Gulf real estate must face sustainability

Masdar CEO Dr Sultan Al Jaber

The Gulf real estate sector must address sustainability issues if it wants to deliver the $500bn of developments planned for the next seven years in the region, a property expert told Cityscape Dubai today.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar said that unless steps are taken to address the sector's energy and water consumption, waste and carbon generation levels, the region's infrastructure be unable to match growth projections.

“These planned developments will require an additional two million cubic metres of water per day, 75 million additional megawatt hours of energy per year, all while producing an additional 3.5 million tons of solid waste and 300 million tons of carbon emissions per year”, Al Jaber said. “This level of growth is not sustainable.”

Speaking at the ‘Spotlight on the Middle East panel’ on the opening day of cityscape, Al Jaber said the figures represent around a 100% increase from current levels.

“Unless we change the current energy, water and waste consumption rates of developments, we will undoubtedly bottleneck the existing infrastructure, choke the planned capacities of utilities and create damage to the environment,” he continued.

Developers and governments were offered suggestions to enhance the sustainability of their developments. “First, we need to reduce power and water demand by adopting energy efficiency in buildings” Al Jaber said.

“The growing Green Building movement in the Gulf is precisely the right approach, given that buildings account for about 30% of global energy consumption”, he added.

A further step would be integrating energy infrastructure into property developments such as photovoltaics and other site-integrated renewable energy technologies.

Al Jaber called on developers, planners and governments to champion integrated design planning, and to consider carbon credits as a means to partially finance these technological enhancements.

To spearhead sustainable development in the region, Masdar is developing the world's first zero-carbon and zero-waste city, a 6-square km integrated green zone in the heart of Abu Dhabi that will implement cutting-edge technologies and design to ensure its sustainability.

Expected to open in late 2009, Masdar City will host the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology; world-class laboratories and research facilities; commercial space for clean-tech companies; light manufacturing facilities and a pool of international tenants who will invest, develop, and commercialize advanced energy technologies. A model of the Masdar Zone was unveiled at Cityscape Dubai earlier in the day.

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