The Global Centre of Future Energy

Masdar: The Reality of Future Energy

Masdar is a new kind of energy company that

takes a holistic approach to renewable energy

and clean technology. A commercial enterprise,

Masdar operates through five integrated units,

including an independent, research-driven

graduate university, and seeks to become a

leader in making renewable energy a real,

viable business and Abu Dhabi a global centre

of excellence in the renewable energy and

clean technology category.

The company extends the UAE’s leadership in

the energy sector into the future. Wholly owned

by the Mubadala Development Company, Masdar

integrates research, development and innovation

with investment, sustainable production,

deployment and export, and is a supporting pillar

of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, which

seeks to diversify the emirate’s economy as

it transitions from a natural resource-based

economy to one that is largely knowledge-based.

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Masdar City and Abu Dhabi 2030

As one of Masdar’s integrated units, Masdar City

makes a substantial contribution to the emirate’s

economic development goals by attracting

knowledge-economy companies and organisations

to Abu Dhabi. As a cleantech cluster and test-bed

of renewable energy and sustainable technologies,

Masdar City not only helps diversify the emirate’s

economic base by providing a home to a new

industry, but it also provides an environment

where new technologies are developed,

commercialised and exported

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Artist impression: Cultural district of Saadiyat Island, part of Abu Dhabi 2030 plan

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Masdar City: The Global Centre of Future Energy

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Masdar City is an emerging clean technology

hub that positions companies located here at

the heart of this global industry. A place where

businesses can thrive and innovation can flourish,

Masdar City is a modern Arabian city that, like its

forerunners, is in tune with its surroundings. It

offers a fertile environment that inspires creativity

and growth to organisations operating in this

strategic and dynamic sector.

This is a low-carbon, renewable energy-

powered city that not only embodies Abu Dhabi’s

commitment to a sustainable future, but is also

pioneering best practices in sustainable urban

planning, design and development.

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One of the most sustainable communities in the

world, Masdar City is an emerging cleantech cluster

like no other. It provides an exciting environment

for cleantech companies, academic institutions,

research facilities, fi nancial fi rms and other

organisations from around the world. They can

network, collaborate, demonstrate, and develop

new technologies and solutions.

With international leaders in this fi eld located here,

Masdar City offers the many benefi ts of industry

clustering that are so important in an industry

defi ned by rapid and continuous advancements in

technology, and changing business and regulatory

environments across the globe.

As such, Masdar City is a place where businesses

can thrive and innovation can fl ourish. The city itself

is an integrator of renewable energy and cleantech

technologies as it seeks to solve the enormous

challenges of managing and bringing together the

many complex systems that will help Masdar City

become one of the most sustainable cities on

the planet.

But the city is also a desirable place to live.

Responsive to the culture and spirit of Abu Dhabi,

the design of the city is inspired by the traditional

architecture and urban planning of the region and

includes numerous examples of where traditional

design techniques help reduce energy consumption

and improve the quality of the environment.

It is an urban community where the pedestrian is

dominant. As a result, individuals will be able to live

and work without the need for a personal vehicle.

Shaded walkways and narrow streets (enabled by a

specially designed utility infrastructure) reduce glare

and solar gain, and create pleasant and attractive

outdoor spaces. The careful placement of the city’s

orientation and street grid to sun and wind provides

some degree of shading at street level throughout

the day and minimises thermal gain. It also makes

best use of the cooling night breezes and lessens

the effect of hot daytime winds.

Traditional passive features such as shaded

colonnades, window blinds and wind towers help to

further improve comfort levels. Carefully planned

landscape and water features aid in reducing

temperatures, while enhancing the quality of the

street experience. Foliated “green fi nger” linear

parks will separate built-up areas, not only to

capture and direct cool breezes into the heart of

the city but also to reduce solar gain and provide

cool pleasant oases.

The intelligent design of residential and commercial

spaces reduces demand for artifi cial lighting

and air conditioning, while all buildings will meet

high sustainable building standards. The city

has been designed around the individual and the

family, and through the creation of fully integrated

neighbourhoods orientated around public spaces

and civic amenities, the city encourages the growth

of communities and relationships.

The Global Centre of Future Energy

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Purpose built to serve the unique needs of the

renewable energy and clean technology industry,

Masdar City is a magnet for companies, fi nancial

capital and talent in this dynamic sector. Its

design and infrastructure reinforce the many

benefi ts of industry clustering, while providing

the world-class offi ce, sales, demonstration

and research facilities required of the high-

tech, knowledge-intensive companies and

organisations operating in this sector. Firms of

all sizes, and at all stages of their development

will benefi t from locating in Masdar City.

