Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates in Dubai is the first five-star hotel in the UAE to obtain LEED Silver certification, awarded in recognition of its environmentally sustainable operations.
Over the course of 12 months, the hotel underwent various rounds of audits and had to meet stringent criteria across five LEED categories, including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and the quality of the indoor environment. Points were then awarded in each category.
In order to become LEED certified, the hotel had to show a significant reduction of its energy and water consumption and a reduction of its impact on the environment.
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Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates general manager Konstantin Zeuke said: “We recognise the importance of sustainability and want to reflect this in our day to day operations. As a group, we are already committed to several environmental initiatives and at our hotel this is integrated into everything we do. We always strive to become better when it comes to greener operations.
“As per the Global Business Traveller Survey 2013 report, 47% of business travellers said they prefer to patronise ‘green’ hotels when staying out of town for work, which is a great advantage for us. We are extremely proud of this achievement and of the commitment and dedication of our employees in acquiring this certification.”
The LEED certificate compliments the Kempinski Renewable Energies (KREEN) policy, which was founded in 2012 to cater for Kempinski Hotels' need to address the challenge of optimising its portfolio's energy efficiency.
Initially, KREEN's services will be available exclusively to Kempinski hotels, however the long-term plan is also to share the practice and consult other hotels.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and consists of a group of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighbourhoods. Certification is granted solely by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).
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