| 24 Nov 2008 |
|
World watching for UAE progress on green initiatives
- Text size
Abu Dhabi and Dubai outline regulations and guidelines on green buildings to reduce ecological footprint
The world is watching how effective the United Arab Emirates will be in overcoming the challenge of having one of the worst ecological footprints, construction industry executives were told today (Monday 24 November 2008).
Officials from Abu Dhabi and Dubai outlined new green building guidelines and regulations both emirates are to begin implementing next year at a special conference taking place as part of The Big 5 construction supply industry trade fair in Dubai. The Big 5 which runs until Thursday 27 November 2008 is the Middle East's biggest-ever event for the sector.
Pointing out that the nation has one of the world's worst ecological footprints, Holley Chant, a planning manager at the Abu Dhabi Planning Council in charge of Estidama, the emirate's sustainable building and community initiative, said "the world is watching" to see how the UAE introduces policies to bring about change.
"Abu Dhabi is establishing Estidama and Dubai is working on their guidelines but we have to meet the same targets of promoting conservation of health, energy and resources," she added.
Earlier, Adi Afaneh, Senior Environmental Planner at Dubai MunicipalityDubai Municipality
, said buildings were responsible most energy use. In Dubai 75% of all electricity was consumed by buildings, both residential and commercial. Similarly, commercial and residential buildings were responsible for 85% of water consumption.
Dubai's new green building regulations will soon be submitted to the Executive Council which would decide the timetable for implementation, starting in 2009, Afaneh added. The regulations will apply to all new buildings initially but eventually will be extended to cover existing buildings as they are renovated.
Conference Chairman David Baggs, Technical Director of Ecospecifier International, said the sector suffering less from the downturn in the construction industry worldwide was green buildings. Building in a sustainable manner was being seen as "future proofing your assets," he said.
The Big 5 Technical Conference, compiled in conjunction with Ecospecifier International, was convened in response to the introduction by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, of a green building directive on addressing global environmental challenges.
The conference was a complete sell-out with speakers on other green issues such as sustainable communities; district cooling; the design of carbon critical buildings; eco-profiling of buildings; sustainability assessments; and green architecture.
Alongside The Big 5 exhibition is The Big 5 PMV - The Middle East's premier construction plant, machinery and vehicles at the same venue. Exhibitor numbers have increased by 70% at this year's Big 5 PMV, 85% of which are international companies. The Big 5 PMV features an outdoor arena over an area of 40,000 square metres.
For more information about The Big 5 including the latest list of exhibitors, please visit: www.thebig5exhibition.com
-Ends-
About The Big 5 and the exhibition organisers
The Big 5 is organised by dmg world media Dubai Ltd., part of the dmg world media group of companies and is an acknowledged leader in the region's exhibitions industry since 1999. dmg's portfolio includes some of the largest exhibitions in the Middle East.
All seven dedicated product sectors in The Big 5 are substantial events in their own right and cover: Building and Construction; Water Technology and Environment; Air Conditioning and Refrigeration; Cleaning and Maintenance; Glass and Metal; Bathrooms and Ceramics; Marble and Stone. In addition, The Big 5 PMV - the specialist show for plant, heavy machinery and large vehicles is co-located with The Big 5.
About the Big 5 PMV
The Big 5 PMV www.big5pmv.com is organised by Streamline Marketing Group in conjunction with dmg world media and runs alongside The Big 5 www.thebig5exhibition.com
The Big 5 PMV has the support of key international organisations including the French Foreign Trade Council, the Builders' Association of India and the UK's Construction Products Association.
For more information about Big 5 PMV, please contact Project Manager Samantha Kane-Macdonald, Tel: +97 4 332 9029 or sam@smg-online.com
For media inquiries about The Big 5 Technical Conference:
Chris Mullinger
Shamal Marketing Communications
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mobile : +9715 0658 5843
E-mail: chris@smc-pr.com
Web site: www.smc-pr.com
For media enquiries about PMV:
Danielle Fanning
Total Communications
Dubai
Tel: +971 4 336 9909
Email: danielle@totalcompr.ae
© Press Release 2008
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Post a Comment
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.