We are pleased to invite Hotels, Shopping Malls and Schools in Dubai to participate in the EmiratesGBC Energy Benchmarking Project carried out in a partnership with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, a project supporting 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.

Under this initiative, we will benchmark at least 100 buildings in three focus groups (Hotels, Schools and Shopping Malls). All participants will receive tailored scorecards to assess their performance metrics against the city average. Learn more about the Benchmarking Project here and in the FAQs. To participate in this project, 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.

Organised by Emirates Green Building Council, endorsed by World Green Building Council and in partnership with six supporting MENA Green Building Councils. the deadline for submissions has been extended to February 15, 2018, by midnight (UAE time).

The 2018 MENA Green Building Awards has organically grown to accommodate a wider industry with four new categories now introduced to the 2018 Awards:

• Green Healthcare Building of the Year – includes all buildings, private or public, related to healthcare
• Green Public Building of the Year – includes government/agencies such as museums, libraries, post offices, airports
• Sustainable Urban/Community Development Design of the Year – added to highlight the focus to move beyond just looking at buildings to a wider community and therefore city level
• Training Initiative of the Year – added to recognize the commitment to foster a new generation of professionals for the growing green building sector in the region

Visit the website to see the full list of awards categories.  If you think your company or your projects or products deserve recognition, please refer to the awards website and apply!

The Student Excellence Award, sponsored 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 15th February 2018, the deadline for receiving submissions.  The winner has the chance of being rewarded a cash prize and will be announced alongside the Professional Awards during the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on Dubai on May 9^th, 2018.  Contact EmiratesGBC at awards@emiratesgbc.org if you have any questions.

Recognising organisations and projects for innovative and outstanding sustainable building principles and practices in the Middle East and North Africa region, the MENA Green Building Awards is looking for committed supporters through sponsorship to help grow the 2018 Awards to be bigger and better than ever. 

Endorsed by WorldGBC and in partnership with MENA GBCs: Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine GBCs, we are looking forward to another successful event and would like to take this opportunity to invite our members and partners to sponsor.  There is an early bird discount on sponsorship packages available until 1 March 2018.

We encourage you to visit our website to understand more about the awards and our sponsorship packages.

Please also take a look at last year’s awards brief for a comprehensive overview of what the awards entail, as well as to meet the 2017 winners and shortlisted organisations.

An inaugural roundtable event aimed at advancing net zero carbon buildings in the MENA region took place 10-11 January in the Dead Sea, Jordan, in coordination with World Green Building Council’s Advancing Net Zero project and with the support of Green Building Councils (GBCs) across the region.

In line with the global project’s aim to accelerate the uptake of net zero carbon buildings to 100% by 2050, the roundtable addressed the pioneering Advancing Net Zero project, the opportunities for greater collaboration towards increasing net-zero buildings in the region, as well as global trends towards reducing emissions from the built environment.  During the event, EmiratesGBC also presented its study on Defining Nearly Zero Energy Buildings in the UAE.

The roundtable provided an opportunity to learn about opportunities and challenges in the MENA region, in addition to encouraging regional cooperation and investments in MENA building sector.  As a result of the event, MENA GBCs have agreed on collaborative efforts to further the important work of Advancing Net Zero in the region.  A regional project will be rolled out in the coming months.

The roundtable was sponsored by Majid Al Futtaim and was followed by a regional meeting whereby all regional GBCs provided updates on their latest developments and joint ventures.

In 2015, EmiratesGBC and Heriot-Watt University Dubai met up to brainstorm ways to provide advice to current students on how to specialize in skill sets relevant to the green building industry and why pursuing a career in sustainability is a good idea.  Now in its third year running, the 2018 Green Building Industry Forum for Students was attended by students from Heriot-Watt, BITS Pilani and RIT. A huge thank you to our corporate members who participated as panellists: Venkatesh Ramamoorthy, Business Development Manager Construction Chemicals, BASF; Maria Malo, Business Development Manager Middle East & Africa, AkzoNobel; Jesus Gutierrez, Founder & CEO, Smart4Power; Vince Robinson, Specification Consultant, MAPEI Construction Chemicals.

Emirates Green Building Council would like to thank AAF International Air Filtration Systems, Spiralite – Khansaheb Industries and Fujairah Rockwool Factory for joining our pavilion at the Energy Efficiency Expo at World Future Energy Summit from January 15-18^th in Abu Dhabi.  During the event, we were proud to participate in the Tech Talks theatre through the delivery of two presentations to the green building industry: Defining Nearly Zero Energy Buildings in the UAE & Building Efficiency Accelerator Benchmarking Program.

On January 9^th, EmiratesGBC’s 2018 education program kicked off with a LEED O+M Tour of Summertown Interiors Headquarters. We were graciously hosted by the team led by Marcos Bish, Managing Director, who shared his philosophy of leading an engaged team in the workplace to ensure the wellbeing and environmentally friendly practices. The Summertown Interiors team truly takes sustainability seriously, and not just in terms of the design, fit-out and maintenance of the building. While there, we explored the mechanisms of their electric car charging station, newly installed pantry faucet filter for a plastic-free office, and the company adopted company cat.

