Masdar City’s Eco Residences 2 project wins MENA Green Building Project of the Year 2020

• MENA Green Building Awards recognize outstanding work of private and public sector entities and green building and sustainability practitioners.
• The accolade brings to 51 the number of awards won by the pioneering sustainable urban development to-date. 

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 10, December, 2020: Masdar City’s Eco Residences 2 project, has been awarded the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Green Building Project of the Year, at the MENA Green Building Awards 2020. This award marks the second Green Building Award for the Eco Residence project, after phase one of the development, received the Green Residential Building award in 2018. 

The win was announced at the ninth edition of the Green Building Awards in Dubai, which opened with an address by Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Honorary President of Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) and CEO of Alliances for Global Sustainability. The awards event was hosted in partnership with regional EmiratesGBC, an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, and marked the conclusion of its 9th Annual Congress held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment with the theme ‘Building a Sustainable Future in Uncertain Times’.

The Eco Residences 2 is the latest mix-use development within Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, comprising of 365 Residential Units and 513 Corporate Residential units located within nine high-performance residential buildings. It is also complemented with 5,646 square meters of retail, an amenity and pool deck and a public plaza.

The Eco Residences 2 was designed by Masdar City project partners, CBT Architects (lead architect) and EHAF Engineers (lead consultant), Sixco (main contractor) and AECOM (architects and engineers of record), under the central vision to create a sustainable, compact, and walkable mixed-use neighborhood. Through the application of an integrated and holistic design process, the Eco Residences 2 project team, exceeded all Masdar City Sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs), whilst achieving a dual three Estidama Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS), which was introduced for new buildings by the Department of Municipalities and Transport, Abu Dhabi, and LEED Platinum Campus certification according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building rating system. LEED Platinum certification is the highest building rating in LEED, and one of the world’s most widely used green building codes. 

“The Eco Residence 2 exemplifies the idea of Masdar City as a compact and walkable development. It is a commercially viable mixed-use city, providing a high quality of life with the smallest environmental footprint. The focus has been to develop highly sustainable buildings which exemplifies Masdar City and embodies the ‘four pillars of sustainability’: social, environmental, economic, and cultural,” said, Mr. Abdulla Balalaa, Acting Executive Director of Sustainable Real Estate, Masdar City.

“The Eco Residence 2 introduces exemplary design which prioritizes a human-centered approach in harmony with reduced environmental impact and connection to natural surroundings. It is the epitome of sustainability both in a desert environment and in a commercial mixed-use context. This project creates a community that is well connected, walkable and a stimulator of innovation. Masdar would like to congratulate all of our partners on the success of the project, a deserving winner of the title ‘MENA Green Building Project of the Year 2020’.” 

Kishore Varanasi, Principle, CBT Architects, said, “The design and construction of the Eco Residence 2 project demonstrates environmental design and construction excellence, driven by a desire to conserve energy and water, minimize GHG emissions, and with a vision to promote biodiversity, minimize the use of high-embodied-energy materials and create an attractive, liveable and inspiring environment.” 

“Energy modelling has ensured the buildings perform at least 50% more efficiently than the baseline and an early commitment to push the envelope of sustainable design and to exceed sustainability standards for Masdar City, allowed the Eco Residences 2 to demonstrate an environmentally and economically conscientious design process from the beginning. 83% of demolition and construction waste (by weight) was recycled or diverted from landfills and 60% of total operational waste is targeted to be diverted from landfills and incineration.”

The Green Building Project of the Year award 2020, represents the 51st accolade awarded to Masdar City since its inception and the second award received so far in 2020. Masdar City was honoured earlier this year at the World Architecture News|World Interiors News awards 2020, which recognize the ‘creative, outstanding work of the innovative and visionary architects worldwide’.