Nikken design gets LEED-certification first in Arab world

Nikken congratulates Dubai government for setting regional environmental benchmark, reducing water and energy consumption by 77% & 47% respectively

A 15 year old Nikken Sekkei design has played its part in supporting the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCI) building, which has just received LEED certification for environmental sustainability. This existing building is the first to achieve the standard in the Arab world and only the fourth outside of the US and Canada.

The official ceremony was held at the Chamber in the presence of HE Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, the UAE’s Minister of Environment and Water. Also present was the Chamber’s Director General, HE Eng Hamad Buamim, who noted: “Receiving this LEED accreditation is a huge success, not just for us and Dubai but the UAE and broader region.”

The building was originally designed by Nikken in 1995, three years prior to the inception of LEED standards. Commenting on the achievement, Mitsuo Nakamura, Chairman of Nikken Sekkei said, “The fact that the building effectively accommodated DCCI’s sustainability programme which essentially entailed ‘greening an existing building’, highlights not only DCCI’s innovation, but also Nikken’s far reaching vision.”

The DCCI sought to lower the impact its building had on the environment, in line with the Dubai vision 2015 outlined by Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Some of the pioneering initiatives included, capturing the humidity through the air-conditioning systems as condensate water to use in the fountain and toilet systems saving 0.85 million litres of water a year and adjusting lift weighting loads to decrease energy consumption by 20%.

The UAE has one of highest carbon emissions per capita in the world and naturally being a desert nation, like most of the region, water resources are scarce. On average buildings account for 40% of carbon emissions, so DCCI took the initiative and introduced many innovative eco friendly upgrades. As a result the 18-floor building has now reduced its water consumption by a staggering 77% and its energy consumption has fallen by 47%.

 “Given the rising costs of energy production, according to Dubai-based Farnek Avireal a sustainable FM expert, on average a 35,000 square metre office tower in UAE will now expect to pay an annual electricity bill nearly $1 million, so a saving of 47% could represent a cost saving of almost $500,000 per annum,” said Nakamura. 

Indeed between 1998 and 2008 the DCCI claimed that it had saved almost $2 million in utility costs through gradual sustainability initiatives dispelling the myth that ‘going green’ is too expensive.