How Dubai plans to kill carbon emissions

Dubai Municipality, aims to reduce the consumption of electricity by 20 per cent, water consumption by 15 per cent, carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent and waste by as much as 50 per cent.

"Carbon dioxide emissions will see a reduction of 7.3 million tonnes over the next five years, producing the same effect as planting 36 million trees – 40 times the size of Zabeel Park,” Khalid Mohammed Saleh Al Mullah, Director of Buildings Department, Dubai Municipality said.

Dubai Municipality on Tuesday launched Al Safat, a new green building rating system for buildings, which aims meet Dubai Plan 2021 key drivers of sustainability and smart innovations.

Al Safat will ensure structures are environmentally responsible, resource-efficient and produce less carbon emission throughout its life cycle, by assessing areas such as energy, water and material consumption.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality said: “The emirate has made significant strides toward achieving its goals to be the number one city globally in terms of sustainability.”  

The new system will apply to all buildings such as residential, commercial, industrial and other facilities and will be split into four classifications: platinum, gold, silver and bronze.

At least, achieving the requirements for bronze certification is mandatory for all building owners, investors and developers.

Since 2010, 1,433 green building projects have been completed across the city with more than 90 per cent of buildings already possessing the necessary criteria to qualify for Al Safat certification. Since the launch of green buildings code, the municipality has registered in excess of 120 million square feet of real estate.

Essa Al Haj Al Maidoor, Deputy Director General, Dubai Municipality, said Al Safat standards will assist a building to produce savings in energy use of up to 34 per cent when compared with the current performance and consumption of buildings.

The Municipality has launched a website dedicated or green buildings (www.Alsafaat.ae), which contains information about Savat system, special training and electronic section, among others.