RIT Dubai wins MENA Green Building Award for research

RIT Dubai wins MENA Green Building Award for research

Dubai, UAE: Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) of Dubai has been recognized with a MENA Green Building Award for its research into a sustainable air-cooling system that could be deployed in Dubai’s harsh desert climate. Faculty from the University’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering partnered with energy experts at an Italian firm, Graded SpA, to design and optimize the system, which could deliver energy savings of up to 20%.

The award was presented to Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Ghalib Kahwaji, at a recent ceremony hosted at the Movenpick Hotel, Bur Dubai. The University was the only higher education institution represented among the award-winners at the 11th edition of the annual event, which celebrates the region’s green building movement. This year’s awards honoured the outstanding work of private and public sector entities, associations, consultants, and sustainability practitioners, who were recognized for excellence across 16 different categories.

Revealing the background and technology behind the RIT Dubai project, Dr Kahwaji said, “The partnership with Graded started when we were both looking to harness the same technology from different perspectives. Our aim was to experiment with cooling systems for the desert climate, while Graded were exploring heating solutions for cold weather environments.

“We began the