scholarly journals Techno-Economic Analysis of Green Building Codes in United Arab Emirates Based on a Case Study Office Building

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 8773
Author(s):  
Hiba Najini ◽  
Mutasim Nour ◽  
Sulaiman Al-Zuhair ◽  
Fadi Ghaith
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Building Regulations ◽  
Code Analysis ◽  
Trade Offs

Green building regulations in the United Arab Emirates are required to obtain building permits so that future construction projects can create a sustainable living environment. Emirates such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah have specific green building regulations, whereas other emirates follow Abu Dhabi’s regulatory criteria. Previous work fails to present a techno-economic cross-code analysis for various green building regulations in the UAE by evaluating energy and water performance. A case study using an existing high-rise green office building was formulated using the Integrated Environmental Solution: Virtual Environment (IES-VE) platform and the U.S. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (U.S. LEED) water consumption evaluation tool to study its energy and water performance, respectively. The archived results were used to devise an economic study based on the discounted cash flow technique. The principal findings of this research allowed us to determine a cross-code analysis and propose cost-effective trade-offs. These will aid the consultants and contractors in choosing appropriate green building regulations in the UAE by highlighting the potential of each parameter within green building regulations in terms of energy, water, and economic performance.

The role of facilities management in green retrofit of existing buildings in the United Arab Emirates

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Mawed ◽  
Vinay Tilani ◽  
Karima Hamani
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Facilities Management ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Actual Case ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Green retrofitting is acknowledged as an essential strategy toward achieving long-term sustainability in the built environment. To implement this strategy successfully, the role of facility managers cannot be ignored. The purpose of this paper is to investigate present practices that are used in managing the existing facilities, to highlight the elements that govern the process of green retrofitting, and discuss the efforts and contribution of facility managers in enhancing the environmental performance of the existing facilities stock in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study suggests that an adequate level of awareness of the benefits of green retrofit amongst owners and decision-makers is mostly dependent on facilities management (FM) professionals, who must establish effective communication channel with senior management. FM professionals in the UAE are well equipped and competent in greening existing buildings and can simultaneously lead a building to the path of achieving green building certification. Findings To examine the role of FM in a green retrofit and its current status in the UAE built environment, a two-step qualitative method was adopted. The study started by conducting semi-structured interviews with FM professionals and then assessing the insights obtained from the interviews against an actual case study of a LEED Existing Building certified facility. Research limitations/implications Interviews were limited to FM professionals in the private sector and the results from one case study should be considered cautiously. Originality/value This paper emphasizes the primordial role of FM professionals in promoting green retrofit in the UAE.

scholarly journals AN INTEGRATED FUZZY ANP–QFD APPROACH FOR GREEN BUILDING ASSESSMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua IGNATIUS ◽  
Amirah RAHMAN ◽  
Morteza YAZDANI ◽  
Jonas ŠAPARAUSKAS ◽  
Syarmila Hany HARON
Keyword(s):  
Quality Function Deployment ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Correlation Matrices ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Integrated Method ◽  
Fuzzy Preferences ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Building Assessment ◽  
Stakeholder Requirements

One of the major concerns in the construction industry is the sustainability of building projects. There are various trade-offs between functionality and design, which often lead to an issue of whether sustainably designed build­ings would meet stakeholder requirements. This paper provides a novel integrated structure for assessing green buildings realistically based on stakeholders’ fuzzy preferences. In particular, the paper uses the analytic network approach (ANP) to evaluate the correlation matrices in a quality function deployment (QFD) framework. A case study on green building index assessment in Malaysia illustrates the proposed integrated method. Sensitivity analysis validated the customer-stakeholder agreement towards the design of the green building. Cluster analysis was also used to group design specifi­cations prior to the analysis.

