DesertBoard: A sustainable solution rooted in the Palm Groves of the Gulf

Khaleej Times

20-05-2025

On the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, nestled within the Khalifa Economic Zones (KEZAD), sits a factory that may hold one of the Gulf's most intriguing sustainability secrets. Here, amidst the mechanical hum of pressed fibre, millions of discarded palm fronds — once destined for landfills or burn pits — are being transformed into high-performance construction boards. It is the home of DesertBoard, the world's first industrial-scale facility to manufacture engineered wood boards from pruned palm fronds.
A product born of necessity and vision - DesertBoard's Palm Strand Board (PSB®) is a rare example of environmental innovation thriving in the arid Gulf landscape. At a time when global construction is under increasing pressure to decarbonise, this UAE-made material may offer something revolutionary: a building product that is carbon negative, zero formaldehyde, and circular by design.
'We are not just producing a board,' says Kamal Farah, one of the visionaries behind the project and part of the leadership team at DesertBoard.
'We're producing the most sustainable wooden board in the world — and doing it right here in the Emirates.'
An idea rooted in the past
DesertBoard's chairman Hatem Farah recalls speaking to a friend years ago about the volumes of palm raw material generated across the UAE — branches that are pruned annually by the government to maintain the health of the trees, yet had no productive end use. The thought struck him: could these fronds, layered and pressed, form something stronger?
Initial trials were unsuccessful. Prototypes failed multiple times. 'The engineers told us to abandon the idea,' Hatem says. 'But I insisted on one final attempt. That was the breakthrough.'
From that moment, DesertBoard invested heavily in R&D, engineering the first machinery of its kind to process palm raw material into building-grade wooden boards. The effort has resulted in an operational facility that spans 55,000 square metres — described by some visitors as 'a mini oil refinery', given its scale and automation.
The result is a sustainable wooden board that has quietly started replacing traditional plywood, MDF, and gypsum-based products in construction and interior fit-outs, with applications ranging from fire-rated doors and wall partitions to wardrobes, cabinets, flooring and shuttering.
Green credentials
At a glance, DesertBoard looks like any other engineered wood board. But its environmental credentials are game-changing. Unlike conventional particle boards, which are notorious for their formaldehyde emissions and heavy reliance on virgin timber, DesertBoard's PSB® contains zero formaldehyde, emits no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and is manufactured entirely from agricultural byproduct .
An independent life-cycle assessment by IMQ (Istituto Italiano del Marchio di Qualità), an Italian certification institute that verifies the safety, quality, and performance of building materials, found the board to be carbon negative — even after factoring in logistics, processing energy, and transport emissions. In climate accounting terms, it functions as a carbon sink: locking in the CO2 absorbed by palm trees through photosynthesis and preventing it from re-entering the atmosphere via decomposition or combustion.
'No other building board on the market can claim that,' Kamal says. 'We're taking something nature has grown, and turning it into a value-added, circular-economy material that contributes directly to the UAE's 2050 Sustainability Vision. Specifically, it supports Abu Dhabi's Industrial Diversification Strategy by decreasing reliance on imported materials. It also contributes to the UAE's 2030 Green Agenda, particularly through the 'Green Diversification Program,' which incentivises factories to support green manufacturing and minimise industrial waste. The global appetite for such products is growing. DesertBoard's PSB® is already being exported to Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom, with interest from Canada and Europe. In fact, Emaar, one of the UAE's largest developers, has approved the use of the board in wardrobes, kitchens, and doors across its new projects. Other leading UAE-based developers, including Aldar Properties and Select Group, have also incorporated DesertBoard's PSB® into their projects — using it for doors, flooring, vanities, walls, cupboards, wardrobes, cabinets, rails, and other bespoke interior installations.
Despite this international traction, Kamal remains firm: 'This is not an experiment—it's industrialised. We can produce enough boards in a single day to fill 16 20-feet shipping containers. And we're scaling up.'
A sustainable product with Emirati roots
Part of the PSB® wooden board's allure is its deep cultural connection to the UAE. Palm trees, especially date palms, have long been central to the country's identity — used for shade, food, building, and ritual. The late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founding father of the UAE, famously offered cash incentives in the 1970s to citizens who planted date palms and spearheaded cloning programmes in Al Ain to conserve the species.
Hatem sees DesertBoard as an extension of that legacy. 'If Sheikh Zayed were alive today, I'm sure he would have been very proud of this factory. It's everything he stood for — preserving nature, giving back to the land, and creating something useful for society.'
Currently, palm raw material in the UAE is either buried or burnt, both environmentally problematic. Buried fronds decompose slowly, releasing methane, while burning emits CO2 and creates fire hazards. 'We've found a productive solution for a long-ignored problem,' Kamal notes.
With millions of date palms across the UAE, the raw material supply is abundant. Still, sourcing requires coordination with farms and municipal authorities. 'It's a challenge,' Kamal admits. 'But it's a necessary part of creating a circular supply chain.'
Technical versatility meets regulatory demand
DesertBoard's PSB® wooden board is more than a green alternative — it's also technically robust. The boards have passed rigorous strength, shear, and fire-resistance tests, meeting the UAE, Saudi Arabian, European and American standards for structural and interior use. Its lightweight, high-strength profile also makes it ideal for modular and prefabricated construction, especially in earthquake-prone regions.
Crucially, the product aligns with Scope 3 emissions reduction — a coveted benchmark in corporate sustainability. Few construction products globally meet this bar, particularly in regions with limited access to sustainable forests or biomass. 'We're building as if we have forests — except we're not cutting any trees,' says Kamal.
Authorities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have acknowledged the board's environmental performance in their own certifications, particularly its zero-emission status — certified by Al Sa'fat (Dubai Green Building Evaluation System) — and its fire resistance of up to 90 minutes, which has been locally certified by the Ministry of Defence. Yet Hatem and Kamal are still hoping for more structured support. 'We'd love to see stronger recognition for local manufacturers,' Hatem says. 'This isn't just good for the climate; it's good for the 'Made in the Emirates' brand.'
What's Next?
The company is already in discussions to build a second production facility, either within the UAE or in neighboring Saudi Arabia. Plans are also afoot to develop prefabricated housing elements using DesertBoard's PSB®, in line with growing demand for fast, factory-built units.
In 2022, Engineering Contracting Company LLC used the DesertBoard's PSB® to construct 25 refugee houses between the Jordan-Syria border in collaboration with the Red Crescent. It has since built live site mock-ups and is actively working with regulators to enable broader adoption in residential construction.
Back in KEZAD, the factory's operations continue to scale. From raw fronds to finished wooden PSB® boards, the process is fully automated, enabling consistent quality and higher margins. Labour is sourced both locally and internationally, with upskilling programmes in place to train workers in this niche, first-of-its-kind technology.
And yet, for all the technical prowess and export milestones, Hatem keeps returning to a simpler truth: 'In 50 years of construction, we've always believed that reputation matters more than profit. If we're going to build, let's build for the future. Let's build for the planet.'