Abanos showcases how interior fit-outs with palm strand board cut carbon footprint in UAE projects

Abanos mentions that their research demonstrates how choosing different materials for interior fit-outs can actually lead to measurable improvements in climate impact, especially at a commercial scale. After using Palm Strand Board (PSB) across three major projects in the UAE, they report storing over 1 million kilograms of biogenic carbon and capturing more than 4 million kilograms of CO2 equivalent.

This Dubai-based joinery and fit-out specialist explained that these projects, carried out for Transemirates Contracting at District One-FZ, employed PSB in various interior applications. These included doors, frames, flooring, partitions, vanities, and railings, basically, placing carbon-storing materials directly inside finished buildings instead of focusing solely on outside measures to cut emissions. It’s interesting, well, at least to me, that this approach involves using materials that inherently trap carbon within the building itself.

In a statement shared via PR Newswire, Abanos emphasized that such work proves the industry is moving towards more rigorous sustainability standards. Ravish Kishore, the company’s general manager, pointed out that their results serve as a practical example of what’s possible when sustainability is integrated into the material right from the start. He also mentioned that the carbon stored in these projects stays locked in the built environment, rather than being merely counted as an offset elsewhere.

The specific projects Abanos highlighted are The Edge and The Peninsula for Select Group, and Kempinski La Reserve for Swiss Properties. They state that together, these projects resulted in the storage of about 1,105,506 kilograms of biogenic carbon within the boards, and captured roughly 4,030,071 kilograms of CO2 equivalent.

Now, these figures are pretty significant, because when we think about the climate impact of building projects, interior fit-outs often don’t get as much attention as structural elements. Structural materials tend to steal the spotlight, but interior packages can still contribute a substantial amount of embodied carbon. Abanos is promoting PSB as a way to fill that gap, especially in markets where large interior volumes are used in hospitality, residential, and commercial developments.

Palm Strand Board (PSB) itself is produced by DesertBoard, which claims to turn annually regenerated date palm fronds into an engineered board that’s suitable for construction. According to DesertBoard, they first started producing this kind of engineered board in 2021, though the company was actually founded back in 2011. They say the process involves upcycling pruned palm fronds and that they’ve created what they call the world’s first Super E0 board, meaning it meets the highest emissions standards, with comparable performance to typical oriented strand boards used in building.

Abanos mentioned that PSB is already being used in other high-performance interior applications apart from the three projects mentioned earlier. They listed fire-rated doors, door frames, flooring, wall partitions, vanities, and railings, all at a commercial scale. This suggests that the product isn’t just a niche or experimental offering anymore, but something they see as ready to be integrated into regular project workflows.

The firm also used this announcement to establish itself as more than just a start-up trying to be sustainable. They pointed out that they’ve been around since 1985, initially under the name ECC Furniture Industries, based in Sharjah. Over the years, they expanded into design and fit-out work, opened design offices and showrooms, and built a bigger manufacturing footprint in Dubai Investment Park. Now, they say they run a sizeable in-house joinery and manufacturing facility spanning 23,775 square meters, employ over 1,100 staff, and have completed over 1,000 projects across the Middle East and North Africa.

That’s a pretty big scale for the UAE, where the construction and built environment sectors are under a lot of pressure to cut emissions while still supporting rapid growth. The UAE’s Net Zero 2050 Strategy targets buildings, industry, power, transport, waste, and agriculture, and the government is linking these climate goals to greener construction practices and wider adoption of low-carbon materials. Abanos claims that their approach aligns well with these ambitions by reducing reliance on traditional wood-based inputs and advocating for more responsible sourcing.

Furthermore, the company emphasizes their FSC and PEFC certifications, which are indicators that their wood materials come from responsibly managed forests. Their messaging ties these certifications with low-carbon manufacturing methods and locally relevant material innovations. It’s part of a broader trend in the UAE where clients are increasingly interested in understanding how materials are sourced, produced, and tracked for their carbon footprint.

Abanos also argues that projects like these show that decarbonization can be integrated into procurement choices from the get-go, rather than being an afterthought. That’s probably a message that resonates with developers and fit-out contractors who are under pressure to meet stricter environmental standards but still want to stick to schedules and maintain quality.

Lastly, this announcement highlights the growing importance of local innovation in materials within the UAE’s climate and industrial strategies. By using a board made from date palm waste, Abanos and DesertBoard are demonstrating a model that’s well-suited to the region’s ecology, supply chains, and construction needs. For climate tech watchers in the UAE, the real significance isn’t just in the headline carbon savings, but whether such materials can make the leap from showcase projects to standard specifications, something that remains to be seen.

For now, though, Abanos presents these three projects as proof that their approach works.