Dubai has had a runaway construction boom in recent years largely in part to record high oil prices whose revenues have helped the gulf emirate invest heavily in development. The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a constituent, has also witnessed record economic growth exceeding 10% annually..

Dubai has aimed to break all architectural records by trying to build the biggest and best of everything. While the UAE has not ignored sustainable development, planning to incorporate aspects of it in a new development in Abu Dhabi as well as investing $15 billion in green technologies, just the resource intensive task of building all these structures in a largely unsustainable environment may be making the so called green benefits largely insignificant.

While many early adopters of green and renewable sources of power have been environmentally conscious individuals, more and more large corporations are jumping on the renewable energy bandwagon.

Corporations such as Target, Staples, Pitney Bowes and State Street have all decided to take steps towards making their organizations more environmentally sustainable.

Staples, Pitney Bowes and State Street, all based in New England, are participating in the EPA’s Green Power Partnership program which encourages the purchase of green power. All three companies were also recognized by the EPA for meeting and/or exceeding the requirements for green power purchases.