There is now less than a month remaining to submit your applications to the EmiratesGBC Awards 2016 and get the opportunity to have your projects and products highlighted during this well-recognized event.

The following categories are open to organizations throughout the MENA region. Arabic application forms are now available online.

• Green Building of the Year with its 4 sub-categories: Green Hotel, Green Commercial Building, Green Residential Building, Green School;
• Green FM Organization of the Year (UAE only);
• Green Material/Product of the Year;
• Green Building System of the Year;
• Green Research of the Year;
• Green Training Initiative of the Year.

Requirements for each category, terms & conditions and Application Form are available on the EmiratesGBC Awards website.

Winning organizations will be awarded during the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner which will take place at the Murooj Rotana Hotel in Dubai on 18 May 2016. You can already reserve a seat or table by submitting your request on the Awards Gala website – the early bird discount applies until 18 April 2016.

For questions and enquiries, please contact egbcawards@emiratesgbc.org. For sponsorship opportunities please click here to access our 2016 packages.

The EmiratesGBC 2016 Awards are audited by KPMG. Thank you to the Awards Silver Sponsor, Dow Chemical, for its continuous support.

Alongside the EmiratesGBC Annual Awards, the Student Excellence Award rewards a student from a recognized UAE university who has conducted exceptional research work in a subject related to green buildings in the Middle East. The winning student will be announced at the Award Ceremony and Gala Dinner on 18 May 2016 at the Murooj Rotana Hotel in Dubai.

Deadline for students to submit their research and required documents is 18 February 2016 COB.

Requirements, terms & conditions and Application Form are available on the 2016 Dr. Owainati Student Excellence Award website.

For questions and enquirers, please contact egbcawards@emiratesgbc.org.

Members who attended last year’s Annual General Meeting in December received an informative session which provided a summary of projects and programs the Council has prioritized for 2016. They include:

• Building Retrofit Training (BRT) Program – On the heels of the newly launched Technical Guidelines for Retrofitting Existing Buildings publication, EmiratesGBC is embarking on an ambitious project to develop a training program with certification based on the Technical Guidelines. Training will  provide capacity building for the industry to retrofit existing buildings to be more energy efficient.
• MOPW Pilot Project – EmiratesGBC has partnered with the Ministry of Public Works (MOPW) on a retrofit project. The project will be used as a case study for encouraging retrofits and to promote energy efficiency in existing buildings, and will implement aspects of the Technical Guidelines. Four consultancy companies from the Energy Efficiency Program have been selected to conduct the pre-audit.
• Green Building Toolkit – An interactive communication web tool that provides relevant information on green buildings, allowing visitors of varying technical capacities to understand how different aspects of green buildings are applied to schools, offices, and homes. To learn more click here.
• Benchmarking Tool – EmiratesGBC is actively working behind the scenes to provide benchmarking for the hospitality sector that can then be expanded to other sectors. This project will help operators/owners across various sectors  to gauge their building and operational performance and ultimately offer a measurement to encourage stronger energy efficiency measures.
• Green Key – Continuing a successful initiative, EmiratesGBC will remain as the official operator of the Green Key eco label, thus complimenting the Hospitality Program and supporting the sustainability of hotels in the UAE.
• Technical Publications – Producing technical papers and publications relevant to the green building industry. Publications will include case studies, white papers, annual report, etc.  EmiratesGBC serves the industry as a knowledge hub and will prioritize the production and dissemination of relevant technical publications.
• National Coalition for Green Schools – This program engages schools to encourage energy efficient operations and retrofits of existing school facilities. It will also support EmiratesGBC’s founding member position with the Global Coalition for Green Schools.
• Outreach & Awareness – As a recognized industry forum, EmiratesGBC will continue to host informative events and trainings to educate and build capacity on green building topics within the industry.

Emirates Green Building Council is pleased to announce its recent initiative to further educate the industry and community by sharing green building tips through an online toolkit.  The toolkit is being developed with the objective to provide relevant information on green buildings that can be incorporated into the EmiratesGBC website and communicated to those of various levels of technical capacity.

EmiratesGBC is currently in the development stage of this project and we are seeking committed partners to support the project.  Once the Green Building Toolkit is launched online, it will be available for thousands of individuals and businesses to use to assist them with decisions to make their homes, offices or schools more efficient and sustainable.

The Emirates Green Building Council will promote the Green Building Toolkit through its website, newsletter, press release, events, social media and through email announcements to both its membership and non-membership database.  We invite you to partner with us for an initial 2-year period, and support EmiratesGBC to extend its reach promoting green building practices.

To gain more information on the sponsorship opportunity for the EmiratesGBC Green Building Toolkit, please contact Rania Haddad at engagement@emiratesgbc.org or 04-3468244.

