Environmental benchmarks will empower potential eco-warriors to make informed choices about buildings or apartments
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.
"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.
On green building design, current thinking and latest developments will be highlighted by Dr Ken Yeang, of Llewlyn Davies Yeang, of the UK; Chad Oppenheim of Oppenheim architecture and design, USA; Manit Rastogi of Morphogenisis, India; and Kate Otten, of Kate Otten Architects, South Africa.
At the Cityscape conference itself, a panel of senior executive speakers will be discussing the challenges of building environmentally friendly and sustainable projects in the Middle East. The panel includes Mario Senevirante, of the Green Technologies Company, UAE; Khaled Awad, of Masdar, UAE; Shuan Lenehan, and Mubarak Abdullah, of Nakheel, UAE.
At the third Cityscape event - the Hotel and Tourism Investment and Development Conference - sustainable tourism development will come under the spotlight in a presentation from Kyle Haywood, commercial director of Air Arabia.
"Developers and architects in the Middle East are now embracing 'green' thinking and embodying it in future schemes," said Shabnam Rawal, Cityscape Conference Group Director.
"The Middle East shares the global need to minimise the depletion of natural resources and maximise sustainability in the built environment. The Cityscape series of conferences provide developers, architects and customers with a forum to exchange views on how best to drive forward 'green' building technology in the Middle East."
Cityscape Dubai has attracted wide industry support with platinum sponsors
Emaar Properties, Tanmiyat Investment Group, Aldar Properties, Dar Al Arkan, Nakheel, and Qatari Diar; gold sponsors Almuttahed, Tameer Holdings and Saraya Holdings; and silver sponsor Aqaba Development Corporation.
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For more information on Cityscape Dubai or to register for the event, please log on to http://www.cityscape.ae.
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© Press Release 2007
