Construction Week

SAUDI ARABIA BAHRAIN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES QATAR OMAN KUWAIT

ConstructionWEEK NEWS, ANALYSIS, PROJECTS,

TENDERS, CLASSIFIEDS, ANDJOBS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

OCT 31–NOV 6, 2009 [294]An ITP Business Publication CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM

INSIDEFACE TO FACETwo manufacturers explain how their products are so greenPAGE 26

LEED REPORTA look at how building products can help achieve Leed creditsPAGE 37

BIG 5 SPECIALIndustry experts tell CW their expectations from this year’s showPAGE 42

CITY FOCUSThe latest news, projects and tenders in Jubail, KSAPAGE 54

THE REAL

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CONTENTS

22 NEWS ANALYSISExclusive: Estidama reveals its Pearl Rating System and gives the industry an insight into what to expect.

26 FACE TO FACECW looks at two sustainable products, which their manufacturers claim are making a difference.

29 COLUMNPaul Madeira explains how recent events have affected the issues of time, cost and risk across the construction industry.

REGULARS2 ONLINE4 MAIL

FRONT10 REGIONAL FIRMS TO GET FOREIGN EXPERTISEChile believes the region could benefi t from its pool of expertise in the fi eld of architecture and engineering.

12 FED-UP INVESTORS STORM RERA OFFICEBuyers of Vue de Lac and Vista del Lago towers in Jumeirah Lake Towers ask for the return of their money.

14 NEWS IN BRIEFHighlights of the week.

16 NEWS IN PICSTopical images with the latest news.

18 CONFERENCE NEWSUpdates from CW’s Green event.

FEATURES31 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWNew Al Habtoor Leighton boss, Laurie Voyer sits down with CW to share his thoughts and plans for the future.

37 SPECIAL REPORTCW takes a look at how building products can help achieve Leed credits.

42 THE BIG 5 SPECIALIndustry specialists tell us what they expect from this year’s Big 5 and what they’d like to see in the future.

DIRECTORY48 TENDERS49 PROJECTS 50 SPECIALIST SERVICES

BACK54 CITY UPDATEThe latest news and projects from Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.

56 DIALOGUETarek El Far discusses how billing solutions can benefi t the environment and cut down on costs.

OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 6, 2009 | ISSUE 294

1OCTOBER 31–NOVEMBER 6, 2009 CONSTRUCTION WEEK

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CONSTRUCTION WEEK OCTOBER 31–NOVEMBER 6, 20092

FEATURESDesign

INTELLIGENT RETREATTechnology is making a beeline for the bathroom.

MEP

MEP WITH A TWISTOcean Heights and Infi nity Tower at Dubai Marina.

Construction Week’s Building Sustainability into the Middle East was held in Abu Dhabi last week. The two-day event proved a great opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing the future of the sustainability industry.For more images visit www.ConstructionWeekOnline.com

IN PICTURES: BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY INTO THE MIDDLE EAST

ONLINEwww.ConstructionWEEKonline.com

MOST POPULARDISGRUNTLED INVESTORS STORM RERA OFFICEUAE CONSTRUCTION RECRUITMENT ON THE INCREASEEX-NAKHEEL EXECS RELEASED ON AED1MN BAILSUSTAINABILITY STILL MOSTLY ‘GREEN WASH’EMAAR EC REPORTS US $16.9MN LOSS

TO VOTE IN THIS WEEK’S SPOT POLL GO TOwww.ConstructionWEEKonline.com

HAVE YOUR SAYIS REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT WELL PROTECTED IN THE GCC?Can developers, contractors and investors rely on current legislation?

JOBS OF THE WEEKProduction Engineer, Dhahran, Saudi ArabiaSenior Cost Estimating Engineer, Doha, QatarLead Urban Development Planner, Doha, Qatar

ONLINE POLLWHO HOLDS THE GREATEST RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROMOTING THE NUMBER OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS?

63.0%Developers, they should be creating specifi cally sustainable projects

29.6%Investors, they should be pressuring every-one involved to deliver a greener product

7.4%Contractors, they should be the ones using more sustainable methods and materials

Architect

DAVID VS GOLIATHHow smaller architecture fi rms are keeping themselves competitive.

PMV

BACKTRACK: THE GULF’S FIRST ‘METRO’Is this a lost Metro system? You decide.


MAIL

WRITE TO THE EDITOR Please address your letters to: Post, Construction Week, PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE or email [email protected]. Please provide your full name and address, stating clearly if you do not wish us to print them. Alternatively log on to www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com and air your views on any one of a number of the latest Middle East business articles.

