Saint-Gobain chooses Masdar City to build first "Multi-Comfort House"

Saint Gobain, a world leader in the habitat and construction markets, will bring its innovative and sustainable solutions to the United Arab Emirates with the construction of an energy-efficient "Multi–Comfort House" in Masdar City. Set for completion in 2019, the project will be the first of its kind for the company in the Middle East.

The agreement was finalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Masdar City between Mohammad Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, and Hady Nassif, General Delegate of Saint-Gobain in the Middle East.

The Saint-Gobain Multi-Comfort House is a low-energy consuming and positive-energy house; this means it is designed to produce more energy than it consumes through the use of high-performance materials and construction methods.

It achieves comfortable living across four dimensions: light, air quality, acoustics and thermal conditions.

Masdar’s Executive Director of Sustainable Real Estate, Yousef Baselaib, said: "Masdar City is a hub for innovation and sustainability, and a natural home for Saint-Gobain to showcase its state-of-the-art capabilities in sustainable living."

Saint-Gobain’s Hady Nassif added: "For 350 years, Saint-Gobain has consistently demonstrated its ability to invent products that improve quality of life. We share Masdar’s commitment to creating a more sustainable future for the generations to come, and our Multi Comfort House is the proof of that commitment."

Saint-Gobain first developed the concept of Multi-Comfort construction in 2004. It covers all aspects of comfortable home living, and of occupying tertiary buildings such as offices, shops and public buildings. In total, 18 Multi-Comfort houses have been built around the world to showcase Saint-Gobain’s strengths in innovation and materials science.

The Multi-Comfort house in Masdar City will be the first in the Middle East and will be fully adapted to the arid conditions of the UAE.

The collaboration between Masdar and Saint Gobain follows a busy year of construction activity at Masdar City, which saw agreements for around 400,000 square metres of new real estate either signed or approved, including the recent launch of Masdar City’s Eco-Villa prototype, a pilot project incorporating water and energy-saving technologies.

Currently, more than 900,000 square metres of Gross Floor Area (GFA) in Masdar City are either complete, under construction or have a firm development agreement in place. This will include private homes, schools, hotels and more office space.

Masdar City is also targeting a 4 Pearl Estidama rating for the design and construction of its community infrastructure; specifically, the roads, utilities and public spaces that make up the development. Masdar City is the first project in Abu Dhabi to aim for a 4 Pearl community rating.