4th Annual EGBC Congress offers practical insights on green urban environments to delegates

The fourth Annual EGBC Congress, held under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, UAE Minister of Public Works, concluded in Dubai with record participation of delegates representing all sectors of the construction industry supply chain.

Over the two days of the EGBC Congress, international and regional experts delivered keynote speeches, presented case studies and took part in panel discussions covering Climate, Well-being, Economy, Innovation and Policy within the green building sector.

Organised as a carbon-neutral event, under the theme, How do green buildings scale up? - Bridging the Gap between Green Buildings & Sustainable Cities, the Congress served as an engaging platform for information exchange and benchmarking industry best practices.

Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EmiratesGBC, said; The fourth Annual EGBC Congress achieved its objective of promoting interactive discussions and creating a space for learning, networking and capacity building amongst multiple stakeholders. The detailed presentations and panel discussions provided the delegates an opportunity to share their experiences and benchmark best practices within the green building industry.

The UAE is at the forefront of promoting green practices to create sustainable cities for the future, in line with the green economy for sustainable development vision announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. We are thankful to the Ministry of Public Works for its patronage and to all the experts, delegates, partners and sponsors for their support to the event. We will continue to focus on promoting industry-level discussions on green buildings, encouraging collaboration amongst all stakeholders to achieve a greener environment for future generations.

On the second and final day of the EGBC Congress, the delegates toured The Sustainable City, Dubais first fully sustainable community. A five million square feet project, it is envisaged to be a world-class example of what can be achieved through a commitment to sustainability. It features a wide range of initiatives to both conserve resources and save money, including energy efficient home design, use of eco-friendly building materials and solar panels placed on the roofs of residential units.

Diamond Developers presented the delegates an overview of The Sustainable City which is being constructed around the three pillars of sustainability; social, environmental and economic. The tour was followed by a workshop highlighting the role of various sectors in creating sustainable cities.

Faris Saeed, CEO of Diamond Developers, said: We are thankful to EmiratesGBC for partnering with us for the EGBC Congress. It provided us the opportunity to showcase the latest developments of our integrated sustainable community, which we have designed with the objective of providing Dubais citizens with sustainable options to enhance the quality of their lives. We have placed top priority on nature, green spaces, health, education and recreational activities for our residents, with an emphasis on enabling a sustainable lifestyle that is allied to a strong sense of community.

At the Congress, delegates were presented with the Arabic version of the Technical Guidelines for Retrofitting Existing Buildings, a set of instructions which highlights 31 retrofit methods that a building owner, operator, end-user can use to increase energy and water savings, improve occupant comfort and well-being and also facilitate operational efficiency and the longevity of the existing building stock in the UAE.

MyClimate Foundation, one of the worlds leading providers of voluntary carbon offsetting measures, will offset the carbon generated by the Congress through its international project portfolio of gold standard certified projects.

The 4th Annual EGBC Congress was supported by BASF as the Sustainability Sponsor, Brookfield Multiplex as the Innovation Sponsor and Al Abbar Group as the Workshop Sponsor.