Dear EmiratesGBC Members and Partners,
I hope that everyone had joyful and pleasant holidays with the family and beloved ones. Despite it was a quiet month in August, but preparations were underway for a busy September.
The application window for the MENA Green Building Awards closed. We received tens of applications from Jordan, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and UAE—a testament to the increasing awareness about green buildings and sustainable development in the MENA Region. The awards ceremony date and venue will be announced soon.
Just before entering to this month, EmiratesGBC joined UAE Climate-Responsible Companies Pledge rolled out by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. The pledge forms a nucleus of future collaboration among the private sector, NGOs, and international organizations. We encourage our corporate members to also join the pledge.
This month, EmiratesGBC is organizing three events on 13, 14 & 15th September celebrating the World Green Building Week under the theme #BuildingForEveryone and a focus on building for the planet, communities, and economies.
As always, I encourage our members to support the EmiratesGBC flagship events, programs, and events and engage with us in your areas of interest. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for the MENA Green Building Awards and for the World Green Building Week—please contact the team at events@emiratesgbc.org if you have any inquiries.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ali Al Jassim
Chairman
Emirates Green Building Council
Upcoming EmiratesGBC Events
2022 MENA Green Building Awards
The window to apply for the 2021 MENA Green Building Awards closed!
The Annual MENA Green Building Awards celebrates and recognizes achievements, success stories and best practices across the region. Organized by EmiratesGBC, the awards are endorsed by World Green Building Council and held in partnership with regional Green Building Councils from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain and Palestine.
The Awards are sponsored by Platinum Partners, Majid Al Futtaim & Knauf.
This year we received tens of applications from five countries across the MENA region. Judges are in the process of reviewing and scoring the applications. The award ceremony date and venue will be announced soon.
World Green Building Week
Emirates Green Building Council is celebrating the World Green Building Week by organizing a 3-day event:
on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of September. Building for the Planet
- 13th Building for the Planet: In collaboration with the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction at Heriot Watt University
- 14th Launch of MENA Net Zero collaborators program. In collaboration with WorldGBC
- 15th Building for the Economy – Panel discussion. In collaboration with Dubai Chambers
Details and registration link were posted on our social media.
The Importance of Retrofitting
On 29th September, EmiratesGBC will conduct a series of presentations addressing the importance of retrofitting. This will take place in the Innovation and Education Zone at WETEX 2022.
WETEX2022 and Dubai Solar show will take place during the period 27-29 September in Dubai. Visitor registration here
EmiratesGBC will also have a stand there so come and let’s meet and greet!
Global Policy Taskforce
WorldGBC convened a Global Policy Task Force and EmiratesGBC joined the steering committee and the working group. The taskforce is uniting Green Building Councils (GBCs) from across all five regions of the world. The purpose is to establish an open forum where GBCs can meet to exchange policy priorities, best practice, benefit from mutual learning and align around a common goal to ensure that global, national and local building policy is on a 1.5-degree trajectory.
Sustainable Reconstruction and Recovery Framework (SRRF) Training
As part of the MENA Training Taskforce, EmiratesGBC has worked with other MENA green building councils and WorldGBC to prepare number of training programs. The first is the SRRF training. For more information about the framework click here. We will announce details of the training program later this year.
EmiratesGBC Trainings
Building Retrofit Training
14th & 15th November – Introductory Building Retrofit Training
21st, 22nd, 28th & 29th November – Advanced Building Retrofit Training
Register here
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. 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.
RSB Dubai recognizes the Building Retrofit Specialist certification as part of its ESCO accreditation scheme.
Contact us for more details on training@emiratesgbc.org.
EmiratesGBC members and partners will receive a 20% discount off the registration fees.
Sustainable Reconstruction and Recovery Framework (SRRF) Training
As part of the MENA Training Taskforce, EmiratesGBC has worked with other MENA green building councils and WorldGBC to prepare number of training programs. The first is the SRRF training. For more information about the framework click here. We will announce details of the training program later this year.
EmiratesGBC Technical Programmes News & Updates
Embodied Carbon Work Group
Emirates Green Building Council Embodied Carbon Working Group kicked-off its first meeting with the aim to direct awareness and attention of the industry towards embodied carbon (EC) in the UAE through publishing useful guidance. The outcome guideline will provide clear methodology and approach for undertaking carbon assessment focusing on embodied carbon. The initial publication will focus on A1-A3 and A4-A5 stages. A SWOT analysis was conducted, and recommendations have been considered to address (1) region specific issues related to embodied carbon and importance for lowering EC, (2) basics of embodied carbon, (3) regional targets set for lowering EC, (4) overview Process for calculating EC, (5) Carbon data sources, (6) EPDs, (7) and regional case studies.
Green Key
The Green Key programme is a leading standard of excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry. It is operated internationally under the management of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) with Head Offices in Copenhagen, Denmark. FEE has national member organisations in more than 70 countries worldwide where Emirates Green Building Council is the national operator in the United Arab Emirates.
Members Opportunities and Engagement
Call for Volunteers
EmiratesGBC will organize multiple events in a variety of formats covering wide breadth of subjects. The council is also working on number of activities. We welcome volunteers who can spare some time to help the council in planning, organizing and delivering these events and activities. Members from different backgrounds and possessing different skill sets are welcomed. Reach to one of EmiratesGBC staff or email us to engagement@emiratesgbc.org
There will be a lot of fun!
Become a Member
