ABU DHABI // A display of energy and water-saving solutions aims to inform the public about fast and easy measures in building an environmentally-friendly home.
The Urban Planning Council's display at the Cityscape Abu Dhabi exhibition is primarily meant to help UAE nationals decide how their homes are built.
Stand-alone villas are presently the only type of buildings in Abu Dhabi that are not required to meet mandatory sustainability criteria under the Estidama building ratings system, which the UPC introduced in November 2010.
The system requires high-rise buildings and large-scale developments to achieve a minimum of one out of five pearls, while Government projects must achieve at least two pearls.
Model insulated walls, air-conditioning units, window solutions and water fixtures are on display as part of the Estidama Villa Experience Centre.
Decisions made in these areas can have a huge effect on the energy and water usage of a home.
“The whole objective of what is on display is showing people the choices that they can make,” said Yasmeen Al Rashedi, a planning manager at Estidama.
The display was also aimed at clearing some misconceptions regarding sustainable solutions, said Ms Al Rashedi, citing walls as a example. “Often there are misconceptions in the market about the types of walls that can be used to provide insulation and reductions in heat gain,” she said. “And the population tends to think that these are massive walls that are very chunky and clunky and would take away from usable space within the home.”
The display juxtaposes a conventional, 20-centimetre-thick villa wall with a type of insulated wall that carries an Estidama rating of one pearl.
By adding only 4cm in width, the wall can prevent about 75 per cent of external heat from entering the home. A third wall display with a width of 30cm is able to meet requirements for two-pearl buildings and above, reducing heat gain by up to 85 per cent.
The difference, said Ms Al Rashedi, “is very minimal in terms of size but it is a lot in terms of energy savings and the impact it can have on your home”.
The display also compares different types of glass and glass frames.
“What really makes a difference is the type of glass that was chosen and the amount of sun rays that is actually let into a home, as well as the frames themselves,” said Ms Al Rashedi.
“Any metal … is a great conductor of heat, so you are essentially outlining your windows with … installed radiators in your walls. So it is really important to be able to get the aluminium frame designs right. Of course when you have heat reduction, that in itself reduces the cooling that is required.”
While a lot of energy can be saved by reducing the demand for cooling within a home, choosing the right type of air-conditioning equipment is also important.
Rather than having “multiple chillers dotted around the roof” feeding individual air-conditioning units in their home, homeowners should consider a centralised air-conditioning system, which would operate more efficiently and require less maintenance, said Ms Al Rashedi.
The display also features a solar energy-powered hot-water system, as well as other water-saving fixtures. Visitors were shown five options with waterflows of two to six litres per second. A typical home uses water fixtures with a flow rate of 12 litres per second.
All the eco-friendly solutions on display have been implemented in large-scale villa projects built on behalf of the Government. Nine thousand villas presently have a two-pearl rating.
These environmentally friendly options remained a voluntary choice for homeowners, but “it is clear that there is a direction where the Government is going and eventually this is the future”, said Ms Al Rashedi.
Cityscape Abu Dhabi ends tomorrow at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
