Developers need to explore 'green' building options, says Hashim Al Dabal

Al Dabal said, "The built environment has a vast impact on the natural environment, affecting human health and economy. If developers adopt green building strategies they can not only construct sustainable communities with indoor environmental quality, but can also support the preservation of energy and water resources.

"Sustainable development methods can be incorporated into buildings at any stage, including renovation, maintenance. However, the most significant benefits can be obtained if the design and construction teams integrate this approach from the inception stages of a project."

There are five elements of a green building - sustainability of the site; conservation and management of energy and water; value added real estate; the type of materials used and green power generation and solar cell use.

Dubai Properties is actively promoting green building strategies in its developments. Jumeirah Beach Residence and Business Bay both employ energy efficient measures including water-saving methods, district cooling systems, double cavity walls for external facades and centralized garbage collection systems "Envac".

"Our developments are using district cooling systems which provide benefits to our customers in terms of annualized operational cost savings. Also water cooled chilled packages are more energy efficient compared to air cooled ones as contribute towards energy conservation," explained Al Dabal.

According to Al Dabal, the economic benefits of green buildings are high as they not only minimise the strain on local infrastructure, but also reduce operating costs, improve productivity of employees, and optimise the return of investment through better use of building resources.

Dubai Properties is also exploring Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System the internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.