Summertown Interiors: Dubai Municipality’s green rating system set to improve corporate sustainability

The Dubai Municipality’s decision to introduce Al Safat, a green building rating system for new buildings in Dubai is set to improve corporate sustainability, according to Summertown Interiors, the UAE’s leading fit out contractor specialising in green interiors.

The rating system has been designed to achieve high sustainable performance of buildings by strengthening their planning, design, implementation and operational phases. It is now mandatory for all building owners, investors and developers to meet the Al Safat’s minimum bronze rating – those failing to meet the minimum rating criteria will not be given permits.

According to the Dubai Municipality, by applying Al Safat standards a building can produce savings in energy use of up to 34 per cent – currently, more than 90 per cent of buildings in Dubai constructed after 2001 already meet the necessary criteria to qualify for the bronze certification. Led by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the system is part of Dubai’s vision to achieve a smart, sustainable city status by 2021 – companies will be strongly encouraged to achieve beyond the minimum bronze rating.

Commenting on the Al Safat system UAE Marcos Bish, the Managing Director of Summertown Interiors said: “The introduction of Al Safat is a promising move by the Dubai Municipality - since Dubai pledged to make Expo 2020 the first sustainable Expo the UAE Government has made very clear its intention to become a successful model of a sustainable economy and has put in place some ambitious targets to make this vision a reality.

“Encouragingly, the UAE recently ranked eighth in the 2015 LEED Green Building Nations report released by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) – the world’s leading green building certification program used worldwide. However, although there has been an increased interest in building green in the past few years, the corporate and economic benefits of sustainability are still underestimated in the region.

“The UAE Government’s implementation of plans and policies such as the Al Safat Sytem are highly important in helping to promote and enforce policies to reduce its carbon footprint. Dubai’s commitment to becoming a world leading 'green' city provides businesses with an opportunity to understand and implement strategies that can translate to their bottom line.

“Sustainability has always been at the forefront of Summertown’s operations and we will continue to pioneer the ‘green’ movement here in the UAE. We look to inspire and help other companies to integrate ‘green’ practises into their business strategy to help sustainability become the standard modus operandi, both in the UAE and worldwide.”