U.S. community inspires sustainable city

DAVIS, Calif., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- An energy-efficient community at a California university has inspired a plan to build a sustainable city in the United Arab Emirates, school officials say.

Inspired by a visit to the energy-efficient West Village at the University of California, Davis, in 2010, a Middle Eastern housing developer is now planning a sustainable city on the outskirts of Dubai, a university release said.

Faris Saeed, chief executive officer of Dubai-based Diamond Developers, said his company signed an agreement with the University of California Board of Regents, on behalf of the Davis campus, to formally collaborate in the areas of applied research and training related to each institution's sustainable living community.

West Village is the largest U.S. planned zero net energy community.

In announcing the agreements, Saeed displayed architectural renderings of Diamond's Dubai Sustainable City.

"All the world is going to environmental developments," Saeed said. "The rulers in Dubai have envisioned green developments for all the city."

Dubai Sustainable City, set to begin construction in 2013, is designed to provide housing for about 2,500 people on 120 acres while it aims to save 60 percent more energy and water than conventional structures in Dubai, Saeed said.