Sometimes, change can never come fast enough, even in a rapidly evolving city like Dubai. And yet Dubai's Government has enabled the city to enjoy a level of dynamism that has propelled it on to the world stage, awakening the fickle eye of international scrutiny. But the world's attention span is capricious, and in November of 2007, when a new resolution on the implementation of green building specifications and standards in the city was issued, little notice was paid in the international press, despite a ground swell of interest in environmental issues worldwide.
The green regulation
The resolution stipulated that all owners of residential and commercial buildings in Dubai must comply with internationally recognised environmentally-friendly specifications, and this started a rush of recruitment and training that brought a new wave of accredited professionals in US Green Building Council Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and other sustainability experts to Dubai.
The resolution also served as the genesis of the emirate's forthcoming green building regulations, which were previewed in the July issue of Property. In the three intervening years, Dubai's property market has seen its meteoric rise partially corrected, resulting in a holding pattern for many would be Leed certified projects.
In order to gauge the UAE development community's current level of support for sustainable design, Landmark Advisory, working with Cityscape Intelligence, launched the UAE's first Green Building Survey in April. Drawing from Cityscape Intelligence's client base, the survey sampled a wide ranging group of real estate industry stakeholders, all of whom have significantly invested in the UAE's property markets. Conducted over the course of April and May 2010, the online survey culled its responses from a pool of 241 participants from various sectors, including real estate investment, development, construction, architecture, interior design, valuation, consultants and private investors, all representing a cross section of industry professionals. According to Landmark, "the target group and survey design focused on evaluating the institutional perspectives on the feasibility of green buildings in the UAE." This initial report will be the first in an ongoing series of surveys on the feasibility of green building in the UAE, Landmarks says.
Survey findings
The report itself decisively states that "improving the sustainability of the UAE starts with making our buildings green", and cites US Green Building Council statistics showing that "buildings in the US account for 72 per cent of total electricity consumption and 39 per cent of all energy use; moreover, buildings produce 38 per cent of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions". In both its survey results and mission statement, the Landmark report reflects the market's willingness to participate in green building, if not immediately then at least going forward, while outlining some of the persistent barriers to sustainability.
While a cantankerous minority of respondents, around one per cent, showed an uncompromising disdain for green building, the majority of replies demonstrated generally favourable opinions, indicating an overall acceptance that green building has an important role to play in the UAE's future. And yet respondents varied in their opinions on how and when various components of sustainable design should be mandated or implemented in the UAE.
The overwhelming majority, 96 per cent, were confident in their understanding of green building, indicating that the ongoing dialogue on green building has permeated all sectors of the property market. "Of course, this does not test actual understanding, but rather self-assessment of knowledge, which is subjective," explains Jesse Downs, director of research and advisory at Landmark Advisory. "While this is a very basic question to ask, it is one potential indication of awareness of sustainability in the real estate market. Fostering awareness through education is the first critical step in building a sustainable property market."
Simon Clouston, technical director at WSP Environment and Energy, a firm that plays an active role in promoting green awareness through its consultancy, expressed his optimism upon previewing the results: "It is encouraging to see the level of understanding and consensus that green buildings are important, feasible and have benefits." Further indication as to the extent of green awareness in the UAE can be found by examining the country's Leed statistics. Leed is by no means the definitive indicator, but it is the most widely used green ratings system.
To date, 568 Dubai-based Leed projects have been registered with USGBC (US Green Building Council), thereby signalling their intent to pursue any one of the Leed's four basic certifications; Leed Certified, Leed Silver, Leed Gold and Leed Platinum. Of those registered, 29 constitute Leed for Existing Buildings projects, 23 of which are Tecom-based.
While green renovations aren't necessarily Leed certified, both Leed registration stats and survey results indicate that sustainable retrofit (Leed for Existing Buildings) lags well behind new construction. According to the report, a majority of respondents would hold off regulating a minimum green standard for the retrofit of existing buildings for a two- to three-year period. "Implementing green development regulation locally is less contentious than green retrofitting regulation; this is most likely because of the current state of the UAE real estate market," says Downs.
"Essentially any green development regulation will have limited impact in the short- to medium-term because the development market will be extremely restricted over this period. Regardless, implementing both green development and retrofitting regulation is critical for improving the long-term sustainability of UAE's real estate market," Downs adds.
Simon Clouston praised current government initiatives, but also noted that "the main focus of much of the current policy development is on new buildings, whereas the survey makes it clear that some of the major opportunities (and challenges) lie with retrofitting existing buildings. The survey also highlights some areas where further work is required. For example, there is still a lack of really good information about the costs and benefits of building green in this region, but that understanding will develop as more projects are completed."
Dubai currently has 15 certified Leed buildings and, while Abu Dhabi doesn't yet have a certified Leed project, it has 70 registered projects, one of which constitutes Leed for Existing Buildings. It's important to note that Leed registration, while an important step, should be not be confused with certification, which signals the successful, audited completion of a green building.
Of the capital's 70 registered projects, an impressive 27 were registered in the last five months. While some of the UAE's Leed projects might be many years away from completion, it's important to note that their conception as Leed projects is at least a partial indication of the country's movement towards green building.
As Jesse Downs explains, Landmark set out to gauge industry perspective on green building, in the already established context of government support. "Through initiatives such as Estidama and Masdar City, it is clear that considerable progress is being made in sustainable real estate, particularly in Abu Dhabi. However, we felt it was important to understand the perspective of various industry stakeholders, including their awareness of the various issues surrounding green buildings as well as their opinions regarding the potential demand drivers for green real estate in the UAE."
Respondents to the Landmark survey most commonly cited motivators for adopting a green office building are environmental friendliness (83 per cent of respondents,) lower Dewa bills (54 per cent,) better design, (36 per cent,) and health benefits for employees (34 per cent).
Assuming that the employer provides health care coverage, it's worth noting that improved employee health also positively affects the company's bottom line in terms of health care expense and productivity. At the same time, nearly one quarter of respondents think green buildings are ‘expensive'.
Mandatory green regulations required
Expensive or not, 34 per cent of those surveyed responded that mandatory green building regulations for new buildings should be implemented and put into practice immediately, with another 46 per cent recommending their implementation at some point between one and three years from now.
According to the report, "respondents reported a perceived willingness from the development and investment communities to integrate green building into their business model. When asked if developers are now willing to build green buildings, 66 per cent of participants responded positively. Similarly, when asked if investors are now willing to invest in green buildings, 60 per cent respondents indicated yes." Still, the survey unveiled divided opinions about the immediate end-user market for green buildings in the UAE, with 25 per cent of respondents indicating that it would be another two to three years before green buildings could be built, sold and leased. Conversely, a considerable 20 per cent of participants believe that it's already feasible now.
While timelines vary, UAE's property market seem poised for a green transformation. To what extent, and when green attributes will drive demand in this market remains to be seen, but the survey results indicates a high level of awareness and, hopefully, underlying knowledge of why sustainability is important.
The dialogue on green building may have its contentious points, but what was once a faint murmur may soon become a roar.
Not certified, yet green
Not all green buildings have to be certified by Leed, or any one of the several other sustainability rating systems. For instance, Dubai World Trade Centre Tower (DWTC), which was built in 1978, before green building was a common term, integrates both climate-responsive design and passive sustainable design in its makeup.
DWTC's light-coloured façade reduces solar heat gain, and thus reduces energy consumption needed for cooling. Additionally, its honeycomb structure shades windows further reducing solar heat gain.