It is increasingly clear that some developers simply regard their businesses as outside the law, or even just common sense. The project is clearly on hold, probably because of a lack of cash, and once again investors are left powerless.MARLOW

This will be a test for the real estate laws of the country, and will either make or break the confi dence of investors and buyers who would like to

allowing developers to delay their projects without any penalty. Investors in UAE are at the total mercy of developers.NINA

RE: ACCIDENT FREE QUARTER FOR DAMAC IN DUBAIOf course this is true, especially if their construction sites are almost empty!H.I.

RE: GLASS BUILDINGS ‘IRRESPONSIBLE’, SAYS EXPERTI guess the issue here is the extensive use of glass in a building. Another issue regarding sustainability is using materials which are cheaper to produce, maintain and recycle. Also there is the cultural aspect of architecture: is glass part of the culture? Glass is used when transparency is needed. But when you used tinted glass or glass shielded with solid patterns, then it becomes vital to reconsider the whole use of glass - and look for solutions where glass can be associated with other materials to achieve better sustainability and integration into the existing fabric.SAMIR NICOLAS SADDI

RE: ESTIDAMA CLEARS UP BUILDING CODE CONFUSIONWith a leap towards sustainability in the form of USGBC’s Leed, the initiative could have been modifi ed

invest in UAE real estate and would like to have a second home.PETER

This is a test for Rera to show how they are protecting investors in the real estate sector in Dubai! According to what Rera says, I will decide whether or not to invest more in Dubai.RAED

Dubai or Rera must change the current regulations of

to suit the local needs of the entire region rather than reinventing the wheel. It was surprising to know that EGBC, which was earlier formed with the intention of streamlining the USGBC’s Leed initiative for the Gulf, is no longer venturing in this direction anymore. The ambiguous ideas presented by fresh graduate hires of UPC did not help relieve the existing hurdles that Estidama’s implementation is going to pose. It’s a matter of complicating the whole idea with cumbersome and confusing procedures. Unless the government supports the private developers’ projects by giving subsidies for taking green initiatives for their projects, the system will not be viable in fi nancial and socio-economic terms.SARIKA

RE: EXCLUSIVE: MEGA-PROJECTS FOR JED-DAH AND AL KHOBARWhy has the kingdom not announced one comprehensive programme for the Makkah-Madinah-Jeddah region? This would streamline the delivery and fast-track prosperity in the region. The much awaited development has to be in conjunction with 5-10 year expectation to deliver the greatest global programme that would be virtually impossible to follow - one that would also create a large contingent of skilled and empowered Saudis. ZAK

RE: DISGRUNTLED INVESTORS STORM RERA OFFICEThis developer did not start a project that was due for delivery in 2008 and Rera did not cancel the project? A 2BR made into a 1BR? Are you serious? And they didn’t take the consent of the owners? Seriously? You must be joking! And the developer hasn’t been blacklisted? Now that’s why I didn’t believe in buying property in Dubai. Laws change by the minute and this is a good example of contracts made void by new laws. This wouldn’t happen in any other part of the world.

SCHILLING

The opinions expressed in this section are of particular individuals and are in no way a refl ection of the publisher’s views.

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FOREWORD

WRITE TO THE EDITOR Please address your letters to: Construction Week, PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE or email [email protected]. Please provide your full name and address, stating clearly if you do not wish us to print them. Alternatively log on to www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com and air your views on any one of a number of the latest articles.

“THIS TREND HAS PREVADED ALMOST EVERY SECTOR OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND IS NOT HEALTHY GOING FORWARD”

CONRAD EGBERT [email protected]

Interviewing people in the region is always a bit of a challenge. And the reason for this is because most of the time, they worry about what not to say.

An aspect, that is a little too popular in the region, is the presence of a public relations (PR) person when conducting interviews with top level management. This is seen more in markets where the freedom of the press hasn’t quite reached an international level.

Now while the interviewee is happy to answer any question whatsoever, the PR person in the room often jumps in with “we wouldn’t like to comment on this” or “we’d rather not talk about that.”

In a market which is becoming more transparent each day, it’s a little backward for companies to try and orchestrate the way the media works. Such efforts have never worked for long anywhere in the world and the sooner these methods of operation are abandoned, the better.

This trend has prevaded almost every sector of the construction industry and is not healthy going forward. Transparency is prime.

A company couldn’t do worse than appear to be trying to hide information from the media, which is the public eye. Contrary to popular belief, many publications understand the nature of sensitive issues and deal with them quite adequately.

I’ve been ‘told’ several times not to reveal certain information that has been said to me during the interview sessions. And sometimes I don’t. Not because I was told not to by a PR person, but because an honest reply can sometimes be misconstrued and used against people who are, most often than not, simply trying to be transparent. Lets not cull that quality.

Many changes are coming about in these times – hopefully company transparency is high up on that agenda.

PS. CW Awards winners will be revealed on our website Thursday morning.

