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World's largest business-to-business property event is this year taking on a 'green' focus.

 
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16 Jul 2007

Cityscape Dubai, the world's largest business-to-business property investment and development event, is this year taking on a 'green' focus.

A series of conferences and seminars at Cityscape - which takes place at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre from 16-18 October - will examine environmental and sustainability issues in property development along with energy efficiency and 'green buildings'.

The issue of 'green buildings' is emerging as a major factor in the booming Middle East property market. The growing importance of eco-friendly development is underlined by a rating system to measure the 'green' credentials of property developments in the United Arab Emirates being devised by the Emirates Green Building Council.

According to a report by the global conservation group WWF and the Global Footprint Network, the UAE's 'ecological footprint', a measure of human demand on ecosystems, is the largest per capita in the world

The challenge was acknowledged by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, who pointed out in a recent interview with Pipeline magazine that the use of energy in Dubai is inefficient.

Going forward, Dubai has to use energy more efficiently<br>- His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,<br>UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
"Going forward, Dubai has to use energy more efficiently"
- His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

"Dubai's energy intensity - the amount of energy used per capita - is among the highest in the world, much higher than Singapore or Hong Kong for example," he said. "Going forward, Dubai has to use energy more efficiently. There seems to be no doubt in anyone's mind that better energy conservation is a key initiative going forward for Dubai."

The Emirates Green Building Council system aims to set a range of benchmarks to enable those that care about the environment to make informed choices about the buildings or apartments that they want to purchase or occupy.

It will be based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system developed in the United States. LEED recognises performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. Already, a handful of Dubai buildings have qualified for LEED certification.

The issues of sustainability and environmental impact feature in all three of the parallel conferences taking place at this year's Cityscape Dubai, expected to attract over 500 exhibitors and more than 30,000 professional visitors from over 100 countries.

The World Architectural Conference has a session devoted to urban sustainability, ecological footprints and carbon neutral developments with leading international and regional speakers including Linda Marend, of WSP, Sweden, and Robbert van Nouhuys, of ACLA of the UAE.

In addition, there will be a special workshop on zero energy and green building solutions by Russell Gilchrist, director of technical architecture, for world renowned Skidmore Owings & Merrill, of the USA, architects of the world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai.



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