H.R.H Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden visits ESAB Middle East’s LEED Platinum certified facility

   ESAB has affirmed its commitment on delivering global solutions with a reassuring level of environmental awareness with its Green Building in Dubai, UAE, which was formally inaugurated October 19, 2010. The company's newest facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone south – now one of the region's earliest LEED Platinum-certified commercial buildings - was visited by H.R.H Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden on January 19, 2011, together with Ms. Salma Ali Saif Bin Hareb, CEO, Economic Zones World, and Chairman of the Board, Dubai Logistics Corridor, Ms. Habiba Al Marashi, Emirates Environmental Group Chairperson, Ms Raja Al Gurg, President of Dubai Business Woman Council, along with high-ranking UAE business women, and in the presence of the Swedish Ambassador to the UAE, Mr. Magnus Schöldtz.
 
   After a presentation and a short tour of ESAB's environmentally friendly building the Crown Princess attended a high level panel discussion. Topics of discussion were, Female Leadership, Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Growth and Sweden-UAE Collaboration.
 
   "ESAB are very pleased and proud to be a part of Crown Princess Victoria's visit to UAE and to be recognized for our high priority to Environment, Health and Safety", says ESAB Middle East's Managing Director Johan Fransson.

   ESAB's 6,500m2 facility was built on a 10,800m2 plot under the guidance of the Middle East Center for Sustainable Development to ensure its design, construction and sourcing of raw materials adhered strictly with the United States Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) programme. Such guidance has enabled ESAB Middle East's newest facility to be amongst the first in the region to secure a LEED Platinum Certification - the highest possible environmental certification of any man-made structure that requires having to meet a very stringent criteria and assessment. 

   The LEED programme is an internationally recognized green building certification system that provides third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all environmental-related metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. 

   As a purpose-built facility, an added value for its customers is the convenience of finding most of ESAB Middle East's commercial activities such as: warehousing and logistics, equipment demonstration, training and office functions under one environment-friendly roof. The entire facility employs a solar-powered cooling system with hallow core tubes. For lighting, the facility utilizes natural light and a motion-controlled lighting system. In addition, it made use of wood that came from recycled materials or from renewable forests. For its water consumption, the facility also has its very own water recycling treatment plant.