The Louvre Museum to be built on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island will aim to seek a higher quality mark of sustainability than was previously envisaged, a key figure of master developer Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) has revealed.
Speaking at CW's Building Sustainability Into the Middle East conference, Dr Nathalie Staelens, head of environmental services at TDIC, said the project was being updated to achieve an Estidama pearl building rating instead of a LEED silver rating, and was confident this would be met.
She said: "When we started Estidama did not exist. But now Estidama applies to the project so we have updated it to the Pearl Building Rating System."
Designed by architect Jean Nouvel with Buro Happold as engineers, Dr Staelens said the plan was to create a “museum city narrow passageways covered by a dome canopy.”
The dome will be able to create a microclimate through solar shading generated by its 10 layers of stainless steel in mashrabiya pattern and low emissivity coating, she added. Air from the cooling systems will be redirected into the plaza – the main area where the public will walk between the buildings.
Dr Staelens said TDIC is aiming for a 42% reduction from the baseline in water use by using low water use fixtures and dry cleaning techniques for dome among other measures.
Earlier this month, it was reported that name of the contractor to execute construction of the Louvre Museum on Saadiyat Island will be announced by the end of December.
Dr Staelens said: "From my point of view, we need to formalise our ratings and start construction."
Source: Construction Week Online