Green light for UAE sustainability

The UAE is firmly committed to become greener and sustainable, which will pave the way to nurture a healthy society with the wellness of residents being the prime focus.

The leadership is investing aggressively on building a smart and sustainable nation and with the pandemic, restoring and nurturing good health is a top priority.

“As the economy reopens in the post-pandemic new normal, there’s a massive renovation wave in buildings, to adapt to changes in operating procedures and revised guidelines. Building automation, health and sustainability are top of the mind for real estate owners and operators,” said Prabhu Ramachandran, CEO of Facilio.

“Given the impact of HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] systems on controlling the spread of the virus, there is an increased health and wellness focus to their operation. In turn, prioritising occupant comfort, indoor air quality, better filtration and ventilation, creates significant room for improvement in energy savings.”

The Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, recently released the 2020 UAE Green Building Market Brief that coincided with World Green Building Week, which says the nation has 63.96 million sqm of built-up area adapted to local green building regulations or certification programmes.

The brief presents evidence-backed insights on the progress achieved by the UAE in promoting sustainable built environments.

"With a growing footprint of buildings being developed under green building regulations, the nation is progressing towards its goal of achieving net zero carbon buildings by 2050,” EmiratesGBC chairman Ali Al Jassim said.

“We are committed to strengthening this by offering insights on green building best practices and knowledge sharing. With buildings and the construction sector accounting for nearly 39 per cent of energy-related emissions globally and more so in the UAE, it is important to continue to focus on deep retrofitting and net zero carbon buildings.”

The report showcases the current state of sustainability in the region. It highlights the number of buildings complying to Abu Dhabi’s Estidama Pearl Rating System, Dubai Green Building Regulations and Specifications and Ras Al Khaimah’s Barjeel Green Building Regulations. It says there are 35.3 million sqm of total built-up area of certified projects under Estidama and 26.9 million sqm of built-up area of completed projects following Dubai’s. Additionally, there are 239,200 sqm of built-up area that received permits in Ras Al Khaimah.

Retrofitting, being one of the most critical elements of sustainability, has also witnessed a lot of progress over the years. Dubai has completed 1,241 buildings and 6,658 villas under its retrofit programme established in 2013, whereas Sharjah has 18 buildings since its initiative was started two years ago. Ras Al Khaimah has executed the retrofit of 16 villas as of April 2020.

Since 2006, the uptake of international green building standards became increasingly common with the first UAE project receiving the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) certification, an internationally-recognised green building certification system developed by the US Green Building Council.

— sandhya@khaleejtimes.com