A Hi Sustainable Approach & Green Routine

A Hi Sustainable Approach

With the latest Dubai Green Building Codes coming into effect for all residential and commercial construction in early 2014, the country is reaching a significant milestone in the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 and its goal to become a city that follows the highest levels of sustainable development. 

Although many of you are no doubt already familiar with the impending regulations, I will briefly revisit what they are and who they will impact.

The regulations apply to:

1) All new buildings.

2)Additions, extensions and refurbishments of existing buildings that require a building permit from Dubai Municipality.

3) Existing buildings, where specified (for example, certain Mixed Use Buildings and when there is a change of use for a building).

The regulations are a welcome introduction and, contrary to perceptions that their implementation is overly-hasty with no structured process for educating stakeholders, the government is actually taking considered steps to inform the industry about the new requirements.

Dubai Municipality has made the regulations public and also issued guidelines on the certification of green building projects on its website. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the guidelines.

Click here or image above to visit DUBAI Municipality - Homepage

It is also a good idea to associate with organisations such as Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network click here to visit homepage. Its CSR Label is an excellent framework that helps companies to monitor, measure and improve their CSR and sustainability practices.

The key to the successful delivery of green projects, as per the new regulations, is to define roles and responsibilities – whether it is deciding who will look after new documentation procedures, sourcing of green-certified products, or agreeing how much of the regulation responsibility will be shared with your partners.

This is important in order to avoid making sudden changes to your business processes and for defining new roles when regulations come into effect.

Companies, building owners and designers can make small, internal changes to make adopting sustainable practices easier. For example, sourcing a list of green product suppliers is a good way for interior designers to ensure easier product selection. This simple practice greatly helps us at Summer town Interiors to ensure that key products we source are green-certified.

We have also created a ‘Green Library’ to provide reference material on sustainability. Mandatory regulation is just one of the many measures the UAE government is taking to support Dubai’s Expo 2020 bid, where sustainability plays a major role.

Hi Green Library Link : - Download the Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network employee volunteer guide book click here

Dubai Chamber Download Link - : "Center for responsible business", Dates to remember click here

If Dubai wins the bid, there will not only be a massive demand for construction, but a greater need for higher standards of sustainability, too. 

While the heavy hand of regulation will help accelerate green compliance, sustainability is, at its core, a voluntary code and we, as members of this industry and consultants to companies, play an important role in contributing to the triple bottom line.

Moving beyond the implementation phase, it is important to continuously assess the efficacy of the regulations so that they remain relevant and credible. The regulations themselves are a means not an end. They are a valuable tool, but become less valuable if their implementation results in an increase in projects that fail to meet the expected certification levels.

At the moment, the few projects in Dubai that are LEED-certified (click here) "to visit homepage for LEED U.S Green Building Council"  have achieved a higher level of certification (silver, gold and platinum). This is because the companies seeking accreditation are choosing to be so rather than this being a mandatory requirement.

Visit Dubai LEED Certification, Lead Certification, Asbestos, and BPI Certification Training :-  Click here to visit homepage.

Sustainability practices are already a fundamental part of these companies’ framework. Although a drop in standards is not ideal, the market has to start somewhere, so it is a situation we should celebrate, not bemoan.

A Hi Green Routine

The construction industry is often criticized for neglecting environmental issues in favor of profit.

While the industry as a whole is actively pursuing green building projects, the flip side is that not all companies who are accredited to Green Building Council membership, nor all LEED-accredited professionals, follow or encourage others to follow Eco-friendly practices in their day-to-day tasks.

If we do not collectively change our thinking and how we operate, critics of the sector’s overall environmental performance may be proved right.

With World Expo 2020 and the FIFA 2022 World Cup on the horizon, and as the GCC construction industry prepares for another construction extravaganza, there could not be a better time for all stakeholders to start seriously practicing sustainability in everything that they do.

One such issue is heavy usage of paper in the construction industry. It’s a fact that tonnes of paper and several thousand printer cartridges are being used by all stakeholders for communicating by means of circulating multiple hard copies of drawings, reports, submitting, schedules, manuals, purchase orders, invoices, delivery notes, time sheets, letters and faxes, without realizing the adverse effect we leave on the environment.

Due to this uncontrolled use of paper, paper mills produce tonnes of extra supplies. However, such paper production and usage takes a toll on the beautiful planet we live in. Paper is the third-largest industrial polluter of air, water and land, releasing well over 100 m kg of toxic pollutants each year.

Hi Sustainable Approach & Green Routine Links

GENERAL Links Section

BuildingGreen, LLC

This web-based company provides green building case studies and over 2,000 green building products organized by standard CSI divisions.

Environmental Construction + Design - Green Book

Environmental Construction + Design offers a print magazine and an online green product and resource guide.

Good To Be Green

This free directory of sustainable products and accredited green building professionals contains resources for both residential and commercial builders.

Greenguard Environmental Institute

Greenguard provides a guide to third-party, certified low-emitting interior products and building materials (registration required).

Green Seal Certified Products

Green Seal is an independent, nonprofit organization that identifies and promotes green products and services.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

FSC provides independent auditing, certification and the promotion of certified forest products under the SmartWood name.

LEEDuser

This website provides step-by-step guidance to earning LEED credits while achieving the best possible environmental benefit. It is published by BuildingGreen and supported by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The NRDC Greening Advisor
NRDC's in-depth guide gives you the tools you need to bring your business into the green era.

Life Cycle Analysis Tools Links Section

International Design Center for the Environment

IDCE is a non-profit organization that promotes community sustainability and develops and disseminates tools for scientifically robust and efficient life cycle analysis of common materials.

LBLN High Performance Commercial Building Systems

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is developing a set of life cycle cost tools for improving commercial building performance.

Whole Building Design Guide - Life Cycle Tools

The Whole Building Design Guide, developed by the National Institute of Building Sciences, provides a variety of life cycle cost and assessment tools.

Federal Energy Management Program

Here is an additional resource for downloading software developed by the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Life-Cycle Cost programs.