New Dubai building rules to reduce footprint

In March this year, the municipality issued a circular requiring developers of new buildings to install solar-powered heating.

DUBAI // The emirate is pushing new building standards, including solar-powered heating and energy-efficient lighting and air conditioning, to reduce its carbon footprint.
And Hussain Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality, told the World Energy Forum that saving energy has economic benefits as well as environmental.
"High prices of oil will lead to high prices of energy," said Mr Lootah, on the final day of the forum in Dubai. "Solar energy is one of the most important dimensions that can be really considered in Dubai."
While some solar applications are still considered expensive, this is not the case with water-heating systems widely used in other parts of the world.
In March this year, the municipality issued a circular requiring developers of new buildings to install the heaters.
The regulation is already having a significant impact, said Jim Sebastian, managing director of Ecoval Trading, the UAE distributor for Solahart, which is an Australian maker of solar water-heating systems.
"Before the regulations I knew many consultants who knew about the technology and were interested in implementing them but could not."
The biggest drawback was cost. Installing such systems requires a larger initial investment compared with regular systems.
They are much cheaper to run but energy bills are paid by tenants, so developers have no incentive to add the extra cost to their projects.
"Now the systems are mandated by Dubai Municipality," said Mr Sebastian. "There is a huge, huge impact."
The municipality also wants efficient lighting systems, such as those with light-emitting diode (Led) bulbs, more widely used.
But because of the cost involved the municipality will not make installing them compulsory, said Essa Al Maidoor, deputy director general of the municipality.
"We will not apply it now, but we can implement it in the coming years," Mr Al Maidoor said.
"Dubai Municipality is looking to apply initiatives in a practical way. We are aiming towards a green city. We decided to move gradually towards this by adopting what is possible now."
In 2008, the municipality and the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority started working on a draft for green building regulations.
Those regulations will be mandatory from the end of next year, said Mr Al Maidoor.
Some of the new requirements will be as simple as telling designers how to position buildings, something that does not cost extra but can save money by reducing heat gain and improving light.
Saeed Al Tayer, managing director and chief executive of the authority, said the new rules would also require commercial buildings to install systems to monitor water and energy.
The Dubai Government is also considering ways to encourage renovations that help to reduce energy and water use in existing buildings, Mr Al Tayer said.
[e-mail]