Burj Khalifa named the UAE’s ‘smartest building’

The world’s tallest building and Dubai’s most iconic structure, the Burj Khalifa, has been named the UAE’s ‘smartest building’ by Honeywell.

The city’s popular attraction received the accolade at the Middle East’s first-ever smart building awards presentation at the recent Innovation Live! Summit in Dubai.

At the same time, the Burj Khalifa also received the award for the Middle East’s smartest ‘high-rise residential’ building.

The summit, an official anchor event of the widely celebrated UAE Innovation Week, held in association with Dubai Chamber, addressed initiatives that are being spearheaded in the UAE to drive forward the National Innovation Strategy and UAE Vision 2021.

One of Dubai’s leading malls, City Centre Deira, which is popular with visiting tourists, was also named the ‘Region’s Smartest Retail Facility’.

The Honeywell Smart Building Score Awards programme, developed by Honeywell, a Fortune 100 global technology and Internet of Things (IoT) pioneer, assessed the smartness of buildings across the region based on three key indicators – how green, safe and productive they are.

The awards recognise the leading smart buildings in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and assessed hotels, hospitals, educational and retail facilities as well as the leading high-rise office and residential buildings across the region.

The awards are designed to help drive innovation and the ‘smart cities’ agenda in the UAE and across the Middle East in line with regional development strategies.

The Burj Khalifa achieved the highest evaluation amongst all entries from the UAE, with impressive scores across all three smart building categories.

“The UAE continues to make progress toward fulfilling its long-term sustainability and smart cities goals, and will continue to do so in line with the National Innovation Strategy and UAE Vision 2021,” said Norm Gilsdorf, president for Honeywell’s Middle East, Russia and Central Asia regions.

“For us at Honeywell, a smart building is one that is connected, safe, energy efficient and, ultimately, helps improve the quality of life for its occupants and users. We are very pleased to recognise Burj Khalifa, City Centre Deira and Latifa Hospital’s dedication and investment in smart building solutions, and to highlight these best practice cases as an example to be followed around the region and the world.”