Dubai: An environment-friendly house of prayer billed as the Middle East’s ‘first green mosque’ is being built in Dubai, officials said.
Scheduled for completion in March 2014, the mosque will incorporate eco-friendly materials and reduce energy and water consumption, said a statement by the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF).
Details of the project were not revealed in the statement, but it quoted a senior official as saying that the mosque seeks to set a trend whereby many Dubai mosques will be retrofitted with special materials and air conditioners that will help minimise their environmental impact.
The mosque will accommodate 3,500 worshippers when complete. It is being built on a 105,000-square-feet plot and the finished structure will span 45,000 square feet. Nearly 60,000 square feet of the plot has been allocated for landscaping.
AMAF Secretary General Tayeb Al Rais yesterday laid the mosque’s foundation in the presence of senior government officials and specially invited guests. Hamad Abdul Karim Al Arif, Managing Director of Al Arif Contracting, contractors of the mosque project, attended the stone-laying ceremony.
Al Rais said: “His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has clearly articulated a vision to drive sustainable development in the country. The new eco-friendly mosque comes as part of our efforts to contribute to this vision. Setting new standards for sustainable mosques in the UAE and the wider region, the mosque will conform to green standards for reducing energy, water and materials consumption. We thank Dubai Municipality for offering support in getting the project off the ground. We also wish to credit all those who have contributed to making this project a reality.”
The statement added that the mosque fully complies with Dubai’s recent legislation, which mandates that all new buildings integrate green building standards.
Al Rais said: “As part of our efforts to contribute to Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, we aim to convert a large number of mosques in Dubai into eco-friendly facilities that use green building materials, thermal insulation systems for lowering energy consumption, and air conditioners that emit less of greenhouse gases.”