Masdar City also offers an unmatched technology

testing and demonstration platform; a unique

graduate research university in the Masdar

Institute; a community of like-minded students,

academics and practitioners; and truly low-

carbon living and working.

Numerous global players in the renewable

energy and sustainability industry have already

recognised the benefi ts of locating in the city.

GE is an anchor partner that will build in the

city its fi rst ecomagination Centre focused on

sustainable business solutions. Others partners

include BASF, Bayer MaterialScience, Korea

Technopark Association, Schneider Electric,

Siemens, and Swiss Village Association. As well,

the UAE successfully bid to host the secretariat

of the International Renewable Energy Agency

(IRENA), which will be located in Masdar City.

The city also benefi ts from Abu Dhabi’s many

advantages – including its location adjacent to

three continents and surrounded by fast-growing

emerging markets, a pro-business environment,

supportive government policies, safety, and a

modern, high quality of life. As a special economic

zone, Masdar City offers organisations 100

percent foreign ownership, zero taxes, zero tariffs

and a range of other benefi ts associated with

special economic zone operations in the UAE.

A Working City

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Masdar City is designed to provide a quality of

life to rival that of any world-class city – while

also being uncompromisingly sustainable. Why?

Because one of Masdar City’s objectives is to

demonstrate that environmentally responsible

living is compatible with a commercially

viable business model that offers people and

organisations a desirable place to live and work.

A mixture of passive design elements, cutting-

edge resource-management technologies

(including smart appliances and smart metres)

and a rigorous commitment to eliminating

resource leakages mean that the city’s

dramatically reduced levels of energy and water

consumption do not mean constrained lifestyles.

Also, planners have paid as much attention to

the spaces between buildings as to the buildings

themselves, resulting in a high-quality public

realm. Restaurants and cafes will use the unique

micro-climates that will be intrinsic to the city’s

architecture and urban planning to create vibrant

piazzas, avenues and terraces that will allow

inhabitants and visitors to enjoy al fresco dining in

comfortable surroundings.

A Living City

Artist impression: View between the Knowledge Centre and a Lab building of the Masdar Institute

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As a result, life in Masdar City will be about

enjoying the pleasant streetscape and cultural

events with family and friends, and walking to

work, shopping and eating out, secure in the

knowledge that your environmental footprint is

the smallest possible.

The city will provide retail fl oor space,

carefully distributed to serve a cosmopolitan

and multinational mix of residents and offi ce

workers. Residential areas will be served by

Neighbourhood Centres with supermarkets that

will meet daily retail and service needs, all just a

few minutes away by foot.

In order to maintain a sense of scale and rhythm

within the city, some of the buildings are iconic

and some of the buildings are subtle, but all of the

buildings will be world class.

One of the most appealing aspects of the city

is its design as a pedestrian-dominant city,

meaning that it’s easy to move through the city,

whether on the pleasantly landscaped walkways

or via the Masdar City or wider Abu Dhabi public

transportation options.

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Masdar City is a university town that has been

designed to foster innovative research, testing,

development and commercialisation in the fi eld

of renewable energy and clean technologies.

Masdar Institute – the only graduate-level

research-focused university dedicated to the

study of science and engineering in the cleantech

sector – will anchor the research component

of this burgeoning cluster, while organisations

drawn to the city will bring their own technologies

and knowledge. The institute will generate applied

research that will provide innovation “feedstock”

to Masdar City, to other Masdar projects and to

the wider UAE and world. In fact, less than a year

after it had opened its doors, Masdar Institute

had already fi led seven patent applications.

As a university city and a unique test-bed for

cleantech technologies, Masdar City will attract

pioneering companies in the fi eld, alongside other

companies and institutes that will be drawn to set

up their own R&D labs.

Additionally, a wide range of companies will

establish sales, marketing and demonstration

facilities in the city to take advantage of its

unrivalled platform to showcase technologies.

This will create a critical mass of expertise and

cutting-edge technologies that will make Masdar

City a global centre of knowledge and innovation

in the cleantech sector.

The latest in renewable energy policy making,

global best practices and state-of-the art

technological expertise will be found here

because the International Renewable Energy

Agency (IRENA) will be headquartered in the city.

It is already based in Abu Dhabi in a temporary

offi ce location.

A Learning City

Masdar Institute Laboratory Building

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Reducing its environmental footprint is an ongoing

process at Masdar City, which continually draws

on the best, most cutting-edge technologies,

equipment, systems and materials from across

the globe. Its sustainability begins at the design

stage, is maintained during construction and

continues throughout the city’s operation.

