Last month we had the 10^th Annual Congress. The EmiratesGBC Congress is one of our flagship events. This year it was hosted again under the patronage of Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Honorary President of Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) and CEO of Alliances for Global Sustainability (AGS),  today inaugurated the Annual EmiratesGBC Congress, held under the theme ‘15 years of EmiratesGBC: From Green Buildings towards Sustainable Cities 2030.’

The Congress, which brought together industry stakeholders from across the world, underlined the need for collective action to support the UAE’s Net Zero target by 2050 Strategic Initiative, and discussed wide-ranging measures to promote the circular economy to enable building healthy and sustainable cities. Held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Climate Change & Environment, at Pullman Dubai Creek City Centre, the Congress discussed the latest innovations for driving sustainability in the built environment  and promoted discussion between industry and government stakeholders.

It hosted different panel discussions which included speakers from government representatives talking about the policies and the future of the sustainable built environment in the country and the region as well as presentations delivered by key industry leaders in the field of construction. The congress was also a great networking opportunity and a chance to meet decision makers and policy influencers.

EmiratesGBC regularly hosts and participates in multinational events, conferences and forums. It has also developed a suite of activities, inclusive of networking events, technical workshops, focus days and facilitated training based around specific issues related to the built-environment that meet the needs of its members, of the UAE community, and the wider Middle East.

EmiratesGBC, an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, today honoured the region’s leaders in driving innovation and best practices in sustainable built environments at the 10^th MENA Green Building Awards.

Recognising excellence and best practice across the design, construction and operation of building projects in the MENA region, the awards aim to strengthen the green building movement in the region by honouring the outstanding work of private and public sector entities, associations, consultants as well as green building and sustainability practitioners. The winners were announced at a colourful gala ceremony and awards dinner held at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina.

The event was endorsed by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC). The official partners are Egypt Green Building Council (EgyptGBC), Kuwait Green Building Council (KuwaitGBC), Jordan Green Building Council (JordanGBC), Lebanon Green Building Council (LebanonGBC), Morocco Green Building Council (MoroccoGBC) and Palestine Green Building Council (Palestine GBC), in addition to Bahrain Green Building Council (BhGBC) and Qatar Green Building Council (QatarGBC) joining in this year.

Majid Al Futtaim and KNAUF were the Platinum Sponsors; Cares was the Gold Sponsor; KEO was the Category Sponsor and Exeed Litecrete was the Industry Partner.

EmiratesGBC aims to widen the scope of sustainability within the real estate sector in the MENA region through the Annual EmiratesGBC Congress, dedicated research, technical trainings and programmes that empower the private and public sector entities, associations, consultants as well as green building and sustainability practitioners.

In this year of the MENA Annual Green Building Awards, we saw an increased number of applications. We had 19 shortlisted applications and only 14 winners:

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2021 cycle.

On November 29^th EmiratesGBC facilitated a building tour for 50 representatives from the Estonian Association for Construction Entrepreneurs E.A.C.E. The building tour was hosted by ICD Brookfield Place.

The Association for Construction Entrepreneurs E.A.C.E is a voluntary association of construction enterprises created in order to support and co-ordinate its members actions in matter of industry related economic issues and relations with employees and employee unions. The E.A.C.E is established in 1991 and reorganized in 1993. The Association of Construction Entrepreneurs is an open structure, enabling formation of both regional and professional sub-societies. In 1995 was formed sub-organization KATUSELIIT, which include flat roofs building companies. The Estonian Association of Construction Entrepreneurs approximately unites 100 companies active in Estonia whose overall turnover comprises more than 45% of the construction turnover of the entire Republic.

ICD Brookfield Place is the tallest and largest office building in the EMEA region to achieve the LEED Platinum rating, and in doing so is among the top 20 of the world’s largest LEED® Platinum projects. Among the building’s design and features are recycled water to feed trees and plants, high performance façade that controls solar gain and heat loss and the use of recycled and sustainably sourced materials including the timber. The overall energy consumption averages 30% less than the industry standard and saves tenants money through a minimal ecological footprint.

EmiratesGBC is happy to facilitate similar building tours for international, regional and local missions, please contact engagement@emiratesgbc.org if you want to facilitate a tour or you want to host building tours at your place. EmiratesGBC Connects you to the world.

Learn the fundamentals of Building Retrofit, Energy Efficiency, Indoor environmental quality and much more through EmiratesGBC’s Building Retrofit Training Introductory course or learn how to undertake a retrofit and become a Certified Specialist through the Advanced course, now internationally recognized through TUV Middle East. Each course has been divided into 4-hour modules and will be led by our expert facilitators through an online platform that can be accessed from anywhere in the region.