The Building Retrofit Training (BRT) Level 1 calendar has been set for 2018 so that attendees can register for the date that best suits them! We have an upcoming BRT session for 8^th February 2018 in Dubai; followed by another session on 17^th April in Abu Dhabi. Please visit the BRT calender page for 2018 upcoming dates and register your interest.

Visit our Meet the Facilitators page for a chance to learn more about our expert facilitators.

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

EmiratesGBC is looking for qualified green building professionals to join our dynamic and energetic team.  If you are a motivated and enthusiastic professional committed to a career in which you will have a lasting positive impact, then a position with Emirates Green Building Council may be right for you.  EmiratesGBC is currently recruiting for two positions:  Education Officer and Technical Analyst.

Full job descriptions for both roles can be found on the EmiratesGBC website here.

This month we encourage you to improve your lifestyle not just for today but for 2018.  We encourage you to adopt one EmiratesGBC Green Building LifestyleTooltip  per month– Let’s keep it simple and “benefit from the thermal heat trapped inside your homes by setting up a drying rack inside, instead of using a dryer”;  it offers you some quality time to reflect on how you just contributed to saving electricity with this simple act.

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 a home, school and office building.  The initiative is powered by BASF and Legrand, EmiratesGBC board members underlining their commitment to promoting sustainability.

We strongly urge you to visit the Green Building Tooltips on our website to test out this valuable online tool and fulfil your goal of pursuing a greener lifestyle whether it be at home, school or at the office.

We always remember our social responsibility. Being a part of the society and active eco-drive initiators, our role is to support any ingenuity associated with sociable sustainable communities.

We will continue to push boundaries to provide value to our clients through sustainable solutions and raising awareness on sociable sustainable communities as panel members, lecturers and speakers.

Emirates GBC is a platform and a pillar for green building movement, where JT+ Partners, as a strong advocate of sustainability, can add value, contribute towards the common vision and ideas in creating sociable environment at urban and micro level as well as contributing to sustainable development in the region by delivering and sharing a knowledge about environmental impact assessing as practitioner.

We will work together with EmiratesGBC to achieve a more sustainable UAE.

The Technical Brief for December 2017, Sustainability in the Workplace, is available online here. The Technical Workshop was facilitated by Summertown Interiors, a corporate member of EmiratesGBC, and discussed a holistic approach to meeting sustainability in the workplace.

January 30^th and discussed Sustainable Modular Building Solutions. The workshop provided a global overview of the current state of modular design and construction technique and the various opportunities linked to modular construction.  The workshop brief will be available online in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned!

February’s workshop will tackle a hot topic on building insulation fire certification. The facilitator will explain the sustainability advantages of the ETICS and the challenges they faced before achieving the latest Dubai Civil Defence Fire Code. Stay tuned for more information on the announcement and participation details.

Are you an EmiratesGBC member or partner and would like to facilitate a workshop? We are open to suggestions for 2018 and if you have any suggestions for topics to be addressed, we’d like to hear from you – email us at technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org.

This month we look at the recently published World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2018, which highlights that environmental risks have grown in prominence over the 13-year history, with all five risks in the environmental category being ranked higher than average for both likelihood and impact over a 10-year horizon. Among the most pressing environmental challenges facing us are extreme weather events and temperatures; pollution of air, soil and water; failures of climate-change mitigation and adaptation; and transition risks as we move to a low-carbon future. The report also includes three new series: Future Shocks, Hindsight and Risk Assessment, which broaden the report’s analytical scope.

Click here to read the report.

Emaar Hospitality Group, the hospitality and leisure business of Emaar Properties PJSC and Rove Hotels – a joint venture of Meraas Holding and Emaar Properties PJSC, have joined hands with Emirates Green Building Council to secure Green Key certification for 15 of their hotels and leisure assets in Dubai.  EmiratesGBC is the UAE’s National Operator for the Green Key certification, a standard of excellence in the field of environmental sustainability and sustainable operation within the tourism industry.

EmiratesGBC will work with each of the hotel properties and will conduct the first of the Green Key audits in early 2018.  Implementation of the Green Key criteria will be essential, and hotels will be audited the first two years and then every three years to ensure they operate to the standards set by Green Key and continually improve operations and environmental performance.

Supported by both United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UN WTO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Green Key is the largest global eco-label operating in 56 countries as a non-governmental, non-commercial and independent program. Securing the Green Key certification adds value to the hotels and properties and serves as a mark of international recognition of environmental responsibility.

The Green Key Team at EmiratesGBC is gearing up for 2018 to be our strongest year yet. We closed 2017 with 32 certified hotels and look forward to growing that number up to 50 in 2018. The new year is always a busy time with re-certifications, so if you are a Green Key hotel with an upcoming submittal period, keep an eye on your inbox for more information. Email greenkey@emiratesgbc.org

The EmiratesGBC team kicked off the year with a team building dinner at Cuisinero Uno Restaurant at the newly Green Key certified Steingenberger Hotel in Business Bay Dubai.  It was refreshing to attend a restaurant committed to sustainability in its operations. Before digging into a feast of tapas, the Cuisinero team gave EmiratesGBC a special tour of their terrace greenhouse where they grow vegetables and herbs for the restaurant’s dishes.

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.