Seven priority areas comprise the main focus for

driving sustainability in the city: urban planning,

architectural design, construction, water,

power, waste, transportation and integration.

The wide mosaic that comprises Masdar City’s

sustainability includes:

• Low-carbon cement.

• Smart utility grids and appliances.

• Highest-quality building insulation.

• Advanced waste and wastewater treatment,

recycling and reuse systems.

• Smart appliances, metres, buildings and grid to

manage and monitor water and electricity use

and wastage.

• Modern windtowers to collect cooler upper

breezes and direct them downward to the public

squares below.

• Intelligent use of shading to reduce solar gain

on buildings, while increasing natural light –

thereby lowering demand for internal lighting

and cooling.

• A Material Recycling Centre for construction

waste, with separate areas for concrete, wood,

metal and other materials that has kept most

construction waste out of landfi lls.

• Well-shaded pedestrian colonnades with

retractable awnings that are closed during the

day to provide additional shade, but opened at

night to allow cooling breezes to pass through

the colonnades.

• Some buildings’ exterior walls covered in

blocks of cushion-shaped ETFE plastic backed

by refl ective foil to create a durable and low-

maintenance facade with a very low thermal

mass, thereby limiting heat gain and resulting

in reduced cooling demand inside the buildings

and a cooler street environment outside.

A Sustainable City

Planning, engineeringand architecture

Sustainablebuilding materials

Waste management

Energy generationand management

Transportation planningand management

Water generationand management

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The Business Base for Global Cleantech

In the fast-evolving renewable energy and

cleantech industry, keeping abreast of changing

requirements and promising technologies

is crucial. As an emerging hub in this global

industry and a magnet for talent, financial capital

and entrepreneurship in the field, Masdar City

provides a unique competitive advantage to

companies operating here.

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The many benefi ts of industry clusters have been

identifi ed by leading business theorist Michael

Porter, who saw that when many companies and

organisations operating in the same industry

are located in close proximity, they create an

environment that enhances productivity, drives

innovation and fosters new businesses.

Masdar City embodies this by bringing together a

wide range of organisations from academia, and

the public and private sectors to create a dynamic,

vibrant, international and entrepreneurial

community that is at the vanguard of this fast-

growing global industry. This environment

immerses fi rms and employees in a community

of likeminded professionals, as well as a physical

surrounding that is one of the world’s most

sustainable living and working environments.

As well, having a high-calibre research university

anchoring the R&D activities in the city is a

natural compliment to the industry cluster and

provides it with a steady stream of ideas and

trained practitioners. It also draws additional

industry players to the cluster who are working

with the university on various joint R&D projects.

The city provides an ideal location for fi rms

operating in a range of technologies, including

solar, green building, water, power storage, smart

grids, effi ciency appliances, electric vehicles

and waste.

However, bringing professionals together in one

district is not enough, and that’s why the urban

planning of the city itself is designed to foster

contact among practitioners and thus creativity

and innovation. By placing an important focus

on the public spaces between within the city,

including a commitment to activating streets and

squares, the city itself serves to promote social

interaction and the exchange of ideas.

Cleantech Community

A view of the Knowledge Centre at the Masdar Institute building

Dr Matteo Chiesa in the ground-breaking LENS Laboratory

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The cleantech and renewable energy industry

in the region is poised for a period of sustained

growth, fuelled by both public and private

sector interest. On the public side, there is

a growing commitment from governments

across the region to sustainable development,

refl ected in ambitious goals to increase the

share of renewable energy in the national

power generation mix and through the

creation of increasingly supportive regulatory

environments. On the private sector side, a

number of factors, including better bottom-line

performance, are driving businesses to operate

more sustainably.

For example, Abu Dhabi has committed to secure

7% of its total energy needs from renewable

sources by 2020, while Kuwait has pledged to

produce 5% of its energy requirements from

renewable power generation by 2020. Egypt plans

to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by

the year 2020. Morocco seeks to develop 2,000MW

of wind, 2,000MW of hydroelectric and 2,000MW

of solar power capacity by 2020, approximately

42% of its total power capacity. India is aiming to

have 25GW of installed renewable grid-connected

power by March 2012, representing more than

10% of total power production nationwide.

Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar are implementing

green building standards, while World Green

Building Council member organisations have been

established in the UAE and India, and are under

certifi cation in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. India is

rapidly adding renewable energy power and as

of March 2010 had a total installed renewable

energy capacity of nearly 17GW, more than many

industrialised nations at that time.

