Masdar City is a technology and innovation hub and a pioneering sustainable community in Abu Dhabi, writes an article in the newspaper Gulf Today. Along with its consulting partners Woods Bagot and Faithful+Gould, it has now held the groundbreaking ceremony of its latest development – Masdar City Square (MC2).
The MC2 development is designed to advance the
United Arab Emirates’ Net-Zero by 2050 strategy. It covers an area
of 29,000 square meters, including single- and multi-tenant office
buildings and a parking facility. Its headquarters will be Abu
Dhabi’s first net-zero energy office building, featuring renewable
energy technologies such as a solar photovoltaic panel canopy. Work
on the development will begin this year and is scheduled for
completion in 2024.
On the occasion of the groundbreaking, Ahmed Baghoum, Acting
Executive Director of Masdar City, said: “With the completion of
MC2, and its seven new green buildings (…) we are further
demonstrating how urban development can be both economically and
environmentally sound and sustainable.” He continued that Masdar
City would serve as a testbed for sustainable urban development in
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
Opened in 2010, Masdar City is one of the world’s most sustainable
urban developments, according to Gulf Today. All its buildings are
mandated to achieve at least a 3-Pearl Estidama rating, which means
they are designed to reduce energy consumption by at least 40 per
cent and water consumption by at least 40 per cent compared to
regulated standards.