Did you have any idea that cooking oil was used for the creation of new buildings in a community in Dubai? As the region’s first fully operational sustainable community. Dubai’s Sustainable City has made use of B100 biodiesel to support the establishment of new buildings. It includes a school which opened in January and the soon-to-opened autism centre. Phase 2 of its development programme.
Contrary to conventional diesel that used to fuel construction equipment, B100 biodiesel trims harmful emissions like carbon monoxide by 50% and leaves no toxic residues.
Karim Al Jisr, executive director of the See Institute, located at TSC stated that it makes the construction really sustainable. They purchased B100 biodiesel from a bio-refinery in the Dubai Investment Park. The biodiesel created mostly from cooking oil used by fast-food chains, like McDonald’s. They have illustrated how to design and live in a low-carbon community.”
Al Jisr can support this assertion with verifiable statistics. With the use of biodiesel, the city has diminished its carbon footprint by up to 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year during the construction period.
Last year, the community noted that it had saved up to 6,554 tonnes of carbon emissions from the diverse sustainable measures practices within the community. This is equivalent to 670 SUVs taken off the road for one year.
Moreover, the average annual water consumption in the community is 40 per cent lower than the average in Dubai.
According to British ex-pat and TSC resident Izabela Morriss, the community also has lower energy consumption due to the solar panels placed in every household.
Electricity cost averages only 97kWh per square metre per year. It is 40% lower than specified in the Dubai green building standards. Also, around 3% of households in the community embraced an electric vehicle.
Residents at TSC also do farming and produce their own garden vegetables. It is home to 11 temperature-controlled bio-domes. The residents are assiduously involved in producing their own food.