The program is in partnership with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) and is endorsed by Etihad ESCO. The Building Retrofit Specialist certification is now also recognized by RSB Dubai as part of its ESCO accreditation scheme.

The Advanced Building Retrofit Training is endorsed by TUV Rheinland Middle East Those and participants who pass the examination conducted by PersCert TÜV will receive the ‘Building Retrofit Specialist with TÜV Rheinland Certified Qualification’, an internationally recognised certificate for building retrofit.

The program offers two levels:

• Advanced Building Retrofit Training Course: 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. EmiratesGBC are partnering with a global recognized organization to provide certification to the qualification. Contact us for more details on training@emiratesgbc.org.
• Introductory Building Retrofit Training: For non-technical professionals looking for an overview of Building Retrofit methods and provides knowledge of sustainability to industry professionals looking to understand the fundamentals of building retrofit.

Further information about the courses, dates and eligibility guidelines can be found on the Building Retrofit Training webpage. EmiratesGBC can also schedule in-house training for groups of 10 or more, please contact training@emiratesgbc.org to request a proposal. EmiratesGBC members and partners will receive a 20% discount off the registration fees.

Our calendar for 2022 is completely open! If you are interested in facilitating a workshop/webinar in 2022, please email us at technicalworkshops@emiratesgbc.org.

You can watch all our webinars and workshops for 2021 here.

We are proud to announce that our Net Zero Program is being sponsored the Net Zero Centre of Excellence Champions, Majid Al Futtaim! We are delighted to have them join the net zero movement through their leadership and their commitment to Net Positive by 2040!

Our Net Zero Centre of Excellence was launched in 2018 as a think tank and accelerator to advance net zero carbon buildings in the UAE as part of its commitment to World Green Building Council’s Advancing Net Zero Project. We invite you to explore our website to see the work we are doing. We have also summarised our objectives and actions in the EmiratesGBC Snapshot.

Embodied Carbon Survey

As part of the building and construction industry, Emirates Green Building Council is requesting your professional input.

An Embodied Carbon Market Research survey has been created to assess the level of understanding, importance, and prevalence of Embodied Carbon in the construction industry in the UAE. It should take approximately 5 minutes of your time to complete. The results will feed into EmiratesGBC Embodied Carbon Working Group’s work.
Please answer this survey ONLY if you are working on Embodied Carbon in your projects/work in the UAE.

Click here to answer the survey.

The EmiratesGBC Women’s Network (EWN) was launched to strengthen the participation and leadership of women in the field of sustainability in the MENA region. EWN is a platform for networking, mentoring, and knowledge-sharing for women who are working in the field of green buildings and sustainable development.

During the 10^th Annual EmiratesGBC, the EmiratesGBC Women’s Network had a session discussing Women and SDG11: Creating inclusive, sustainable, and resilient cities. Farah Yassine, the Network’s Chair, moderated the discussion led by panelists Bushra Anwar from Cundall and Katherine Bruce from WSP. The panel touched on important topics like how we can create inclusive work environments within sustainable cities.

Join EWN to become a part many exciting plans for the coming year, including but not limited to the launch of our mentoring program, a workshop series tailored to the needs of women in green buildings, and networking and knowledge-sharing events!

All EmiratesGBC women members (corporate or individual) are automatically eligible to join EWN using this registration link.

It is our pleasure to invite all our members to the 2021 EmiratesGBC Annual Meeting happening on December 13th 10:00-12:00 at the Pullman Dubai Creek City Center!
Register here: https://lnkd.in/dyh5S2Bv
We look forward to seeing you and  receiving valuable feedback and insightful suggestions from our members.

EmiratesGBC hosts multiple events throughout the year in a variety of formats and covering a wide breadth of topics. Drawing on our members’ expertise and knowledge, we curate panel discussions, webinars, presentations and conferences that go beyond the current conversation and discuss the latest innovations and issues in the sector. If you are a member with a story to tell or interested in getting involved through speaking opportunities, please contact us with details of the topic and nominated speaker. EmiratesGBC corporate members can fill out the speakers form and submit to events@emiratesgbc.org.

Please consider supporting our education and technical programs in 2021 by partnering with us and coming on board as a sponsor to one of our knowledge-sharing initiatives. Opportunities range from webinars and workshops on our priority areas such as Net Zero Carbon Buildings, Energy Efficiency, Green Schools, Health & Wellness and Building Retrofit to our flagship Annual Congress and Annual MENA Green Building Awards.

Partnership opportunities are a great way for members to get involved and showcase your organization’s leadership and commitment to sustainable development initiatives. We invite you to find out more – please view our sponsorship packages and contact us to learn more.