Municipality wants to make buildings greener

LOOTAH (RIGHT): DM is looking at how to make ACs more efficient, amongst other ideas.

Dubai Municipality (DM) is on the look out for new technology that will reduce energy consumption in air-conditioning, according to the authority's acting director general, Eng Hussain Nasser Lootah.

The move is part of ensuring that environmental requirements in new buildings are met, and will become a compulsory DM regulation. "We introduced environmental regulations a few years ago when we insisted on insulation in buildings, which required the walls and glass in buildings to be insulated," said Lootah.

"Now we're looking at green building. Green buildings have a lot of other requirements including the need to use less electricity and water, and this is where we are having a little difficulty, especially with the air-conditioning in summer. There is a lot of consumption of air-conditioning in summer and we're looking to introduce new technology to operate the air-conditioning. We're also looking to introduce new technology to reduce the heat that's given out."

Current DM regulations include the requirement for the preparation of environmental impact statements for new industrial premises, the design and maintenance of septic tanks, requirements for concrete batching plants and the re-use of irrigation and wastewater.

Lootah added that additional regulations would soon be introduced. "Green buildings are a priority for Dubai and all the consultants operating in the city have already been informed," he said. "Dewa has already announced the new regulations and these have been sent to all consultants. We have also done so at DM. If anyone wants to make a note of the regulations, they can find them on our website."

Lootah said all new buildings coming up in Dubai would need to meet DM's green building standards in order to get the go-ahead.

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