Machining and Fabrication Equipment in Workplaces

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 5433-5442
Author(s):  
William Rosentel
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Real World Data ◽  
High Noise ◽  
Noise And Vibration ◽  
Acoustical Analysis ◽  
Machine Shops ◽  
Acoustic Quality ◽  
Sound Data

Increasingly well-developed workplace acoustic standards have resulted in more consistent outcomes across projects and normalized occupant expectations of acoustic quality, enhancing productivity and satisfaction. Yet these standards are often not developed for or applied to R&D and manufacturing spaces that include traditional workplace room types and uses; design criteria is limited to OSHA-assessment for noise-at-work violations. Hybrid office buildings incorporating prototyping and maker spaces are common today and often contain high-noise equipment traditionally found in dedicated machine shops. As these facilities are incorporated alongside traditional offices, noise and vibration levels generated by fabrication equipment should be accurately quantified to avoid compromised workplace acoustics. While sound data is available for most large construction equipment, available data for smaller fabrication machines typically found in machine shops is often non-standardized and difficult to obtain. Field measurement of existing equipment installations can ground an acoustical analysis with real-world data and be highly valuable in evaluating potential noise and vibration impacts and applying cost-effective mitigation during design. This case study will present measurements obtained during a noise and vibration assessment of an existing machine shop located within an office building. The discussion will include limitations of the data and an assessment of potential for disruptions.

scholarly journals Sustainability at an Urban Level: A Case Study of a Neighborhood in Dubai, UAE

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4355
Author(s):  
Sundus Shareef ◽  
Haşim Altan
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Thermal Performance ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
The United States ◽  
Design Variables

The United Arab Emirates is witnessing enormous growth and the sustainability attitude has become one of the most important priorities in this development. This paper aims to optimize the environmental sustainability of the Emirate of Dubai communities by adopting an existing community as a case study. The investigation of the case study is looking at sustainability levels that consists of two major factors in neighborhood sustainable design, such as livability and thermal performance. The strategy of enhancing and optimizing the communities’ sustainability starts with an approach to the applicable modifications and solutions to the existed community master planning, where the modifications cover the two main urban design variables; (a) building design, and (b) open and landscape areas. The effect of the adopted scenarios is analyzed to find the improvement in environmental and thermal performance. The study has adopted two computer software packages, namely CityCAD and Integrated Environmental Solutions—Virtual Environment (IES-VE), to undertake the assessments. Furthermore, factors of urban sustainability are evaluated using the United States Green Building Council (USGBC)’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) neighborhood assessment tool. The results have shown that the environmental sustainability levels can be increased after the adoption of certain suggested scenarios, in order to mitigate the likely weakness indicated in the livability aspects, covering land-use diversity, accessibility, transportation system, green and landscape areas, and energy efficiency, and the case study community can be turned toward “Sustainable Community” by implementing recommended actions and modifications.

scholarly journals Diagnoses for Potential Enaction of Water–Energy Nexus in Green Building Rating Systems: Case Study of the Pearl Rating System of United Arab Emirates

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 5284
Author(s):  
Reshna Raveendran ◽  
Ahmed Hassan ◽  
Kheira Anissa Tabet Aoul
Keyword(s):  
Energy Policy ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Rebound Effect ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Rating System ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Water Energy Nexus

The green building rating system within the sustainability framework of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Pearl Rating System (PRS), similar to most international rating systems such as LEED, considers several strategies, regulations, and policies to improve the energy and water performance in buildings. However, the applicability of considering water as part of energy or the fact that the utilization of energy mandates the usage of water seems unexplored and is not yet included in any of the existing building rating systems. A unified approach of water and energy resources is thus vital for future considerations in energy policy, planning, and the inclusion of the same in the sustainability rating systems. This paper investigated, as a case study, the prospects of water–energy nexus in the prevailing UAE green building rating system—PRS—to uncover whether any water conservation strategy has an adverse effect on energy and vice versa. The review revealed that the major shortcomings of the PRS in terms of water–energy nexus strategy are the usage of reference codes that are not suitable for the UAE’s climate and geographical conditions, inexistent synergy between some credit categories, the oversight of rebound effects, and a need for credit reassessment. The paper also recommends that any proposed strategy to realign credit categories in terms of the water–energy nexus with the potential risk to also have a hidden negative rebound effect that researchers and practitioners should identify lest the water–energy tradeoff brings unprecedented repercussions. The theoretical analysis establishes that the bifurcating management of water and energy in the sustainability rating system and energy policy needs to be revisited in order to reap more sustainable and optimum results that are environmentally, ecologically, and financially consistent.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document