As one of the largest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, with approximately one-third of global energy end use taking place within buildings, the building sector is central to any efforts to use resources more efficiently.

The UAE has been driving significant change in reducing carbon emissions and advocating the use of clean energy, which is integral to the nation's model for addressing climate change. Saudi Arabia is taking a multi-dimensional approach to emissions reduction. Similarly, other countries in the region have committed to ensure a sustainable future.

Experts say that, for a more result-oriented approach, it is important to consider energy efficiency from the early stages of design. Optimising resources at every phase of the built world, including constructing new green buildings, retrofitting existing energy and resource-intensive buildings, leveraging the potential of technology, can all achieve significant savings.

Setting new standards in clean energy

All stakeholders and businesses in the public as well as private sectors have a role to play in achieving net-zero goals, enhanced by collaboration and partnerships.

Built Environment attended Majid Al Futtaim's media roundtable held in June, announcing the LEED Platinum certification received by the group's Mall of the Emirates.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system recognises buildings that are energy and resource efficient, demonstrating a reduction in waste generation, and the use of energy, water and other resources in a cost-effective manner, through their design, structure and overall operations.

The certification for 2022 was awarded to the mall for LEED Operation and Maintenance, through its sustainability partnership with ENOVA, a joint venture between Majid Al Futtaim and Veolia, the regional leader in integrated energy and multi-technical services, making it the world's largest operating mall to receive this certification.

Since 2018, through its energy and water conservation initiatives, Mall of the Emirates has saved an average of 15 million kilowatt hours of energy and 40,000 cubic metres of water per year – enough to power almost 1,300 homes for a year and fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool more than 16 times. The mall also generates clean electricity through the installation of 7,291 solar PV on the rooftop car park that spans 11,996 square meters. The solar PV plant reduces 5,360 CO2 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year. In addition, for the LEED certification, the mall made remarkable progress in the transportation category with an almost perfect score of 99/100 and 96/100 in the Human Experience category.

Khalifa Bin Braik, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim – Asset Management, commented, “With Mall of the Emirates achieving LEED Platinum for Operation and Maintenance and becoming the largest mall worldwide to accomplish this feat, we are even more determined in our journey towards our Sustainable Business Commitments, which include becoming Net Positive in carbon and water by 2040. This latest achievement is a testament to our years of hard work and dedication and also a result of our increased focus on sustainability, resulting in Majid Al Futtaim now having 19 LEED certified malls.”

Renaud Capris, CEO at Enova, said, “Achieving the highest sustainability standard in retail for Majid Al Futtaim's Mall of the Emirates, thereby becoming the world's largest operating LEED Platinum mall, is a testament to the ambitious sustainability goals set by the organisation. Benchmarking resource consumption and achieving significant energy and water savings contributes to the company’s status as the regional leader in the hospitality sector, and Enova is proud to support that objective through our energy performance solutions.”

Green building materials

To reduce greenhouse emissions, one of the key challenges is to adapt existing organic resources such as building materials that can be implemented in modern construction.

"The use of green concrete, ranging from cement, aggregate or sand replacements and newer types of carbon-negative concrete contribute towards optimising efficiency. Net-zero homes are built with highly energy-efficient materials such as insulated concrete, building integrated photovoltaic panels, recycled steel, and bamboo plywood and technologies such as grid-connected solar panels, thermal vapour recompression and cogeneration of heat and electricity to fulfil the operational energy requirements related to HVAC," commented Hassam Chaudhry, Assistant Professor, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, at Heriot-Watt University Dubai.

The use of low-carbon building materials, technology like 3D printing in construction, and sustainable alternatives like green cement, and green steel will have a significant impact on the built environment for new development. Sustainable City Dubai is one of the best examples of the efficient use of sustainable materials. With ecological practices such as the use of solar panels, and centrally located bio-dome greenhouses, the project signifies the possibilities to build cleaner and more reliable communities for all.

This year's Congress of the Emirates Green Building Council — which promotes green building practices to conserve the environment, called for greater collaboration to accelerate the transformation of the built environment. In her opening remarks at the Congress, Eng Naseibah Almarzooqi , Director of Studies, Research and Development, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, pointed out that at the upcoming COP28, the UAE would draw global attention to the importance of developing low carbon building materials to decarbonise the construction sector.

Retrofitting for energy efficiency

For existing buildings, retrofitting is a great option to make them more energy efficient. Evaluating the role of renewables in retrofit helps in reducing the overall GHG emissions of the built environment.

The Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 sets ambitious targets to improve energy efficiency up to 30% by 2030. To achieve this goal, demand-side management (DSM) is one of the critical areas of focus and is overseen by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE).

The DSM strategy identifies that retrofitting existing buildings is a crucial step to meeting energy efficiency targets. Energy audits are fundamental in successfully achieving energy-saving goals.

Tech as the enabler

The application of technology for effective use for specific requirements is important. Leveraging advanced data management and emerging technologies can deliver significant savings for both new and existing assets, reducing the sector's contribution to carbon emissions. A digital twin of a building, for example, monitors, aggregates and analyses data to predict and optimise energy consumption under different operating conditions, helping owners reduce costs, resource usage, and, ultimately, their carbon footprint. There are several technologies available, with the potential to improve the efficient use of energy.

OpenBlue is a comprehensive suite of connected solutions and services that combine Johnson Control's building expertise with cutting-edge technology in playing an important role in achieving sustainability. "OpenBlue integrates with customers' operational technology and the system collects and primes data from buildings and applies machine learning at the edge and in the cloud — comparing the data against optimised AI performance models. The result is the ability to micro-manage real-time building performance, save cost and energy as well as enhance environments. OpenBlue has enabled the building and property industry to save energy, improve indoor air quality and maintain occupant comfort," says Devrim Tekeli, general manager - GCC service at Johnson Controls.

Way forward

The IEA report on buildings reveals that in 2021, the operation of buildings accounted for 30% of global final energy consumption and 27% of total energy sector emissions (8% being direct emissions in buildings and 19% indirect emissions from the production of electricity and heat used in buildings (https://www.iea.org/reports/buildings).

To optimise allocation of green resources, a life-cycle approach is required covering building design, manufacturing of material supplies, construction process, building operations and processes and maintenance as well as waste disposal and recycling. For better energy management, we need to overcome challenges with the design and integration of systems, equipment, and technologies in buildings.