Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer inaugurates DEWA's Workshops at Al Ruwaiyah

Dubai, UAE, 22 December 2015: HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) inaugurated DEWA’s new workshops at Al Ruwaiyah, which received LEED certification from the US Green Building Council.

The facility is the largest of its kind in the region, covering 990,903 square feet, and includes 24 buildings, with a total gross floor area of 215,793 square feet. It contains light and heavy vehicle workshops, a special equipment workshop, a repair and paint shop, a car washing facility, a store warehouse, a tires, storage areas for transformers and batteries, a cable test laboratory, training halls, and administration offices. The workshops feature the latest international lighting technologies, air conditioning, and conservation-aware methods of preserving water while washing cars.

During the opening, HE was accompanied with Abdullah Obaidullah, Executive Vice President of Water & Civil, Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Dawood Khalid, VP- Commercial, Branly Nassour, VP-Water P&E New Connections, Mohammed Al Shamsi, VP- Civil Projects Engineering & Water Maintenance Engineering Projects, Mohammed Abdulkareem Al Shamsi, Acting Executive Director of the UAE Water Aid Foundation, Ahmed Abdullah, Senior Manager of External Communications at DEWA, and other officials.

HE was briefed in detail on the workshops special facilities that were designed with sustainable architecture and engineering in accordance with the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) for New Construction and Major Renovations v3, using the LEED Campus Guidance - Group Approach for LEED certification. A special team from the US Green Building Council worked with DEWA, to develop the system for the project, which is the first of its kind.

“We are pleased to launch this pioneering project that has received LEED certification from the US Green Building Council. This reflects DEWA’s efforts to achieve our vision of becoming a sustainable, innovative, world-class utility, in line with the Green Economy for Sustainable Development initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and the Dubai Plan 2021 for Dubai to be sustainable with its resources, whose environmental elements are clean, healthy and sustainable in a safe and resilient built environment,” said Al Tayer.

“This achievement enhances DEWA’s profile in regard to sustainability, as does DEWA’s ‘Sustainable Building’ in Al Quoz, which is the first sustainable government building in the UAE, and the largest sustainable government building in the world to receive a platinum LEED rating. DEWA gives priority to the environment, among all projects and operations, to achieve sustainable development in Dubai, and further enhance Dubai’s position as a global hub for trade, finance, tourism, and green economy.”

Following the completion of the workshops, the project was ‘Gold LEED certified,’ on the 11 August 2015; making this project the biggest workshop in the world with this certification, meeting all sustainable standards and requirements.

The project features a low-energy lighting system, a water-cooled air conditioning system, Energy Star rated office equipment and appliances, it reduces the ‘Heat Island effect,’  and features highly-efficient water fixtures that save 52% of energy, cumulatively resulting in 31% more efficiency in regard to energy consumption, than the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 Baseline Building, adopting the highest of international standards.