The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building standard devised by the United States Green Building Council often comes under fire for being insufficiently rigorous – particularly for large commercial buildings. Now a new version – LEED v4 – has been established. Taking effect in November, 2013, LEED v4 incorporates four new standards designed to improve the performance of buildings, one of which makes it mandatory for developers to install energy and water meters, The National reports.
While Abu Dhabi tends to rely on the Urban Planning Council’s homegrown Estidama standard for new builds like the compliant eco-villa we toured earlier this year at the World Future Energy Summit, Dubai has been pursuing an increasing number of LEED-certified constructions, including the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s service center in Al Quoz.
The largest government building in the world to achieve LEED Platinum, the 340, 000 square foot DEWA building achieved 98 out of a possible 110 points.
But from now on, it will be mandatory for all developers who seek any level of LEED certification from the US Green Building Council to install water and energy meters in each new home or office, where it was previously optional to do so.
Talking to The National, one of LEED’s founders and the Director of Green Technologies, Mario Senevirtane said that installing meters is not very costly to developers, but doing so results in significant energy and water savings.
He added that it is crucial to have some kind of a benchmark to follow when it comes to sparing the consumption of vital resources – particularly in Dubai where both water and energy come at a premium.
Other new standards include reducing outdoor water use, and separating and recycling construction waste.
:: The National
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
This is not entirely a new thing. LEED 2009 already has a requirement for building owners to share whole building energy and water usage data. Logically, that means that they must already have in place meters, because you can’t share data if you aren’t capturing it.