The UAE, through Masdar, has entered into a joint

venture with France’s Total and Spain’s Abengoa

to build a 100MW CSP plant; Yemen is pursuing a

60MW wind farm; Dubai is evaluating sites for a

10-100MW solar energy power project; Morocco

is moving ahead with a 500MW solar facility, while

Syria is designing a 50-100MW wind farm. Saudi

Arabia is preparing its renewable and nuclear

energy strategy after having established the King

Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.

It also is working on a 17MW solar hot water

system.

One project that has region-wide implications is

Desertec, an international consortium of energy

and technology companies that seeks to build a

series of Concentrating Solar Power, photovoltaic

and wind power plants in the Middle East and

North Africa to supply the local MENA market but

also to export power to provide a targeted 15% of

Europe’s energy demand by 2050.

Regional Business Opportunities

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Abu Dhabi itself offers the ideal gateway

to the economies of the Middle East, North

Africa and much of Asia because of its central

location adjacent to three continents, excellent

transportation and telecommunications

infrastructure and the long-established trade

and business links between the GCC and key

surrounding regions, including the Indian

subcontinent.

As a special economic zone, Masdar City offers

a number of specifi c advantages:

• Quick and easy set-up with a one-stop shop

for registration, government relations and

visa processing.

• Zero percent import tariffs.

• Zero percent income taxes for companies

and individuals.

• No restrictions on capital, profi ts or quotas.

• No local sponsor required.

• No limits on the hiring of expatriate staff.

• No currency restrictions.

• A high-quality ICT infrastructure within Masdar

City that benefi ts from the UAE’s position as the

most ICT-connected country in the region.

• An outstanding logistics network incorporating

air, sea and road.

• The opportunity to maximise corporate social

responsibility objectives.

Masdar City Location

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• A strong IP protection framework.

For technology fi rms and organisations focused

on cleantech, Masdar City provides the following:

• A safe, friendly working environment.

• All the amenities one would expect from a

world-class city.

• Some of the most effi cient, state-of-the-art and

sustainable buildings that provide a healthy and

ideal working environment for staff.

• All types of commercial space: high-grade

offi ces, research laboratories, testing facilities,

concept stores and retail.

• A self-contained city limiting the distance

between home and workplace, and offering

a pleasant and relaxed commute.

• Some of the region’s most advanced

laboratories, at the Masdar Institute.

• A cluster environment that can open up

funding opportunities to help businesses

of all sizes grow.

• A location with unmatched international

exposure from governments and organisations

looking to learn from Masdar City, its partners

and suppliers.

• A bridge connecting the established economies

of the West with the growing markets of the

East.

A view of the CSP beam down pilot at Masdar City

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Masdar City offers a test bed that is matched

by no other setting in the world. The ability to

perform wide-scale testing and deployment

of early- and late-stage technologies offers

enormous advantages to companies based

in the city.

That’s because testing a new product or service

outside the laboratory is a crucial step in the

process of technology commercialisation. Being

able to do so at a scale that matches the real

world is even more benefi cial. The quicker the

turnaround between technology development,

refi nement and testing, the sooner a product or

service gets to market. This can be done very

quickly at Masdar City.

In fact, the city is being built and has been

masterplanned to facilitate and incorporate

such testing and pilot projects. Because Masdar

City is committed to being one of the world’s

most sustainable urban developments, it is an

enthusiastic partner to fi rms testing new energy

and sustainability solutions.

The city also enables the continuous formal

and informal exchange of ideas. Together, this

combination helps companies speed the transition

from a great idea or early-stage technology into

a marketable product – with Masdar City itself

being one major potential customer.

Even in Masdar City’s early development, dozens

of companies have already come to partner with

the city on joint pilot projects that are testing a

range of technologies in the areas of cooling,

energy generation, sustainable design and

material supply chain.

One of the fi rst areas where commercialisation

has occurred at Masdar City is in the area of

concrete, where commercial amounts of lower

embedded-carbon concrete have been produced

at competitive prices.

Artist impression: Torresol CSP plant, Spain

Commercialising Cleantech

Whether a fi rm has seen its technology adopted by

Masdar City or has simply installed its technology

in the offi ce, retail space or building in which it

is located, the city provides a unique real-world

showcase platform.

Not only will clients and prospects be able to view a

company’s products and services in operation, but

this unique environment also means they will see

them integrated into, and operating alongside, other

technologies – just as they would at the potential

clients facilities.

