Heriot-Watt University’s Dubai campus at Dubai Knowledge Park has been awarded Gold status by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the most widely used green building rating system in the world.
 
Gold certification is the second highest level of LEED certification, and the highest possible certification that can be achieved on a retrofit of an existing building.
Heriot-Watt University said its Dubai campus was the only one in the UAE to have achieved a gold certification. Additionally, it is also the only one of Heriot-Watt University’s five global campuses to have achieved this.
 
With sustainability being one of the main pillars for the design and implementation of the project, the campus includes facilities such as bicycle parking racks, water-efficient fixtures, demand-controlled ventilation for HVAC equipment and use of environmentally friendly construction materials.
 
The campus is also in the process of implementing a green cleaning policy, that will ensure that levels of chemical, biological, and particulate contaminants that can compromise air quality, human health and the environment are reduced.
The campus is designed to serve nearly 4,000 students and occupies 218,000 sq ft distributed over seven floors, with eight different types of teaching spaces, it stated.
On the key achievement, Lynda Johnstone, Global Director for Estates and Facilities, said: "Our vision for the Dubai campus was to create a workplace that is safe and healthy and promotes improved health and productivity."
 
"Several studies have found that there is a clear link between the design of the building and employee health, and at the Dubai campus, we have done our best to undertake a holistic approach that takes into account efficient use of resources, good indoor environmental air quality, the use of non-toxic, sustainable, and ethical materials and more, all of which supports health and wellbeing," noted Johnstone.
 
"After all, we spend most of our waking hours at our workplaces, and we strongly believe that every single human being has the right to a workplace that has a positive effect on the occupants," he added.
According to Ross Trivett, General Manager at Khansaheb, said: "We are delighted that HWU has achieved LEED Gold. The project exemplifies what is possible when all stakeholders collaborate towards achieving sustainability goals and is testament to our commitment to creating places that balance our environmental obligations within the community and economy."-

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