Last month, January 13^th,  over 25 international students from the Urban School of SciencesPo (France) learned about the unique role played by EmiratesGBC in the UAE with a presentation given by EmiratesGBC Technical Officer Tara Tariq. The team of aspiring urban planners and policy makers also learned about how sustainable development is shaping the local Emirates in the country, through a series of dynamic collaborative efforts between the public, private, and academic sectors.

As a result of cooperation between the Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Dubai Land Department, a comprehensive study on the “State of Play of Sustainable Building in MENA” has been conducted to support the Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (GI-REC) that was launched by UNEP in 2012. The objective of this study is to provide a regional review and baseline for policy makers in the MENA region.

In support of this study, Emirates Green Building Council has compiled research to demonstrate the state of green buildings and cities in the UAE.

In January, EmiratesGBC participated in the regional workshop on sustainable cities that was held in Egypt. Participants from 11 MENA countries had the chance to present the state of sustainable buildings and cities in their countries.  This report will be used to serve as a foundation  for the new Dubai Sustainable Cities Centre announced by Dubai Land Department during the first Sustainable Cities Summit held in Dec 2015.

The 2016 City Briefs for Abu Dhabi and Dubai in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) are now available on our website for reading and sharing. These briefs highlight the green building policies and key stakeholders in both Emirates and show evidences of the great progresses and achievements from the implemented initiatives that promote sustainable development in the country.

Emirates Green Building Council was proud to be an industry supporter of the World Future Energy Summit 2016 that took place in January during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. During the event, EmiratesGBC facilitated a technical workshop on Renewable Energy Technologies for High-Rise Buildings.

The workshop discussed the opportunities and challenges for installing renewable energy systems on high-rise buildings with a concerted focus on the design and building retrofit methods used to overcome these challenges.

At the workshop, participants identified awareness, siting issues, codes and financial schemes  as the key points to be addressed for the widespread use of renewable energy systems on high-rise buildings. Moreover, discussions showed that renewable energy requirements must not only be performance based but also outcome based to ensure the reduction of energy consumption and adoption of cost-effective energy efficiency measures.

EmiratesGBC would like to thank its members, Griffin Consultants, DSA Architects International, CH2M, PeoPla Green Technologies and BK Gulf for submitting their pledges to support the UAE Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) submission to COP21 to increase the clean energy to 24% of the total energy mix by 2021.

As part of EmiratesGBC’s commitment, we will  serve our members through measuring and verifying their pledges to support the UAE INDC commitment to COP21.

EmiratesGBC members are encouraged to issue their own specific corporate commitments, demonstrating the ambition of their business to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment.

It’s not too late to submit your pledge! Visit our website or contact us on engagement@emiratesgbc.org!

EmiratesGBC is proud to present the Energy Efficiency Program‘s online database, which is a publicly available directory featuring reputable ESCOs, Suppliers, Consultants and FMCs serving the retrofit market in the UAE.  The database is officially supported by Etihad Energy Services (Etihad ESCO).

Moreover, the Program’s online database registration form has recently added new and important features:
1) Accredited ESCOs can now upload and showcase their respective RSB logo on the database:2) Companies that have Certified Energy Managers/Auditors among their personnel can also upload their respective logos:

EmiratesGBC encourages its Corporate Members to avail the opportunity for market visibility, access to competitive pricing, and priority market requests by registering and submitting their company qualifications.

For more info, please contact eep@emiratesgbc.org!

Emirates Green Building Council, in its ongoing endeavour to enhance its contribution for sustainable developments in the UAE, has established a Board Advisory Committee consisting of strategic government partners. The purpose of the Advisory Committee is for key government players to lend their expertise and provide strategic advice to the Emirates Green Building Council Board of Directors and Management Committee.

It was with much anticipation that the first Board Advisory Committee Meeting was held in January 2016, and the first meeting proved to be extremely beneficial with members sharing their aims and objectives for the year and offering recommendations to help align EmiratesGBC’s projects with the government priorities.  Advisory Committee members include Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, Ajman Municipality, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Masdar, and Ministry of Public Works.

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.

Congratulations to taka Solutions for winning The Venture social entrepreneurship competition.The Venture is a global competition launched by Chivas that supports social entrepreneurs. Five finalists were shortlisted for the regional heat, taking place in Dubai this month. The winner will represent the Gulf region at the global final in the US this summer.

Last month, EmiratesGBC members and partners were led through the basics of thermal comfort science, computational fluid dynamics, and the ingenious methods designers and engineers employ to modify UAE outdoor temperatures to satisfactory levels.

February’s Technical Workshop will be held on the 17^th at the office of EmiratesGBC Corporate Member Perkins & Will. This month, participants will learn about the theory of resilient and regenerative urbanism. With cost estimation provided by real LEED and BREEAM case studies and through practical workshop exercises, participants will learn what it takes to create significant capital cost reductions for sustainable development in the Arab region. To register, please email: technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org.

A Summary Brief compiling the discussion points from all 2015 Technical Workshops has been uploaded on the EmiratesGBC website.  We hope the Brief will serve as a valuable reference to our members and partners locally and regionally, as well as to our readers worldwide.

