Reducing the total amount of energy and materials required for building or maintaining a house can help people to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. An eco-friendly approach also ensures greater equanimity and physical comfort to the residents. By adopting a green lifestyle we can even save a lot of money. There are also several local utility firms that provide assistance in installing energy-efficient equipment or sharing the total cost of these systems. A home owner can employ passive cooling and heating techniques for capturing or deflecting solar heat through intensive insulation,reflective roofs or strategically installed traditional ceiling fans. This further translates into less energy use and low construction costs. In addition, total amount of the lumber bought, wasted because of overage or transported from the construction site as debris is substantially reduced. On the other hand, acoustic and thermal insulation is significantly boosted.

While constructing or designing green/sustainable building Focus should be on energy , water and indoor air quality. ACs take up more than 55% of the energy load and lighting takes up between 15-18% . The whole building sustainability theme has been accelerating worldwide in the past two years.  Many countries are in  their infancy in terms of applying sustainable theories. From that perspective UAE has been fast enough in introducing green initatives.

The new criteria for the certification of sustainable buildings in the UAE were revealed on Wednesday during the Arab International Sustainable Real Estate Conference at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The detailed criteria were published in a book entitled ?Dubai Sustainable Communities Initiative? .

The Dubai Certificate for Real Estate Sustainability is given to property and construction projects in Dubai that apply sustainability standards throughout the development phase.  Receiving the certificate is dependent on a set of economic, environmental, social and cultural standards. Meanwhile, the environmental standards require contractors to use construction materials that reduce negative effects on the environment, and to efficiently consume natural resources, like water.

A sustainable building can save upto 50% of the energy.