Schools, hotels, malls must do more for conservation

Newly-opened Dubai schools are likely to consume more energy and water than older schools while a mall in Dubai consumes 57 per cent more energy than a mall in the US.
This was revealed in the results of the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) Project Report, prepared by the Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC) and shared on Thursday.
The EmiratesGBC said there is a considerable gap in energy and water usage across hotels, schools and malls in Dubai.
"While some of these institutions are way ahead in achieving high levels of energy and water use efficiency, others need to pace up their sustainability commitment to ensure they are aligned with the UAE's sustainable development vision," the EmiratesGBC emphasised.
The project, which began in January 2018, assessed a total of 121 properties, including 85 hotels, 27 schools and nine malls, representing at least 10 per cent of the total number of hotels, malls and private schools in Dubai.

According to the EGBC, an independent party that promotes green building practices, the more energy efficient hotels in Dubai consume 58 per cent less energy and 65 per cent less water than the worst performers in the category.
A median hotel in Dubai consumes 252 kWh/m2/year of energy and 1,486 litres/m2/year of water while a median resort in Dubai consumes 334 kWh/m2/year of energy and 1,676 litres/m2/year of water.
"Older hotels are likely to consume more energy and water, further highlighting the importance of retrofits while higher star-rated hotel properties are also likely to consume slightly more energy and water per unit area," the EmiratesGBC noted.
Energy-efficient schools in Dubai consume 61 per cent less energy and 84 per less water.
A median school in Dubai consumes 134 kWh/m2/year of energy and 852 litres/m2/year of water. It was revealed that newer schools are likely to consume more energy and water per unit area while schools rated higher by the Knowledge and Human Development
Authority were likely to consume less water and energy.

A median mall in Dubai consumes 465 kWh/m2/year of energy and 1,300 litres/m2/year of water. When compared to international benchmarks, a mall in Dubai consumes 57 per cent more energy than a median enclosed mall in the US.
EmiratesGBC said the study was conducted to influence legislation that will make existing and upcoming buildings in Dubai more energy efficient.
"The project's main objective is to promote energy efficiency within Dubai's existing building stock by providing performance benchmark data to the industry and public sector. We believe this will provide vital information on the performance of existing buildings to policy makers and building owners and will accelerate the uptake of energy retrofits," said Saeed Al Abbar, chairman of EmiratesGBC.
"The report also highlights the importance of deep retrofits as a substantial measure in advancing towards 100 per cent Net Zero Carbon Buildings by 2050 and to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius," Al Abbar underlined.
EmiratesGBC said it will provide tailored scorecards to highlight the performance of the properties, and to support them in deciding where urgent action is needed to increase efficiency and building performance.
angel@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai

Angel Tesorero

angel@khaleejtimes.com