THE CULLING OF TRANSPARENCY

HARVESTwww.balmoralrainwatersystems.com

STOREwww.sectionaltanks.com

TREATwww.sewagetanks.com

LEARNwww.balmoraltankstraining.com

BALMORAL TANKSOur products mean [email protected] T +44 (0)1224 859000


Last week, the Chilean Trade Commission, ProChile, held a series of presentations at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai, with the aim of encouraging trade between the South American country and the UAE.

Architecture and engineering was one area that Chilean delegates believed emirati developers could benefi t from tapping into, due to a very specifi c set of skills.

“There are expertise and techniques that Chile has that have not yet been fully imple-mented in this region – seismic systems in particular, important in an area renowned for very tall buildings,” said Chilean ambassador to the UAE, Jean-Paul Tarud Kuborn.

“We also have exceptional knowledge in tunneling, underground metro and water technologies that Chilean companies can bring to this region.”

Although the UAE was quick to embrace foreign expertise in the construction indus-try, much of that has come from the UK and Australia; the ambassador argued that now is the perfect time to expand that range.

“For the past few years, everything has moved so fast and no one had any time to

FRONT

REGIONAL COMPANIES ASKED TO LOOK OVERSEAS FOR EXPERTISEMatt Warnock

RENE LAGOS CALLED FOR MORE MIDDLE EAST OWNERS AND DEVELOPERS TO DRAW ON OVERSEAS TALENT AND KNOWLEDGE POOLS.

look around at technology, what’s avail-able or how to increase effi ciency. The global slowdown allows us all to do that. I’m certain that the new technologies and competitive rates Chilean companies can offer will meet needs here.”

Luis Eduardo Correa of structural engineers Rene Lagos Associates pointed out that 32% of all Chile’s service exports correspond to architecture and engineering.

“We have 20 engineering schools and our company profi les include JVs, multinational acquisitions, foreign branches and national companies,” said Correa.

“We’ve 40 years of professional experience at international standards; thanks to legal and tax fl exibility along with international exchange of information, Chile has been seen as a lab for testing new technologies.”

Rene Lagos Engineering owner Rene Lagos revealed that Chile’s location above a giant fault line had engendered expertise in seis-mic building.

“Forty-nine years ago, Chile experienced the largest ever earthquake and every eight to ten years one of our cities is struck by

a big quake. This obviously becomes very important as structural engineers.”

Rene Lagos now has operations in Miami and Abu Dhabi – as well as Santiago where the company is building the tallest tower in South America – and he claimed that such seismic expertise had a role to play here.

Tomas Olea, regional manager for Crystal Lagoons, underlined the need for develop-ers to look to emerging territories for fresh products, technologies and ideas too.

“When a UAE delegation came to see our work in Chile, they couldn’t believe they didn’t already have our lagoons in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.”

Crystal Lagoons creates tropical lagoons (or the world’s biggest swimming pools, as they’re often called) in areas where the coastline is cold, polluted or dangerous and even adds beachfront to areas hundreds of kilometers inland.

“We told the delegation that we were currently working on the Dubai Lagoons project with more on the way, but they really felt like the UAE should have been leading the way.”

>Investors storm RERA offi ce to fi le complaint 12>Highlights of the week 14>Topical images with the latest news 16>News from Building Sustainability 2009 18>News analysis: Estidama reveals Pearl rating system 22

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FRONT

The broader application of BIM software could allow MEP engineers to affect major savings on overall project costs, speed up the total design process, and improve fi nal build quality by reducing the possibility of mistakes.

This was the view of Ruggero Valsecchi, export sales man-ager for Progman Oy, developer of MagiCAD software.

Valsecchi was in the UAE recently to present a series of training seminars on “the market leader and standard in all the Nordic countries, where the BIM way of thinking about projects is already well-established.”

Indeed, the Nordic countries and Singapore require certain BIM formats for regulatory approvals on build-ing projects, revealed Valsecchi.

“Here, there have been massive, incredible projects, and it is even more impressive to think that everything con-cerning MEP design has been done in 2D, manually.”

This is where a solution like ours comes into its own, offering signifi cant savings on project resources in terms

MEP SECTOR URGED TO ADOPT BIM SOFTWAREBy Gerhard Hope

of the bill of quantities and schedules. “Time, energy and cost savings are inherent because you already have all the information in your model, and do not need to recalibrate manually,” argued Valsecchi.

“The more people involved in the process, the greater the chance of mistakes with cost implications, as you have to spend more time reproducing information manually. Then work has to be redone, material is wasted and changes or modifi cations have to be effected on-site.

“MagiCAD solves co-ordination problems in the project phase and not on-site. This also reduces the total timeframe to completion because everything fl ows smoothly.”

Valsecchi added now is the time for Progman Oy to consolidate its local presence.

“The pace of new projects is tapering off and competition is getting tighter, so companies are looking at boosting their productivity. Now is the ideal time for companies to look at alternatives. This is why we are here now.”

