海角视频

Masdar City Sustainability Strategy

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

海角视频鈥檚 sustainability experts are playing a key role in supporting a landmark sustainability-focused development to achieve its ambitious objectives. Masdar City is planned to cover more than 3.8km虏 in a former stretch of desert close to Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Our team has played a key role in evolving the masterplan, guiding the project through LEED Communities certification, and delivering integrated solutions that balance environmental performance with livability in a challenging desert environment.

The sustainable city and technology hub is being developed to create innovation, educational, residential and commercial zones for the research and development of sustainable design and energy technologies 鈥� creating a new home for green innovation and sustainable living.

Masdar City, which was involved in COP28, is seeking to be one of the world鈥檚 most sustainable cities.

An estimated 15,000 people already live and work across the 3.8km虏 site near Abu Dhabi.

Masdar City Phase 1 has been awarded a 鈥楶latinum鈥� rating for LEED Cities & Communities in Planning and Design. It is the highest scoring and largest Certified LEED Platinum Community in the UAE.

We created a greenhouse gas tracker, carbon emissions plan and net zero carbon model to ensure data was in place to demonstrate the scope of the city鈥檚 green ambitions.

Challenge

First conceived in the late 2000s, an original masterplan by Fosters + Partners envisioned an entirely carbon neutral community 鈥� an elevated pedestrian city with automated pod transportation built at podium level. The first phase included construction of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and IRENA HQ.

海角视频 had worked on a number of different phases of the ambitious project since 2011, providing a range of multidisciplinary services, working with a range of architectural collaborators and winning many awards for sustainability. This includes 鈥楨co-Residences II鈥�, a major mixed-use development of offices, residential, retail and public open space delivering over 100,000m虏 of internal space, working with CBT Architects.

Supporting Woods Bagot with the design of IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) headquarters and then an 鈥淓co-Villa鈥� prototype, which became the UAE鈥檚 first net-zero energy villa, the 405m虏 home and the first in the country to achieve a Four-Pearl Villa rating, according to the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council鈥檚 Estidama Pearl Villa Rating System. It used around 72% less energy and 35% less water than a conventional villa of the same size in Abu Dhabi, mitigating 63 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

As the city began to take shape, set against the backdrop of changing economic times and rapidly evolving green technologies, it became evident that a new vision was needed to continue the development of the city successfully. American firm CBT Architects took on the challenge of reimagining Phase 2 and Phase 4 of the Masdar City vision at a more manageable scale, while building a more achievable balance of affordability with sustainability to ensure the new city could be realised and allowed to flourish economically.

In 2022, 海角视频鈥檚 sustainability team was engaged to support CBT Architects to adapt the Phase 1 and Phase 2 plans into a new single combined phase, ensuring the evolving masterplan kept the scope of a highly sustainable, low carbon city at the core of its ethos.

This included the concept design for a new 鈥榮ustainable cluster鈥� and involved supporting with a range of technical studies, including a detailed analysis of microclimates and delivery of thermal comfort through passive and active measures, but also in helping the team to deliver the client鈥檚 ambition to achieve LEED Communities certification, a first for the region.  

Solution

The current refined vision for Phase 1 of the city creates a dense, pedestrian-focused mixed-use cluster plan incorporating environmentally sustainable residential neighbourhoods, commercial core, a world-class research and development cluster, and vibrant public spaces.

To achieve this, the design team reviewed past plans and drew from first principles to analyse and re-evaluate the scale of blocks and buildings, public and private zones, and opportunities for a variety of linkages. The work seeks to maintain the city鈥檚 goals for a high level of sustainability through passive and active strategies as well as making it a great place to live, work, play and study.

Four clear design principles have emerged that are guiding the creation of the Masdar City neighbourhoods: connectivity, identity, eco-friendliness, and programming of active and vibrant public realm, open spaces and streetscapes.

The streets are planned and designed employing the Complete Streets design philosophy, such that non-motorised modes, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users are inclusive and get equal access and safely co-exist with vehicular traffic. Additionally, the streets are designed to incorporate the strong and distinct brand identity that defines Masdar City overall. With emphasis on sustainability, the selection, placement, and density of plantings will have a strong impact on the outdoor comfort and beauty throughout the planned area.

While all building developments in Abu Dhabi have to be certified through the Estidama Pearl Building Rating System, the client was keen for the project to also achieve LEED Communities certification.

Fewer than 100 projects are currently targeting LEED Communities globally, with only three having achieved full certification, making it a real badge of honour on the world stage. Aspiring to Platinum 鈥� the highest grade 鈥� the team achieved pre-certification status in 2024 and was awarded a 鈥楶latinum鈥� rating for LEED Cities & Communities in Planning and Design in 2025. Masdar Phase 1 now stands as the highest scoring and largest Certified LEED Platinum Community in the UAE.

Our sustainability experts shepherded the project through the stringent certification process, using the LEED Communities Planning and Design methodology. In preparation for this, we created a greenhouse gas tracker and carbon emissions plan to ensure that data was in place to demonstrate the scope of the new city鈥檚 green ambitions.

Given the site鈥檚 desert location, one of the key considerations was achieving thermal comfort and access to green spaces, without providing unsustainable levels of irrigation. The solution that has been developed is to create a connected network of small, attractive, lush oases for recreation, while spaces between are allowed to remain arid, supporting native planting and ecology. 

Combined with the pedestrian-first prioritisation and the use of traditional passively shaded Arabic design structures, the new city will maintain a low carbon intensity, balanced with the creation of a pleasant and environmentally equitable environment in which to live and work. Our assessment process ensured the project met all the prerequisites of the LEED Communities system and gave an indication of the level of compliance that could be realistically achieved on the site.

Masdar City鈥檚 is underpinned by quantifiable outcomes that demonstrate real-world impact. In 2024 alone, the initiatives achieved a 22.7% reduction in energy use intensity, saved 30,892m鲁 of water (equivalent to 12.4 Olympic swimming pools), cut water consumption by 13.1%, and diverted 56.2% of waste through recycling, collectively offsetting emissions equivalent to removing over 1,200 gasoline-powered vehicles from the road.

In 2024, Masdar City also achieved the WiredScore Platinum and SmartScore Gold certifications respectively for its forthcoming Masdar City Square and The Link developments.

Value

The LEED Platinum certification for Phase 1 is part of a broader framework of green building standards, with all developments also meeting Estidama Pearl ratings. Masdar City now hosts one of the world鈥檚 largest clusters of LEED Platinum buildings, with over 175,000m虏 completed and a further 80,000m虏 under construction. Two of these buildings are designed to achieve net-zero energy status.

海角视频鈥檚 work aligns with Masdar City鈥檚 ESG goals, which include reducing carbon intensity, enhancing biodiversity, and promoting social equity. Our technical studies and modelling have helped ensure that sustainability is embedded not just in design, but in long-term operational performance. This is a city where climate action is not aspirational 鈥� it鈥檚 operational.

With a commitment to evolving research and innovation, Masdar City, which hosted parts of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP-28 in 2023, is setting the standard for sustainable urban communities. At the heart of the UAE鈥檚 journey to net-zero, the project is demonstrating how economic, social, and environmental sustainability can converge as the focal point of the nation鈥檚 ambitions.

By creating spaces that are both technologically advanced and environmentally responsible, the LEED Platinum Certified project is paving the way for global cities of the future and championing the UAE鈥檚 vision for sustainability.