Trakhees-EHS sustainable building a success

Trakhees-EHS, the regulatory arm of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) Dubai has successfully completed more than four years of regulatory enforcement in the area of sustainable built environment. The sustainability department, established in late 2007, started off with a generic green building regulation for all new constructions in its jurisdiction. While the regulation was aligned to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, EHS achieved a balance between the established rating system and local relevance. On the Green Building Regulatory front, EHS developed additional regulations for different types of built environments in its jurisdiction, such as its own regulation for villas and low rise residential developments and another for “Warehouses and Industrial developments”. The regulations were based on discussions between EHS, its stakeholders, business units, clients and the engineering community. To ensure sustainability is carried forward from design to delivery, EHS worked alongside regulations on an array of support tools such as awareness sessions, client procedures, guidelines, fact sheets to assist and encourage stakeholders to embrace sustainability as opposed to viewing them as obstacles to their business. Existing buildings have gained significant attention in the recent past both as a tool for bringing immediate savings in water and power and as a weapon for combating climate change. EHS accentuate the role of Existing Buildings through its “Energy Efficiency Improvement program” commonly referred to as EEIP where experts were invited to share their real case studies with the delegates. These events provided a fitting platform for the stakeholders to discuss serious topics and explore the possibility of carrying such programs on their facilities. EHS’s efforts have culminated in returns in the form of environments achievements. EHS has through its regulatory process facilitated in the Green Building Certification Institute certification of 31 of its projects. These projects contribute towards the green building initiative in Dubai within the special development Zone. EHS announced that it has launched an “In House Certification” program for green building projects. This service grants the clients an option to seek EHS certification in lieu of certification from other bodies.