Thermal energy: view of solar panels at Pacific Control Systems LLC in Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai.
Thermal energy: view of solar panels at Pacific Control Systems LLC in Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai.

Dubai readies building rules to save water and power



Building-design rules to curb the waste of electricity and water will be ready soon, officials said yesterday. The rules are intended to reduce electricity use by 20 per cent and water consumption by 15 per cent. Existing buildings may have to be adapted to make them more energy-efficient.

A final draft of the rules is being reviewed by officials at Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa). "We are working day and night to finish it," said Kamal Mohammed Azayem, a mechanical engineering expert at the municipality's building permit section and one of 13 experts reviewing the proposals, which now number about 70. In April last year Tim Armstrong, technical director of WSP Middle East, a consultancy hired to assist the municipality, had said that the aim was to release a draft by the end of the year. But the task was more demanding than initially thought, said Mr Azayem, who was not willing yesterday to commit to a new deadline.

He said that once a final draft was completed, it was subject to review by the Dubai Executive Council. Some details of the proposals emerged yesterday as Mr Azayem addressed an audience at Wetex, a trade show for the power and water industries organised annually by Dewa. The rules are based on what Mr Azayem called "the elemental method", which focuses on specific features within buildings. One example is insulation, which can be used to prevent heat from outside entering buildings, saving power by reducing the need for air conditioning.

Regulations for insulation were issued in 2003, but may be made more stringent. In an earlier interview, Mr Azayem said some buildings in Dubai could be required to use solar power to heat water. Such innovations could be introduced in stages, however. Mr Azayem said the rules had been delayed because of the complexity of the issue and the Government's desire to come up with "a robust document" that would work in practice.

Each of the suggested changes is being evaluated according to its environmental impact, cost to developers and ease of implementation. "Some regulations might need engineers to educate people on how to implement and check them," he said. The market's readiness to adopt the proposed changes was also being looked at, Mr Azayem said. In some cases suppliers had a monopoly on environmentally friendly products and services. "We do not want to put in place a regulation that there is only one supplier for," he said.

The proposals are also being reviewed in light of the economic downturn. The Government does not want rules that would hinder development. Dubai has been developing at a rapid rate. During the 1980s, the total built-up area in the emirate amounted to 25 million square feet, said Mr Azayem. In the 1990s, the figure increased to 281 million square feet, while between 2000 and 2007 it rose to 568 million square feet.

Population growth, coupled with electricity and water use rates that are among the world's highest, have put great pressure on electricity and freshwater production. The emirate's electricity capacity has, meanwhile, also been rapidly increasing. Despite attempts to address Dubai's high consumption rates through such measures as the new building regulations and public campaigns, the Government relies primarily on boosting its generation capacity.

A facility to be built on the coastline near the border with Abu Dhabi will boost the emirate's water and electricity capacity several times. Abu Dhabi is also working on energy-conscious building regulations - the Estidama Sustainability Guidelines. Developed by the Urban Planning Council, the guidelines are a performance rating system and will initially be implemented voluntarily by developers. They are expected to be announced this year.

vtodorova@thenational.ae

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SRI LANKS ODI SQUAD

Perera (capt), Mendis, Gunathilaka, de Silva, Nissanka, Shanaka, Bandara, Hasaranga, Udana, Dananjaya, Dickwella, Chameera, Mendis, Fernando, Sandakan, Karunaratne, Fernando, Fernando.

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

UAE SQUAD

Khalid Essa, Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammad Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoon Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri

Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D 
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India

At a glance

Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

Du Football Champions

The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.