This is signifi cant because clients often like to see

examples of products they are considering buying

in action, such as at another company’s facilities.

But this is often not practical or convenient, and

so Masdar City provides suppliers with a unique

solution to this dilemma.

A Demonstration Showcase

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Masdar City is an emerging cleantech cluster

unlike any other sustainable development in

the world. It embodies the vision of the Abu

Dhabi leadership to promote a more sustainable

world, and it provides a global platform for

cleantech fi rms, academic institutions and other

organisations to locate, network, collaborate,

demonstrate and develop new technologies

and solutions.

It is a place where businesses can thrive and

innovation can fl ourish. It is an integrator

of renewable energy power generation and

cleantech technologies, thereby helping to solve

the enormous challenges of managing and

bringing together the many complex systems

that will contribute to the development of other

sustainable cities.

Such a community always welcomes new partners

and participants from the UAE, the region and

the rest of the world to join in the growth of

this unique city and industry cluster that brings

innovative theory and best practice together for

the benefi t of companies, communities and

the planet.

An Ecosystem to Power your Business

22 22

The 10MW Solar Array in Masdar City

The Masdar Institute Building in Masdar CIty

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The Built Environment

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The built environment plays a critical role in

making Masdar City a magnet for renewable

energy and clean-technology firms. By providing

a live-work atmosphere that encourages and

inspires business growth and creativity, as

well as an attractive and exciting place to live

and work, organisations and their employees

recognise clear benefits to locating here.

The First Phase is being designed and built by a

collaboration of the world’s foremost architects

and planning fi rms. Foster + Partners, which

has developed the city’s masterplan, has

also designed the Masdar Institute campus,

a complex structure that encompasses labs,

student residences, classrooms and study and

recreational facilities. The UK fi rm also has

designed a number of Phase 1 residential and

offi ce buildings.

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture have

designed the Masdar headquarters building, while

other architects are designing a number of other

buildings in Phase 1.

The decision to build the city in phases is

fundamental to the unique character of the city

because it allows rapidly evolving cleantech

technologies and lessons learned in earlier

phases, to be incorporated into each new phase.

The First Phase will include the Masdar Institute

campus, the fi rst six buildings of which are

already operational; the Masdar headquarters,

and a number of residential, commercial, leisure

and retail buildings. In all, there will be more than

995,000m2 of gross fl oor area in the First Phase,

with 36% commercial, 39% residential, 2.6%

retail, 4.6% community and 16% Masdar Institute.

The First Phase

Masdar Institute

Masdar Headquarters

Hotel and Conference Centre

The Retail District

Residential

Research and development facilities, innovation centres and offices

Masdar Institute of cience and Technologyasdar Headquartersotel and Conference Centree Retail Districtsidentialsearch and development facilities,ovation centres and offices

The First Phase

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Developed in cooperation with the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT), the Masdar Institute

integrates theory and practice to incubate a

culture of innovation and entrepreneurship

and also seeks to partner with industry and

government on research. As such, it is at the heart

of the R&D community at Masdar City and wider

Abu Dhabi. It will grow to eventually host 600-800

Masters and PhD students and 200 faculty.

The fi rst six buildings of the Masdar Institute

campus are the fi rst completed buildings

within Masdar City and serve as a model of

sustainability. The residential buildings are

designed to use 54% less potable water and have

less than half the cooling demand of the UAE

average. Twenty to thirty percent of its power

demand is met by a 1MW rooftop PV array that not

only shades the buildings, but also overhangs to

provide shading to the streets below.

The buildings and surrounding infrastructure

feature world-class building insulation

technologies, domestic hot water provided by

roof-mounted evacuated tube solar thermal

collectors; fresh air intakes located at the shaded

street level, and the latest low-energy lighting

specifi cation. These and other technologies will be

evaluated, with the buildings themselves serving

as a test-bed for technologies that will help

Masdar City achieve its sustainability goals.

The buildings are wired throughout with energy

and water metering systems that monitors

consumption and produce data that is readily

accessible to students and faculty. Another unique

aspect of the city is that walking is encouraged to

reduce energy use and promote a healthy lifestyle

in Masdar City, stairs are always prominently

featured, while elevators are hidden.

One of the key landmarks of the Institute is its

wind tower, a modern interpretation of one of the

region’s most iconic traditional architectural

features. Rising 45m above the street, the tower’s

height means it can capture upper-level winds

and direct them to the open-air public square at

its base. Sensors at the top of the steel structure

operate high-level louvers to open in the direction

of prevailing winds and to close in other directions

to divert wind down the tower.

