Business & Money | Thursday 4 May, 2017 1:49 am |

Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, has announced that its 2017 MENA Green Building Awards ceremony, to be held on May 17 at Roda Al Murooj Hotel, Dubai, will be carbon-neutral.

 

Leading by example, EmiratesGBC’s initiative to make the event carbon-neutral will include calculating the emissions from power consumption, heat energy and refrigeration, among other infrastructure; the journeys of participants to the event; catering and lodging for the participants, and event-specific materials and waste.

 

All data around the event has been gathered to calculate the corresponding CO2 emissions and data was reviewed by Farnek Services, which is a partner of myclimate, a Swiss climate protection foundation led by a talented and motivated team of climate protection experts and high-profile patrons and supporters. Hosting a carbon-neutral event means compensating financially for each tonne of carbon dioxide produced by the event into a project, which replaces fossil fuel with renewable energy solutions.

 

Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EmiratesGBC, said: “Through the establishment of greenhouse gas reduction and offsetting initiatives, event organisers can take responsibility for their emissions, use their larger purchasing power and profile to lead in climate change action, and support the transition to more sustainable energy use. The MENA Green Building Awards 2017 will be EmiratesGBC’s first carbon-neutral Awards Ceremony and we hope to inspire our members first to look at the options of making their own company events carbon neutral. It’s the sum of many parts that make the whole and we hope by setting an example in the UAE, we can achieve lesser carbon emissions for the country.”

 

The 2017 MENA Green Building Awards has recorded strong response from the building and construction industry from across the region. EmiratesGBC has completed the process of short-listing applicants, who now enter the final round of intensive evaluation with the winners to be announced at the awards ceremony. The submissions for awards this year include a breadth of innovative initiatives in the green building industry.

 

The 2017 MENA Green Building Awards is supported by the World Green Building Council and organised in partnership with the Jordan Green Building Council and Lebanon Green Building Council. The honours will be presented in 15 professional categories in addition to the Dr. Owainati Student Excellence Award specifically to a student from a recognised university in the UAE who has conducted exceptional research work in a subject related to green buildings in the Middle East.

 

 

The 2017 MENA Green Building Awards is supported by EmiratesGBC corporate members AkzoNobel as Gold Sponsor and Multiplex as Silver Sponsor.  The event will be audited by KPMG to ensure the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency.

 

For more on the 2017 MENA Green Building Awards and registering for Awards Gala Ceremony please visit the EmiratesGBC website:  http://emiratesgbc.org/awards/2017awards/; http://emiratesgbc.org/awards/2017awards/gala/

 

EmiratesGBC regularly hosts and participates in multinational events, conferences and forums. It has also developed a suite of activities, inclusive of networking events, technical workshops, focus days and facilitated training based around specific issues related to the built-environment that meet the needs of its members, of the UAE community, and the wider Middle East.