ABU DHABI // Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, visited Masdar City and heard about a new prototype for energy-efficient villas.
The Eco-Villa, developed by Masdar and announced this month at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, is a fully-furnished four-bedroom villa using technology to reduce water and energy consumption as well as minimise costs and environmental impacts.
Sheikh Hamdan praised the UAE’s embrace of sustainability to ensure the well being of “tomorrow’s generations”, with new economic sectors emerging under UAE leadership.
“Initiatives such as Masdar focus on promoting innovation and the adoption of clean technologies, in turn securing a better lifestyle for UAE communities,” he said, as quoted by Wam, the state news agency.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Chairman of Masdar, said the visit illustrated Sheikh Hamdan’s support for Masdar City’s mission.
“Masdar has made tremendous strides over the last decade to advance commercially viable solutions in sustainable living,” he said.
“Its progress has acted as a beacon to encourage the rapid development of the sustainability sector in the region and throughout the world.”
The Eco-Villa uses about 72 per cent less electricity and 35 per cent less water than a standard villa of the same size in Abu Dhabi.
It has 89 rooftop solar panels that generate as much electricity as the villa consumes from the grid. The construction cost is about the same as a conventional villa.
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