What's in a name?

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Going green and shades thereof. The region's quest to build environmentally friendly properties. Alice Tapfield, senior editor, Bridge Media News reports.

Sustainability and the environment are hot topics around the globe today and the UAE is quickly catching up.

With building construction responsible for 30% of greenhouse emissions and generating 136 tons of construction waste worldwide, the government has realised the importance of maximising the environmental performance of its booming construction industry.

Over the past year sustainability has been made a key target in its building programmes, with a series of initiatives designed to place the UAE at the forefront of green building.

The catalyst for change was the directive issued by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid in October 2007, mandating that builders and property developers in Dubai must comply with green building standards before the law comes into effect - possibly as early as 1st January 2009.

Momentum has gathered pace in recent months, but with no official standards yet published to define ‘green' and different shades thereof, and various international certification systems vying to be chosen, confusion reigns for real estate developers, FM professionals and the general public alike.

Which ‘green standards' should they be following? This article helps to shed light on the subject by clarifying the current status of the proposed legislature and examining the main certification systems in the running, and how the FM industry can best prepare for the changes ahead to meet requirements.

The legal landscape

In order to understand how UAE laws are made, it is helpful to have basic knowledge of the UAE legal system. Legislation on major issues in the country is reserved for the Federal Government, i.e. the Supreme Council of Rulers, which is composed of Rulers from each Emirate and headed by President Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Supreme Council approves laws presented by the Federal National Assembly, and laws may then be updated by regulations.

Local authorities in the different Emirates are also authorised to issue decrees regulating local matters; although in theory this is only interim legislation, if no expiration date is specified a decree may be counted as de facto local law.

On 24 Oct 2007, Sheikh Mohammed issued a decree mandating builders and developers of commercial and residential property in Dubai to comply with green building standards.

This came into effect on 1st January 2008, and Dubai's Executive Council, headed by Secretary General Ahmad Bin Bayat, is responsible for ensuring its effective implementation.

In practice, a ‘green building' incorporates measures such as optimising the use of natural light, using renewable energy sources and district cooling systems, in order to enhance the comfort of building occupants in an energy-efficient and environmentally responsive manner.

But while the initiative postulates that all future building in Dubai be ‘green', it does not state in detail what specific requirements must be met by developers to comply with the decree.

What is considered green?

With the current absence of a formal law on exactly which standards developers should be following, numerous international standards are being considered to form the basis for a rating system specific to the region.

The two main assessment models so far vying for first place are the US LEED (Leadership of Energy and Environmental Design) system, and the British accreditation model BREEAM (Building Reseach Establishment's Asessment Model).

LEED and BREEAM

LEED is a points-based scoring system and has so far been predominant in Dubai. Developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), it defines green by providing a standard of measurement and has established guidelines for sustainable building, creating a recognised brand.

The Emirates Green Buildings Council (EGBC) launched a pilot programme to adopt LEED, which they are currently following until they issue their own. EGBC began negotiations earlier this year with their US counterpart, and these are due to be concluded in early 2009.

Part of the Working Buildings Middle East conference that recently took place in Abu Dhabi included a session entitled ‘Maintaining green buildings through operations', which provided an update on the current status of LEED certification regulations for the facilities management industry.

There has indeed been much hype over LEED recently, and from reading media reports, it would be forgivable to assume that this was the only system under consideration.

The EGBC is also looking at the British BREEAM rating system, which launched in Dubai last month and is also working on developing the standard for Gulf states.

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