I believe my predecessor in his message stated his thoughts very clearly and concisely of what Green buildings are, what the challenges facing the UAE are, and the Vision of the Emirates Green Building Council.

I would like to start from where he left with the Vision of Emirates Green Building Council and say something about what is our business. This has been clearly documented in our mission statement that says "EGBC helps shape policies for the built environment and facilitates collaborative solutions to promote sustainable practices in the UAE." This means our members come from a wide range of the UAE society. From Banks to Universities to specialized consultants to material producers, builders, facilities managers, chemical producers, automation, HVAC…..the list goes on.

Achieving Our Vision

Our strength therefore lies in our collaborative efforts in order to facilitate the necessary changes that promote sustainable practices and take us to our vision. This requires our members and management to be engaged with the UAE society firmly with all its diverse segments, from Academia to legislators to businessmen to specifies, media, industry, certifiers, researchers……in fact the whole society. And what a great thing it would be if the whole society were to be our members. Well, I would strongly encourage that and with our ground breaking forum page we intend to facilitate communication information dissemination and exchange of ideas. In fact the EGBC website has been designed with this in mind. There you will find tools and information to help you in the academy section, Green vendors list, training and events that are posted throughout the year. I would highly recommend you to visit the site, be a member, get involved in shaping our society and start benefiting from the cumulative experience of all our members which I'm sure runs in hundreds of thousands of years. This will definitely give you a head start in your bit in preserving and reducing the use of scarce resources of our planet, making it a better place for our children and future generations.