Finally, EmiratesGBC is calling on all its Corporate Members to take advantage of its Technical Workshop program. If your company has a sustainable specialty/product which can be introduced to other industry members in an interactive workshop format, then let us know! In the past, our topics have run the gamut of the sustainability spectrum, and we welcome the diverse expertise among our members.  Email your topic suggestions to: technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org.

Technical Workshops are open to EmiratesGBC members and partners only and subject to limited seating. Please be sure to register your participation early.

In January, EWS-WWF launched its latest report “What is holding back the private sector?” in both English and Arabic. Following a survey shared with UAE-based companies, the report identified the key barriers to energy and water efficiency as well as what the UAE private sector considers priority solutions to bridge the existing gaps.Click here to access the report’s summary and to download it in both languages.

Have you had the chance to look at our online Academy page? You’ll find there a series of articles, research papers, case studies, standards and regulations… as well as information on our Technical Guidelines.  Is something missing? Let us know and we’ll fix it!

This month we gave the floor to Finn Bolding Thomsen, International Green Key Director, to share the latest updates on the international level.

“From July 2016, new Green Key criteria will take effect with an increased focus on corporate social responsibility issues. Carbon footprint measurement, food waste monitoring, and new criteria for companies supplying the Green Key certified establishments will also be captured in the new baseline. Properties of course will be notified in due time so that they get ready in advance for their certification renewal next year.

Green Key is also seeking recognition for this updated baseline by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, a UN supported organisation for the most credible accommodation labels. We are also  increasing our cooperation with online booking and travel companies, and we expect shortly to announce cooperation agreements with Expedia, Hotels.com and Trivago.

During my visit in the UAE last December, I was pleased to see that Green Key is doing very well with 25 certified properties and an increasing interest for more to join the programme. I would like to thank EmiratesGBC for the efforts engaged in making our certification a success in the country.”

The 2016 Green Key re-certification process is ongoing, and we invite all UAE hotel properties to contact greenkey@emiratesgbc.org should they want to receive more information on the Green Key criteria and how to get certified.

The key projects associated with our Hospitality Program, i.e. our benchmarking tool and training development, are gaining visibility throughout the country. While we are currently approaching UAE properties to collect data and inform them about the benefits of joining the program, we’re also developing partnerships with the UAE tourism authorities to support their strategies and activities.

We will be signing an MoU in February with Ajman Tourism Development Department; we are also proud to support Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in the development and implementation of the Dubai Green Tourism Programme which aims at making the Emirate a worldwide landmark for green hospitality.

Later in February, we will also have the chance to meet representatives of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority  and local hospitality professionals to share with them the benefits in engaging in eco-certifications and implementing green strategies.

EmiratesGBC offers a series of professional training programs in partnership with British University in Dubai (BUiD). The following courses are scheduled to take place in Dubai during the first months of 2016.

Based on the growing demand for qualified professionals, the Certified Energy Auditor (CEA) and Certified Energy Auditor in Training (CEAIT) certifications were developed and added to the broad portfolio of professional certifications offered by the Association of Energy Engineers now offered through EmiratesGBC-BUiD training program. The first three day Certified Energy Auditor course will be held on March 13-15.

Also on the calendar is the Certified Energy Manager (CEM) training, which will be held February 21-24.  The CEM qualification is aimed toward engineers and architects working in the areas of energy engineering or energy management. For more information and to register your intent for upcoming courses, please contact our education partner BUiD.

The Council is happy to support the Future Landscape & Public Realm in Abu Dhabi from 8-9 Feb, which is a specialized conference exploring the opportunities and challenges in developing Abu Dhabi’s public realm to create an appealing, sustainable city. The second annual edition will provide a unique platform for business professionals to discuss the latest challenges and opportunities covering the landscape and public realm industry in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE. Click here for registration.

On February 28, Advantage Austria – The Commercial Section of the Austrian Embassy in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technologies are inviting you to a conference on Green Building and Smart City Solutions from 9:00 am -5:30 pm at Yas Viceroy Hotel Ballroom in Abu Dhabi. This event will be free of charge. To register until Wednesday, February 24, 2016 please click here. A detailed program can be obtained here.

Later in March, the Council will be supporting the RetrofitTech Dubai in its second edition from 13-15 March. RetrofitTech Dubai is a specialized conference exploring the challenges and opportunities in Dubai’s emerging retrofit market to achieve greater energy efficiency and sustainability across Dubai’s built environment. The second annual edition of this conference will bring together both the public and private sector from across the construction supply chain to ensure that the targets of Dubai’s Demand Side Management Strategy can be met. Click here to register.

The first LuxLive Middle East conference & exhibition will take place at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi from 13-14 April 2016 and is supported by EmiratesGBC. LuxLive Middle East 2016 is a show for anyone involved in the specification, installation and maintenance of lighting systems throughout the region. Register to attend at www.luxlive.ae.