Dubai’s Tourism focuses on 'retrofitting' to enable environmental sustainability

The Wyndham Dubai Marina property recently underwent an extensive retrofitting programme to maximise efficiency and increase its energy saving potential.

Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) has been focusing on its ongoing efforts to improve sustainability of the tourism sector.
As part of this, the ministry is focussing on the process of ‘retrofitting’ — upgrading of a building’s existing systems and technologies, transforming them into smart, energy-efficient infrastructures that can improve  operations,  help save costs on an annual basis.

Commenting on the importance of retrofitting practices, Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director, Tourism Development & Investments, Dubai Tourism, said: “Working in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to spearhead Dubai’s transformation into one of the most sustainable cities globally, we aim to encourage wide-spread adoption of energy efficient practices including the implementation of retrofitting programmes across Dubai’s hotel portfolio.

He added, “Our ongoing partnerships with energy saving companies are aimed at boosting environmental sustainability across the industry, to harness the power of our hospitality stakeholders and assist them in their commitment to efficient practices throughout their properties. This allows for the development of high-performance buildings that are less costly to operate, will increase in value over time and are able to contribute to a more sustainable sector.”

DST also encourages hotels to enroll their properties for the Carbon Calculator tool, created to enable measurement of the CO2 emission baseline of the hospitality industry in Dubai.