Give me green

Green buildings have become the norm rather than the exception as businesses worldwide become aware of the positive environmental and societal affects of sustainable construction. Features Editor, Shikha Mishra reports.

The construction and building sector is the bad guy. These industries are believed to be responsible for the most of the CO2 emissions. But, as we cannot eliminate the construction industry, developers and builders have to find the solution within the problem.

The answer lies in building more efficiently which in turn will lessen the environmental impact of emissions.

According to McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics, which conducted a research and produced a report titled, Global Green Building Trends: Market Growth and Perspectives from Around the World in partnership with the World Green Building Council in 2008, a majority of construction professionals around the world expect more than 60% of their projects to be focused on green building within the next five years.

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Environmentally friendly building currently accounts for more than 10% of domestic projects for almost a third of the respondents who participated in the study.

The bottom-line impact of eco-friendly building is expected to be strong, according to the study. It found that 86% of firms expect rapid or steady growth in sales and profits associated with green building.

Launched last May, Estidama, which means “sustainability” in Arabic, is Abu Dhabi’s contribution to the global discussion of how to create more sustainable communities, cities and global enterprises. It is the result of a clear political vision that is intended to balance environmental, economic, cultural and social imperatives in pursuit of a higher quality of life for all living things.

Estidama is the first program of its kind that is tailored specifically to the region. It was conceived to initially support the realisation of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, under the direction of Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council.

Estidama has developed the Pearl Rating system, a voluntary program, to be made available to developers seeking to achieve recognition for pursuing a higher level of green building. Ratings will be based on a new foundation document (to be created this year) that will form the basis of assessment, guidelines and rating systems.

Other Gulf countries such as Bahrain, only have basic regulations that provide minimal set of green building guidelines.

“These guidelines are far below any green building codes found elsewhere in the world,” says Khalil Issa, CEO of Energy Central Company.

Energy Central Co has been granted a 25-year concession agreement to design, build and operate the sea water desalination plant serving the irrigation for the entire Durrat Al Bahrain, an island based on mixed-use residential, commercial and resort development in the south of the kingdom with a total investment value of US $4 billion (AED 14.65 billion).

“We are a service provider and deal with the supply side of the equation. When it comes to issues of green utilities, we try for efficiency. We have no control on what goes into a building, but we would like to provide energy in more rational manner. Green buildings require utilities, which means lower energy costs, which in turn means greener buildings,” says Issa.

Green building uses its resources more efficiently, for example it requires less water and has better insulation, which leads to lower energy costs.

“The purpose of everyone working on a green building is the same – it is how to make the whole planet survive the ozone depletion. We are all vying for a more efficient world,” says Issa.

As a utility provider, Energy Central works with designers and consultants to make a building green. “We try to utilise resources to the maximum, when we have an efficient system, it translates into green buildings,” says Issa.