Masdar Institute

Masdar Institute Knowledge Centre

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The Masdar headquarters building has been

designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill

Architecture to be the world’s fi rst large-scale

positive-energy building, using sustainable

design strategies and systems to produce more

energy than it consumes. It will house Masdar’s

corporate offi ces and the secretariat of the

International Renewable Energy Agency

(IRENA), as well as retail and other

commercial offi ce space.

Once installed the 15,590 photovoltaic panels on

the roof will form one of the largest roof-mounted

PV panel arrays in the world and is expected to

provide 103% of the energy needed to power the

building on an annual basis. Covering nearly the

area of four football pitches, the array will generate

approximately 5.5 GWh of renewable energy

annually, displacing approximately 4,400 metric tons

of CO2e annually. A building-integrated photovoltaic

laminate system on the east and west façades

will generate the equivalent of 2% of the building’s

energy requirements.

The building’s design, which has won several

international awards, is inspired by traditional

architectural features of the region – including

wind towers, water features and vegetation. One of

the key distinguishing features of the building is it

high-performance “sawtooth” facade that allows

access to daylight and views while mitigating glare

and solar heat gain. The design of the wall orients

the highest-transparency vision glazing (windows)

toward cardinal north or south, where daylight is

at its highest angles and can best be redirected

into the interiors; the east- and west-facing non-

vision glazing features a 16.44mm thick insulating

unit. This façade will result in more daylight,

better views, a lower cooling load and increased

energy generation. The sawtooth facade is also

more structurally sound and sustainable than

alternatives, reducing the structural steel required

for mullions.

The building’s signature architectural feature is

a collection of 11 wind cones that provide natural

ventilation and cooling (drawing warm air up to roof

level, where wind moves it away) and form oasis-

like interior courtyards at ground level. The cones

maximise diffused natural daylight throughout the

building, leading to an anticipated energy savings of

approximately 3.5%. The operable windows on the

cones also allow occupants the option of naturally

ventilating interior spaces. On the roof, shaded by

the solar canopy, workers and visitors will enjoy

communal outdoor green spaces.

The headquarters for Masdar will also be a centre

of global renewable energy policy as home also to

IRENA. With nearly 150 member states, IRENA is an

intergovernmental organisation that aims to be the

main driving force in promoting a rapid transition

towards the widespread and sustainable use of

renewable energy on a global scale.

Masdar Headquarters

Artist impression: Masdar Headquarters building

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Artist impression: The Courtyard Building at Masdar City – Exterior view

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Retail activity in Masdar City will contribute

to the city’s appeal as a renewable energy

and clean-technology hub, as well as provide

valuable lessons regarding commercial activities

in a sustainable modern urban setting. Retailers

will provide goods and services in a manner

consistent with the city’s low-carbon mandate,

thereby increasing our understanding of

how retail activities can be conducted in a

sustainable manner.

Knowledge gained from meeting Masdar City’s

sustainability targets can be used at a retailer’s

other operations, thereby saving money, enhancing

its green credentials and helping save the planet.

Companies that have already signed up to operate

from Masdar City include: Caribou Coffee, health

insurance provider Daman, telecom provider

Etisalat, Sumo Sushi, express delivery company

Aramex, Omeir Travel, Organics and National

Bank of Abu Dhabi.

One early example of what the city’s commercial

environment will look like is General Electric’s

fi rst-ever ecomagination Centre, which will focus

on promoting sustainable business solutions

and showcase GE technologies in wind, solar and

other renewable energy products, and energy-

effi cient home appliances.

Another building, an EcoCommercial Building

prototype, will be a model for energy effi cient and

economic construction, incorporating state-of-the

art design for a subtropical climate, and will house

the Middle East EcoCommercial Building Program

organisation from Bayer MaterialScience.

The 10,000m2 Courtyard building will be the city’s

fi rst offi ce building, while “The Sprinster Complex” is

being developed as a distinct neighbourhood within

Masdar City to serve as home to Swiss companies

with expertise in cleantech technology. These

Swiss companies will play a role in the design and

construction of the district, which thereby will serve

as a showcase for their technologies.

Low-Carbon Retail Experience

Distinctive Buildings

Artist impression: The Courtyard Building at Masdar City – Interior view

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The Sustainable City Toolkit

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Creating any sustainable urban development or

re-development requires a unique set of tools

that are distinct from what it takes to build a

conventional city. Masdar City aims to be one of

the world’s most sustainable urban developments

and will be at the forefront of developing these

specific tools. This “sustainable city toolkit”

encompasses seven elements: planning,

power, water, waste, transport, supply chain

and integration.

