First ecologically friendly shopping centre to be built

Dubai: A shopping mall in Mirdiff planned for next year is being built in line with environmental standards and is dubbed the first ecologically friendly shopping centre in the region.

Mirdiff City Centre, a Majid Al Futtaim project has incorporated US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards from design through to the construction stage to make the building as sustainable as possible.

The mall has developed a sediment and erosion plan to reduce soil erosion and protect air quality and includes storage racks and changing rooms to encourage use of bicycles. Facilities to recycle paper, glass , plastics and metals will be provided and there will be a covered parking lot and a reflective mall roof to reduce a "Heat Island" effect.

The centre will be 183,400 square metres with approximately 430 outlets, as well as a Carrefour Hypermarket and a 14 screen multiplex cinema. It will have 7,000 car parking spaces.

Inside the building, daylight will be played with to reduce artificial lighting. The mall building envelope has been designed to significantly reduce the cooling load which in turn reduces the cooling system energy demand. Outside native and adaptive plants for landscaping will be used to reduce the irrigation requirements.

"Mirdiff City Centre is our flagship pilot scheme aiming to implement the LEED procedures and protocols therefore allowing us to witness the benefits of eco-friendly construction techniques," said Shahram Shamsaee, Senior Vice-President, Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls.

Mandatory

Green buildings are built on a voluntary basis around the world but in the UAE it became mandatory for all new buildings to abide to new legislation and standards from January 2008, in line with directives from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

In order to achieve a rating, new projects have to comply with LEED protocols, both in terms of design tactics - to reduce energy and water demand - and in the construction phase.