Enough grace periods to be given for implementing Dubai Green Building regulations

"The green building regulations will increase livability and comfort of Dubai buildings and it will be responsive to the climate in Dubai."

said Mr. Adil Afaneh, Senior Environment Planner in the Planning Department of Dubai Municipality.

He was giving a presentation titled "Dubai 2009: Introduction to the Green Building Guidelines" in the Technical Conference organized at Monarch Hotel as part of the Big 5 Exhibition, which is being held at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 23 to 27 November.

Dubai Municipality is also participating in the exhibition with a stall to showcase the achievements and rules and regulations of the Buildings and Planning departments in the Municipality.

During his presentation, Afaneh gave a brief outline about Dubai's vision of green buildings, its technical framework and the road map for the city's regulations in this regard.

He said that the Dubai green building regulation is aimed at converting all types of buildings to green and enough grace periods will be given to the concerned parties to implement the green building specifications.

Afaneh said this initiative is in line with the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai that all buildings constructed in Dubai should adhere to Green Standards from the beginning of next year.

"As the green building regulations are intended to professionals associated with building industry, enough technical guidelines will be provided for its implementation," said Afaneh.

He said these regulations are formulated based on an economic study as well as a market study with key emphasis on energy, water, waste and indoor air quality.

"The regulations are Dubai-based and it is an original system for Dubai, based on Dubai-specific studies and analysis. There are specifications, action plan and performance indicators. We have selected an interface between regulations and ratings. Before implementing we referred to the systems prevailing in Australia, Singapore and the USA."

he said.

Afaneh said the green building regulations will be applied in the existing buildings too, but at a later stage.

"The first phase will concentrate on the new buildings, where the regulations will be implemented from January 1 next year. We will also monitor the implementation of the regulations as a monitoring system is in place for the implementation of the current building regulations," he said.

"We will ensure the largest amount of compliance and equality in compliance. It will be a unified implementation of a regulation, not as a system," said Afaneh.

He said that these regulations, developed by the municipality's buildings department, would be in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan.

"Growing concerns about the adverse impact of global warming and climate change have underlined the crucial need for sustainable, eco-friendly and energy efficient development as well as the challenge of decreasing the Emirate's ecological footprint," Afaneh noted.