Environment-friendly green buildings are the future of real estate, and for the UAE the future is today
The biggest boost the environment received in 2007 came when His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, called for all buildings from January 2008 to be built along environmentally friendly guidelines.
In line with the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) programme, Shaikh Mohammad declared that owners of residential, commercial and other buildings will have to implement his decision according to the highest international environmental standards that are suitable for Dubai.
This is to ensure a healthy city and a clean environment.
A green building is an environmentally friendly building that works to reduce its impact on the environment by increasing its efficiency and use of energy, water, and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better design, construction, operation and maintenance.
According to the US Green Buildings Council, a green building on average saves 70 per cent more electricity, 50 to 60 per cent more water and 36 per cent more energy than standard buildings.
Green standards
A few weeks later, TECOM Investments announced almost 70 of their buildings in Dubai were currently being built under green standards and were awaiting certification.
The company stated that between April and June 2007, TECOM Investments' Energy Conservation Programme had reduced TECOM Investments Co2 (carbon dioxide) emissions by 2,341 tonnes or 13 per cent of its monthly emissions.
As part of efforts to make the UAE more environmentally friendly, a solar tracker was erected at Knowledge Village.
It did not generate electricity as it was not connected to the grid, but it demonstrated clearly how such technology could be valuable in the UAE and how renewable energy such as the sun could be used to power buildings.
The solar tracker is on a double axis and will be able to follow the sun's movement in any direction.
It is 40 square metres and covered with solar cells and stands three metres above the ground. When rotating, the highest point will be five metres high.
"In a full scale installation you would have 50 of these trackers feeding into the grid to reduce the energy use of a complex such as Knowledge Village," says Andrew Machirant, head of business development and communication at Switchpower.
Earlier this year more than 100,000 old or damaged mobile phones were collected and sent for recycling.
Community support
The Envirofone campaign recorded maximum support from the entire community. It is believed that around 10 million mobile phones are forgotten in drawers when they could be recycled and the harmful chemicals removed and plastics re-used.
Finding a safe way to dispose of this kind of e-waste is becoming paramount as the number of mobile phone users is on the rise. It has also become more economical to buy a new phone rather than repair an old one.
The campaign was launched under the patronage of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water and telecommunications companies Etisalat and du.
For every phone deposited, a Dh5 donation is also being made to the Dubai based charity, Gulf for Good.
Solar car
A futuristic solar powered car, the Solartaxi, that is making its way around the world, stopped over at Abu Dhabi and Dubai to bring more awareness on global warming.
The vehicle set off from Lucerne, Switzerland, on July 3 and aims to travel 50,000 kilometres, across 50 countries in 15 months to accomplish a world circumnavigation.
The Solartaxi and its world tour is initiated by Louis Palmer, 35, from Switzerland. Palmer and his team will travel through Europe, over Asia, Australia, central and North America and back to Europe.
