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Abu Dhabi to build first green hotel in Al Ain

ABU DHABI - Al Ain Wildlife and Park Resort will be Abu Dhabi’s first hotel and resort project to be built in line with new Green building standards.

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“We want this hotel to be a showcase for sustainable hospitality. This is where guests will stay in total harmony with nature and wildlife,” said Shaikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of ADTA, as he welcomed participants to the inaugural World Green Tourism Abu Dhabi exhibition and conference, in the capital. Estidama or ‘sustainability’ in Arabic, is an initiative launched by Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council to transform the emirate into a model of sustainable 
urbanisation.

The first hotel to be assessed based on the mandatory Estidama Pearl Rating System or PRS is the upcoming Al Ain Wildlife Park & Resort or AWPR, a multi-faceted development designed around wildlife to create an outstanding sustainable leisure and learning destination for people who want to be in touch with nature.

The resort is expected to achieve 4 pearls in Estidama’s Pearl Rating System. Ghanim Mubarak Al Hajeri, Director General of AWPR termed the announcement as “an important step in development of a truly sustainable leisure and learning destination.”

Tendering process for project is underway, when completed; the 50,000 square meters hotel will have over 200 rooms and provide state-of-the-art business facilities including a ballroom with capacity for 1,500 people, conference rooms and a business centre.

‘Green Hotels’ are environmental-friendly properties, which will implement very important practices and programmes that save water and energy, and reduce solid waste to help protect the earth. The aim of Green Hotel Building Guidelines is the need to reduce the environmental impact of buildings and other supporting systems, without sacrificing comfort and health or aesthetic.

To be more sustainable, green buildings use primarily available, renewable, reused or recycled materials. The use of rapidly renewable materials is the main focus in the process of building. In addition to relying on natural building materials, the emphasis on the architectural design is heightened.

The orientation of a building, the utilisation of local climate and site conditions, the emphasis on natural ventilation through design, considerably reduce operational costs and positively impact the environmental.

Green Hotel Building Guidelines main objective is to minimising the ecological footprint, as are on-site handling of energy acquisition, on-site water capture, alternate sewage treatment and water reuse.

—haseeb@khaleejtimes.com