Dubai, UAE – Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, will host the 2017 MENA Green Building Awards on May 17 at Roda Al Murooj hotel in Dubai.
The Annual MENA Green Building Awards 2017, supported by the WorldGBC, and organised in partnership with the JordanGBC and LebanonGBC, will be presented in key professional categories, in addition to the Dr. Owainati Student Excellence Award for a student from a recognised university in the UAE, who has conducted exceptional research on a subject related to green building in the Middle East.
Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EmiratesGBC, said: “With a wider remit covering the entire region, the 2017 MENA Green Building Awards have received a record number of entries highlighting the remarkable strides in green building research and innovation across MENA. The quality of entries is outstanding and the evaluation committee has completed its review of the short-listed entries to announce the winners at the ceremony.”
“By honouring the contribution of industry and academia for their path-breaking work to promoting sustainable built environments, the awards underline our commitment to highlighting best practices and inspiring more industry stakeholders to focus on green building research. This complements the visions outlined by regional governments to promote energy use efficiency to secure a greener future for coming generations,” he added.
A carbon-neutral event, this year’s award ceremony will recognise best practices and innovative ideas covering new buildings and retrofits, as well as green products and services. The awards will be presented in the presence of representatives of key industry leaders from Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, Dubai Tourism, WorldGBC and Green Building Councils from Lebanon and Jordan.
To ensure carbon neutrality, emissions from power consumption, heat energy, refrigeration and other sources have been calculated. The journeys of participants to the event, as well as catering and lodging, event-specific materials and waste, are also considered. These will be offset against a project that replaces fossil fuel with renewable energy solutions.
The professional Award Categories for the MENA Green Building Awards 2017 are: Green Building of the Year in four subcategories: Commercial, Hotel, School and Residential; Sustainable Design of the Year; Facility Management Organisation of the Year; Contractor of the Year; Developer of the Year; Green Building Material/Product: Energy Management, Indoor Air Quality, Conventional, Construction Materials; Green Building Research Award; Retrofit Project of the Year and Best Operations & Maintenance (existing buildings).