Dubai: A much-anticipated green building rating system will be introduced as a pilot in the UAE later this year, according to a Dubai Municipality official.
The system will be modelled on the US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating, which provides a benchmark to measure the environmental sustainability of building's design, construction and operation.
It will be adapted to suit the UAE's climatic conditions and real estate market by the Emirates Green Building Council, a non-profit organisation which promotes environmental sustainability in the UAE's built environment.
After a 6-12 month trial run, the system is expected to be formally introduced in the UAE and coupled in Dubai with tougher municipality regulations on factors such as energy and water consumption, building insulation and energy tariffs, said Kamal Azayem, senior engineer at the Building Department, Dubai Municipality.
Experts say the rating system will provide a point of differentiation between real estate developers in Dubai's competitive property market. Buyers are increasingly favouring buildings which can guarantee cheap life cycle costs, they say.
"The rating system will be voluntary, but it will provide a reference point to gauge a building's sustainability," said Azayem.
"While the rating system will provide the incentive, the municipality will provide the regulation."
Senior officials at Hyder Consulting Middle East, an engineering, environmental planning and management consultancy, said developers' association with a building usually ends on project handover.
This means they are not concerned about the lifecycle costs of operating the building - a factor which will change with the arrival of facilities management companies, the company claimed.
A mixture of market forces, government regulation and end user demand for lower utilities costs, will help to improve the country's poor record on sustainable buildings, said Rod Stewart, regional managing director, Hyder Consulting Middle East.