34

Every aspect of the city’s urban planning,

engineering and architecture is approached with

sustainability in mind. More specifi cally, planning

seeks to facilitate energy generation where

applicable and reduce consumption of electricity,

water and other resources.

Planners recognised that the biggest environmental

gains come from some of the most passive, and least

expensive, tools: the city’s (and buildings’) orientation

(with regards to the sun and prevailing winds) and its

form. Next most effective is building performance

optimisation, such as an effi cient envelope and

systems, and smart building management. Active

controls, such as renewable energy, are the most

expensive, while offering the lowest relative

environment-impact returns. That’s why designers

fi rst concentrated on orientation and performance

optimisation, thereby reducing a large amount

of energy demand with little cost, and only

subsequently looked at what active controls

could be implemented.

Seven overriding characteristics defi ne Masdar

City’s planning approach: energy-effi cient

orientation; integration of districts and

neighbourhoods; low rise, high density; vibrant

public realm; pedestrian friendly; high quality

of life; and convenient public transportation.

Planning

Masdar City seeks to maximise use of renewable

energy, which is why power is one of the largest

source of carbon savings and another reason

why the effi ciency of the city’s buildings and

demand-side systems is maximised. Masdar

City is using, or evaluating for use, in the city the

following technologies:

Photovoltaics

The region’s largest ground-based grid-

connected photovoltaic (PV) array is helping

power the city, while roof-mounted PV is used on

select buildings. The Masdar headquarters will

have the largest roof-mounted PV installation in

the world. PV will comprise the vast majority of

the city’s onsite renewable energy generation.

Concentrating Solar Power

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology

is being tested as a source of thermal energy

for single- and double-effect absorption chiller

systems, which could meet a signifi cant portion

of the city’s cooling demand.

Evacuated tube collectors

Evacuated tube collectors will be roof mounted to

provide domestic hot water and a base load that

can be used for dehumidifi cation.

Waste to energy

Such technologies consume material that cannot

be recycled or reused, as fuel for gasifi cation,

pyrolysis and plasma arc gasifi cation systems.

In the long term, Masdar City will work with the

Abu Dhabi Municipality to develop such a plant.

Geothermal

The feasibility of using deep geothermal hot water

as a thermal energy source has been evaluated,

and will most likely be used with absorption

chillers and for heating domestic hot water.

Power

Diagram explaining the range of energy production methods planned at Masdar City

35

Hot water

Geothermal

Evacuatedtube collectors

Photovoltaic panels

Concentratedsolar power

Cooling anddehumidification

Excess heat is diverted to an absorbtion chillerto provide site cooling

Transport

Site wide powerdistribution

Excess powerreturned to the

national grid

Water

an

d filt

ers

back

dow

n u

nde

rgro

und

Wa

ter is u

sed for irrigation

efficient cleaning systemsdischarged to highly Treated water Flu

sh th

e W

C

Th

e co

llecte

d w

ate

r

is clean

ed

an

d s

tore

d

read

y to b

e u

se

d to

...

To be used in taps

baths and showers

Filtered

sea

and

from

underg

round

Wat

er c

olle

cted fr

om th

e

Rain

wate

r is co

llec

ted

Reduced consumption through high tech

appliances

Masdar City’s water strategy

36

Masdar City has been designed to minimise

water waste and maximise the effi ciency of

treatment and production techniques. In the

long term the goal is to reduce, in stages, the

domestic water consumption to the target

potable water consumption of 105 litres per

person per day, far below business as usual.

Water-use reduction technologies include high-

effi ciency appliances, low-fl ow showers, highly

effi cient laundry systems, a water tariff that

promotes water effi ciency, incentives, real-time

monitoring, smart water metres that inform

consumers of their consumption, reducing

leakage ultimately to 1%, treated wastewater

recycling, and high-effi ciency irrigation and low-

water use landscaping, particularly through use

of indigenous desert fl ora.

The current wastewater system combines

grey water and black water for processing and

treatment at the city’s membrane bioreactor

(MBR) plant. The treated sewage effl uent

produced at the MBR will be used for landscaping.

The biosolids resulting from the wastewater

treatment can be reused for compositing and in

any future waste-to-energy plant.

