Green buildings and sustainable construction in the United Arab Emirates

Sustainable development is a relatively new trend within the construction industry in UAE whereby organizations seek economic development approaches that benefit the local environment and improve the quality of life. This paper aims at exploring the level of awareness of sustainable construction in the UAE meanwhile identifying the main challenges facing the implementation of the green building notion. In a forward looking approach, the paper attempts to provide some recommendations that should facilitate and enhance the implementation of green building in UAE. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 120 practitioners representing clients, consultants, project managers, contractors and suppliers. A total of 68 practitioners completed the survey. The key findings of the statistical analysis indicated that the construction industry in UAE is witnessing a growing awareness of sustainability, which is leading to a notable development in the green construction culture. The results suggested that there are different opinions and perplexity on some of the main issues related to green buildings, primarily cost. Also, despite the growing awareness, the study suggested that the green building concept still needs further enhancement across the various stakeholder groups whereby a change towards the green culture will be necessary to reduce carbon emissions and encourage best practices, industry wide. The study recommended the need for a federal legislation to be enforced by the UAE government to ensure the implementation of green buildings by the construction industry.