contact the EmiratesGBC office at  04-3468244 or send us an email to BEA@emiratesgbc.org.

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 can potentially save  your facility or home millions in utility bills and reduced operational costs.

Retrofitting buildings yields significant benefis to the owners, not only in energy efficiency but also in cost-effective upgrading of systems, says Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of Emirates Greeen Building Council. Read more…

Engineering the Emirates: EmiratesGBC’s mandate is to improve energy efficiency in built and new assets.  The Middle East’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) market, according to research analysts at Technavio, will expand “a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 10% by 2020”.  Read more …

Emirates Green Building Council is an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices.  Late last year EmiratesGBC launched the Energy and Water Benchmarking for UAE Hotels.  Read more…

A decade ago Dubai had one of the largest ecological footprints of any city in the world. By 2050 it wants to have the smallest. Can it get there?  To plunge headlong into the audacity of Dubai—the sprawling efflorescence of concrete, glass, and steel that has sprung up over the past three decades on the scorched sands of Arabia—you could start by going skiing. Smack in the middle of the flat city, the slope looks like a silver spaceship impaled in the ground floor of the Mall of the Emirates.  Read more…