'Green roofing' will help keep buildings cooler

Dubai: A pioneering plan to introduce "green roofing" in Dubai could help reduce the temperature of buildings and keep them significantly cooler, said Hussain Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality.

Lootah was speaking at a majlis hosted by the Dubai Police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim on Sunday, where he laid out future plans for the municipality and answered questions from nationals and residents.

Lootah said that green roofing was not required for houses in Dubai yet, but added that it was "under discussion".

"Many developed countries are doing this, but we could perhaps be the first Middle Eastern nation to introduce the concept," he said, which he attributed to Dubai's role as one of the biggest per capita polluters in the world.

Lootah detailed how "green building", or environmentally sustainable buildings, would help Dubai reduce pollution and save energy.

"The biggest energy consumers are known to be air conditioners and [water] heaters. Our aim is to have Dubai residents reduce their use of the two," said Lootah. "This is why we are encouraging green building".

The plan is to keep buildings cool by restricting heat from penetrating specially designed walls, windows and roofs.

"Our biggest problem is material that absorbs heat. For example, areas near highways have seen a rise in temperature because the roads absorb a lot of heat. That's why we have introduced the green roof. These roofs, made of three materials, would reflect the heat instead of absorbing it," he said, adding that a sample green roof is available at the municipality for visitors to see.

Upon the suggestion, a few guests at the majlis protested about the cost. Lootah responded that according to preliminary studies the cost of a green roof for an average house would be Dh3,000. The roofing is also expected to keep energy costs down.

An average Dubai home that has air conditioning on for 24 hours produces 10 to 20 gallons of water per day, he said.

Dubai he said, is the biggest per capita producer of domestic waste in the world, averaging between 2.2 kilos and 2.7 kilos of waste per capita per day. Dubai, he said, produces 9,000 tons of domestic waste per day.

2.7kg of domestic waste produced per capita per day in Dubai

9,000 tonnes of domestic waste produced in Dubai per day

10-20 gallons of water produced in each house by air conditioners

This is a good move however there is another area which needs attention, The big villa's around Dubai with dozens of heavy duty lamps around their bounderies and all remain ON after sunset till morning. I think if someone can also pay attention towards these unnecessary wastage and lead down strick rules to switch off all unwanted lights after sunset to save huge power and reduce cost
Ali
DXB,UAE
Posted: September 08, 2009, 17:03

'9,000 tonnes of waste per day'... could the Municipality educate us on how to make manure from the house waste? With this the Municipality will cut the desposal cost
Mrs R.Al-Harrassi
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 08, 2009, 15:23

As far as waste is concerned, the government should start community education. Placing marked bins or handing out rules. Actually taking time to show people how to do it is the only effective way to involve the whole community to change their lifestyles.
I
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 08, 2009, 11:34

These is a useful move if iplemented and every1 will follow. As far as we know that plants are the main absorber of carbon dioxide and producer of energy and fresh air..i suggest that we could start by tree-planting everywhere.
Ameerh
RAK,Phils.
Posted: September 08, 2009, 10:06

Good to know that these system's to save energy is being thought of. The abundance of natural solar energy in the Middle East needs to be tapped into, uses such as solar water heater on roof tops, would bring down water heater usage as well.
P Khanna
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 08, 2009, 08:42

I think this is a fantastic idea. In Jordan, we never use water heaters in summer, instead we use solar water heaters, which use sunlight to heat the water pipes placed in a black mirrored box. In the UAE, we can use this technology thoughout the year, since we have a sunshine rate of 360 days per year, and for the rest of the 5 days, we can use the electric water geyser.
Behin Ardakani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 08, 2009, 08:41

very good idea and should be made compulsory as soon as possible hence we can save our planet earth.
Ghalib Al Maskeri
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: September 08, 2009, 08:04

Well done Mr. Lootah. Dubai residents also need education and awareness on green building concepts as well as on their day today living. Many take it for granted as they consider all resources in UAE to be easily accessible and have no value for it. The effort and money spent to build a green concept design for a building will show results in the long run to conserve energy and reduce extra expenditure.
Siju Purath
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 08, 2009, 06:27