DUBAI- While several schools, malls and hotels in Dubai are way ahead in achieving high levels of energy and water use efficiency, others need to pace up their sustainability commitment to ensure they are aligned with the development vision of the nation.

This was revealed in the results of the Building Efficiency Accelerator, BEA, project report, prepared by Emirates Green Building Council, EmiratesGBC, an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices.

The project is led by the World Resources Institute, WRI, under the UN programme, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll), which aims to accelerate implementation of building efficiency policies and programmes and double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030. Dubai is the first and only city in the Middle East committed to the BEA, and EmiratesGBC is serving as the BEA city liaison in partnership with the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy to evaluate the energy performance of hotels, schools and malls in the city. The team assessed the energy and water performance of existing buildings against similar buildings within the same typology as part of the study since January 2018.

A total of 121 properties, including 85 hotels, 27 schools and 9 malls, submitted data on their energy and water use. The findings demonstrate performance disparity in all three groups. The study revealed that the best hotel and hotel apartment performers consume 58 percent less energy and 65 percent less water per unit area than the worst performers in the category. Older hotels are likely to consume more energy and water per unit area further highlighting the importance of retrofits.

Higher star-rated hotel properties are also likely to consume slightly more energy and water per unit area with hotels and hotel apartments consuming 12 percent less energy and 36 percent less water, on average, per area than resorts. The best performers among schools consume 61 percent less energy and 84 percent less water per unit area compared to the worst with newer schools likely to be higher consumers of energy and water.

The report also indicates that schools rated higher by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority were likely to consume less energy per unit area. Among malls, the lowest consumer uses 35 percent less energy and 58 percent less water per area compared to the highest consumer. Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EmiratesGBC, said, "The project’s main objectives is to promote energy efficiency within Dubai’s existing building stock by providing performance benchmark data to the industry and public sector. We believe this will provide vital information on the performance of existing buildings to policy-makers and building owners and will accelerate the uptake of energy retrofits. The findings reveal that there is a strong potential for savings and operational efficiencies that can be achieved through remedial actions such as audits, retrofits, energy management and the use of awareness campaigns or training to drive changes in behaviour.

The report also highlights the importance of deep retrofits as a substantial measure in advancing towards 100 per cent Net Zero Carbon Buildings by 2050 and to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius." Ahmad Muhairbi, Secretary-General of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, said, "Energy sustainability has come to the top of the agenda of the Dubai Government, driven by the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. Having a direct impact on the overall wellbeing of its citizens and residents, sustainability ensures a sound foundation on our journey to improve the image of our local urban life and become the number one city in the world in all aspects." Among the recommendations is the importance of having a sufficient number of sub-meters within malls to track and measure energy and water use. The report also recommends building on Dubai’s existing strategies and policies to encourage benchmarking across all types of buildings. This will help future mandates for building audits and retrofits for poor performing buildings, thereby paving the way for decarbonisation and net zero buildings. The participating hotels, schools and malls will be provided with tailored scorecards to highlight the performance of the properties, and to support them in deciding where urgent action is needed to increase efficiency and building performance.

Among the leading entities that participated in the benchmarking project are Accor Hotels, Middle East and Egypt; Hilton, Middle East and Africa; Taaleem, Inspiring Young Minds; Majid Al Futtaim; Marriott International, Middle East and Africa; Millennium Hotels & Resorts, Middle East and Africa; Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, Middle East and Africa; and Nakheel. Majd Fayyad, Technical Manager, and Jason John, Technical Analyst at EmiratesGBC, led the project and prepared the report.

© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.