ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 665

tariffs.
The Green Deal (GD)
The GD is the UK government’s new initiative that was proposed to support home owners and
businesses to integrate more green technologies in their buildings (Fig.12).

Figure 12: Funding mechanisms that involved in retrofit in UK ( GREANDEAL, 2015)
Firstly, the installation for green technologies will be with no upfront capital to implement a retrofit measure or measures, and, secondly, the payback cost will be later through the utility bill
over a period of time. This is different from the conventional loan, since, in this case, if the tenant
moved out of the building, the bill stays with the building where the savings is happening (Green
Deal Initiative 2015). All Buildings that meet the “golden rule” will be eligible for the GD finance.
The golden rule states that all the estimated savings from the implemented measures need to be
greater or at least equal to the GD cost that is added to the bills. However, the GD could hold some
financial risks due to the overestimated possibility. Fortunately, the government and the Green
Deal stakeholders addressed all these risks in their latest Green Deal proposal. As a result, many
steps have been taken to improve the methodologies underlying the estimated saving and the
various uncertainties (Booth and Choudhary 2013).
“Green Deal” For UAE?
Although the GD has faced some shortages, at its core, the principles that define the GD are simple and could be used in UAE. As with any new policy, its efficiency rely highly on a number of
issues, for example, making sure the policy does not conflict with other polices and is reliable to
meet its intended task. In the UK, the most benefit of the GD goes to people with very cold and
droughty houses which demand lots of energy. Considering the difference in climate, a matching
policy in UAE would probably give better emphasis towards encouraging home improvements
that give in cost savings through more efficient cooling systems.

7. Renovation with a Vision - Define a Roadmap
To achieve a certain goal, a target needing accomplishment must be set over a period. Considering the retrofit market with the different scenarios potential will increase the outcome and define the priorities. BPIE 2011 has examined many possible scenarios for upgrading the EU existing
buildings by 2050, including “business-as-usual” case with assumption of the continuity of the

Retrofitting existing buildings in UAE: barriers, opportunities, and recommendation

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