Saint Gobain, a world leader in the habitat and construction markets, has chosen Masdar City, one of the world’s most sustainable urban developments coming up in Abu Dhabi, UAE for construction of its first “positive-energy” home in the region.
Set for completion in 2019, the project will be the first of its kind for the company in the Middle East, said Mohammad Jameel Al Ramahi, the chief executive of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, after signing the MoU with Hady Nassif, the general delegate of Saint-Gobain in the Middle East.
The French manufacturer aims to bring its innovative and sustainable solutions to the UAE with the construction of the energy-efficient “Multi–Comfort House” in Masdar City, he stated.
Masdar City is targeting a 4 Pearl Estidama rating for the design and construction of its community infrastructure; specifically, the roads, utilities and public spaces that make up the development.
Masdar City is the first project in Abu Dhabi to aim for a 4 Pearl community rating, he stated.
Nassif said the Saint-Gobain Multi-Comfort House is a low-energy consuming and positive-energy house mainly designed to produce more energy than it consumes through the use of high-performance materials and construction methods.
The company first developed the concept in 2004 covering all aspects of comfortable home living, and of occupying tertiary buildings such as offices, shops and public buildings.
In total, 18 Multi-Comfort houses have been built around the world to showcase Saint-Gobain’s strengths in innovation and materials science, remarked Nassif.
The Multi-Comfort house in Masdar City will be the first in the Middle East and will be fully adapted to the arid conditions of the UAE.
It achieves comfortable living across four dimensions: light, air quality, acoustics and thermal conditions, he added.
Masdar’s executive director of Sustainable Real Estate, Yousef Baselaib, said: “Masdar City is a hub for innovation and sustainability, and a natural home for Saint-Gobain to showcase its state-of-the-art capabilities in sustainable living.”
The collaboration between Masdar and Saint Gobain follows a busy year of construction activity at Masdar City, which saw agreements for around 400,000 sq m of new real estate either signed or approved, including the recent launch of Masdar City’s Eco-Villa prototype, a pilot project incorporating water and energy-saving technologies, stated Baselaib.
Currently, more than 900,000 sq m of Gross Floor Area (GFA) in Masdar City are either complete, under construction or have a firm development agreement in place. This will include private homes, schools, hotels and more office space, it added.
Nassif pointed out that for 350 years, Saint-Gobain had consistently demonstrated its ability to invent products that improve quality of life.
"We share Masdar’s commitment to creating a more sustainable future for the generations to come, and our Multi Comfort House is the proof of that commitment," he added.
Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and solutions which are key ingredients in the buildings, transportation, infrastructure and in many industrial applications.
Present in more than 67 countries with more than 170 000 employees, the French group was last year ranked as one of the top 100 industrial groups in the world.
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