Tuesday, Sep 08, 2009
Dubai: A pioneering plan to introduce "green roofing" in Dubai could help reduce the temperature of buildings and keep them significantly cooler, said Hussain Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality.
Lootah was speaking at a majlis hosted by the Dubai Police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim on Sunday, where he laid out future plans for the municipality and answered questions from nationals and residents.
Lootah said that green roofing was not required for houses in Dubai yet, but added that it was "under discussion".
"Many developed countries are doing this, but we could perhaps be the first Middle Eastern nation to introduce the concept," he said, which he attributed to Dubai's role as one of the biggest per capita polluters in the world.
Lootah detailed how "green building", or environmentally sustainable buildings, would help Dubai reduce pollution and save energy.
"The biggest energy consumers are known to be air conditioners and [water] heaters. Our aim is to have Dubai residents reduce their use of the two," said Lootah. "This is why we are encouraging green building".
The plan is to keep buildings cool by restricting heat from penetrating specially designed walls, windows and roofs.
"Our biggest problem is material that absorbs heat. For example, areas near highways have seen a rise in temperature because the roads absorb a lot of heat. That's why we have introduced the green roof. These roofs, made of three materials, would reflect the heat instead of absorbing it," he said, adding that a sample green roof is available at the municipality for visitors to see.
Upon the suggestion, a few guests at the majlis protested about the cost. Lootah responded that according to preliminary studies the cost of a green roof for an average house would be Dh3,000. The roofing is also expected to keep energy costs down.
An average Dubai home that has air conditioning on for 24 hours produces 10 to 20 gallons of water per day, he said.
Dubai he said, is the biggest per capita producer of domestic waste in the world, averaging between 2.2 kilos and 2.7 kilos of waste per capita per day. Dubai, he said, produces 9,000 tons of domestic waste per day.
2.7kg of domestic waste produced per capita per day in Dubai
9,000 tonnes of domestic waste produced in Dubai per day
By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