Water

WasteStrategy

RecyclingWaste

to-energy Composting

ConsumerProducts

Bio-products

Non-Recyclable

Recyclable

Masdar City’s waste strategy

37

Masdar City’s waste management strategy seeks

to minimise waste to landfi ll and maximise the

resource potential of materials (i.e., recycling

and reuse). As a fi rst step, systems will be

used and awareness will be raised to reduce

the amount of waste generated in the city, i.e.,

by encouraging reusable bags and containers.

The next step is to sort and collect the waste

produced by those living and working in the city.

Masdar Institute buildings have separate waste

chutes to allow for the separation waste.

At later stages, vacuum waste systems may be

implemented to automatically remove all waste from

point of use, ensuring the city is clean and tidy and

reducing the need for traditional dustcarts.

Once collected, the waste is sorted into compostable,

non-recyclable and recyclable waste. All appropriate

bio-waste will be composted and the product used

to enrich the landscaping. Recyclable waste will be

processed in the city or as close by as possible.

Waste

Personal Rapid Transit vehicle

38

In answering one of the overriding priorities of

Masdar City’s master plan – to be a pedestrian-

focused community – a rich network of public

and personal transportation options will ensure

it is easy to move across the city in comfort and

ease. As a result, walking and self-propelled

transport will be the most convenient forms of

transportation to many destinations within the

city, as well as the most pleasant. This is the

result of planners’ focus on created extensive

shaded sidewalks and pathways throughout

the city.

In addition, a public transport system of electric

buses and other clean-energy vehicles will provide

transport within the city, while Abu Dhabi’s light

rail and Metro lines will pass through the centre

of Masdar City, providing transport within the city

and serving as a link to the wider metropolitan

area. This extensive public transportation network

means that no destination within the city will

be more than 250-300m some form of public

transport. Most private vehicles will be kept at

the city’s edge in a number of parking lots that

will be linked by electric bus routes to other

public transportation traversing the city.

In its search for an appropriate and sustainable

transportation solution, Masdar City is piloting a

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system of electric-

powered, automated, single-cabin vehicles that

offer the privacy, comfort and non-stop travel of a

taxi service, and the reliability and sustainability

of a public transport system. The initial pilot route

runs on a 1,700m track linking Masdar Institute to

its parking lot. However, this emerging technology

will serve only Masdar Institute at this time, as it is

not yet ready for implementation on a wider scale.

As other new transport technologies emerge, they

will be evaluated for use within the city.

Transportation

39

Throughout the construction and operational

life of Masdar City, there is an ongoing drive to

use the latest sustainable products, materials

and services. Through a detailed product

evaluation process that includes environmental,

economic (including cost and quality) and social

considerations, Masdar City is reducing the

overall impact of the materials chosen for the

buildings and infrastructure in the city.

There are many important considerations in

this evaluation, including: cradle-to-grave

lifecycle analysis, evaluation of recycled content,

manufacturing processes, the level of energy

and water used in manufacturing, assembly plant

location, logistics, distribution, durability and

recyclability. Through this screening and product

specifi cation process, Masdar City is having a

positive local and regional effect by encouraging the

overall supply chain to become more sustainable.

In particular, Masdar City works with suppliers to

help them understand the environmental impact

of their operations. Some early examples of this

benefi cial collaboration include having worked with

several local and international material suppliers

on the development of materials with a lower level

of embodied carbon. As a result, the city is using a

low-carbon cement, two types of aluminium with

between 81% and 90% recycled aluminium content,

and recycled steel reinforcing bars (rebar). As well,

by working with local distributors, Masdar City

contractors were able to source 100% sustainably

grown timber.

At the heart of Masdar City’s sustainability goals

is the integration of the full range of renewable

energy and sustainability technologies. The scale

and scope of this integration is a distinguishing

feature of Masdar City and will generate some of

the city’s key intellectual property and innovation

in the development of ‘green’ cities.

Recognising that the complexity of sustainable

systems, even within a single structure, has been

one of the biggest challenges to reducing the

environmental impact of buildings, the integration

of multiple complex systems on a city scale, poses

an exponentially greater challenge. This challenge

is augmented by the other need to ensure the

proper balance of these systems across competing

energy and resource demands.

The information communication and technology

(ICT) infrastructure serves residents, businesses

and visitors, as well as the smart networks that

will link, manage and integrate city services. Smart

technologies will play a fundamental and wide-

ranging role in both achieving the integration of

systems and enabling the smart distribution grid

necessary to balance supply and demand.

Integration

Supply Chain

Artist impression: Residence at Masdar City

40

Masdar CityPO Box 54115, Abu Dhabi, UAET +971 2 653 3333 E joinus@masdarcity.ae

www.masdarcity.ae

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