Around 30 investors turned up at Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) last week to fi le a case over ongoing delays and specifi cation changes at the Vue de Lac and Vista del Lago developments.

Investors on the Al Attar projects at Jumeirah Lake Towers accused the developer of unreasonable delays and changes being made to apartments without the con-sent of owners.

“We have been promised the project since the end of 2007. It was then pushed to the beginning of 2008, then the end of 2008, and now he’s saying 2011 – which will never happen, because to date they’ve only fi nished the piling,” said investor Makram Mohamed.

Many asserted that apartment specifi cations had changed so drastically that they no longer wished to purchase property in the project and want a full refund.

Investors are unhappy at what was described in a letter from Al Attar as “some small changes”, where two-bedroom apartments have been changed to one-bedroom units.

Al Attar revised apartment prices in line with the reduc-tion in apartment size, but investors said that smaller alternatives were not acceptable.

“Because of the change of designation and all of this delay, we don’t want this property any more. The majority of people investing were buying to live in this property. Ninety per cent of our group wanted to live in this. Now they’ve changed the designation, we don’t need it. I bought a two-bedroom; you can’t give me a one-bed plus study,” said investor Shailendra Sainani.

DISGRUNTLED INVESTORS STORM RERA OFFICEBy James Boley

“The majority of us need our money refunded and the costs absorbed. [Al Attar] needs to resell the project from the beginning.”

Some investors took out fi nance agreements in 2006 under the impression that the project would be handed over in 2008.

They are now facing the prospect of paying fi ve years’ worth of interest on crippling fi nance agreements, should the project be delivered according to a new completion date of 2011.

“Can we still believe Al Attar can deliver in 2011, if they couldn’t even start construction in the last three years?” asked one investor.

The group has fi led a case with Rera because they say that Al Attar Properties is refusing to communicate with them except through a lawyer; no-one from Al Attar was able to comment on the case or development.

INVESTORS ARE UNHAPPY WITH “SMALL CHANGES” AND DELAYS.


FRONT

The ex-Nakheel employees accused

of defraudingUS $11.9million

have posted bail of$272,000(AED 1m)each after being jailed for nine

months

Copper price has stabilized at

US $6000per tonne after

beginning the year at$3000

per tonne following a high of$8000

per tonne last summer

Qatar’s Public Works Authority,

Ashghal, has signed

16contracts worth

US $412million

HIGHLIGHTS

UAE

UK ASKS UAE TO PAY UPThe UK’s secretary of state for business, Lord Mandelson, held talks with UAE interior minister of economy, Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri, over the non-payment of British construction fi rms. In the inaugural meeting of the UK and UAE Joint Economic and Trade Committee in London, it is understood that Mandelson raised the payment problems that UK fi rms were experiencing, while the UAE minister asked for an easing of the requirements for Emiratis to gain UK visas and discussed private investment opportunities in the UK. Jetco’s next meeting is in Abu Dhabi in April 2010.

Bahrain

SILICON PECIALIST OPENS MIDDLE EAST OPSManufacturer of silicon-based building materials Dow Corning has established a Middle East HQ in Manama. The offi ce will house engineers, chemists and the sales department, with large-

scale growth expected over the next year. “The Middle East is growing rapidly and quickly diversifying its business footprint,” said Dow Corning’s chairman, president and CEO Stephanie Burns. Dow Corning has already provided products for several developments, including the Burj Dubai.

UAE

TAMEER TOWERS HIRE HYDER CONSULTINGTameer has appointed Hyder as lead consultant for the Tameer Towers project in Abu Dhabi. President Federico Tauber said Hyder had been selected due to its previous high-rise experience. “Hyder Consulting has provided multidisciplinary services and solutions to ten of the world’s 12 tallest towers and we are confi dent that this expertise coupled with their extensive regional knowledge and experience will be extremely benefi cial in ensuring the design excellence of Tameer Towers,” he said. Gensler is being retained as executive architect.

Saudi Arabia

EMAAR EC REPORTS US $16.9MN LOSSSaudi property developer Emaar Economic City blamed a weakening demand for housing for its Q3 loss of US $16.9 million. The company, developing the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) project north of Jeddah, posted the results on the Saudi stock exchange last week. “This loss is due to the circumstances of the real estate market where there is decreased demand for residential units compared to last year,” it said in a statement. The loss is down 65% compared to losses of $48.5m in Q3 last year.

Oman

GALFAR WINS US $105M AIRPORT DEALGalfar Engineering has won the tender for the construction of the Ras Al Hadd airport in Oman. The fi rm beat out bids from Larsen & Toubro, Hanjin Heavy Industries, Strabag and Desert Lines. Galfar chief executive Hans Erlings claimed the deal was worth

$105.2 million. In August, Oman invited tenders for the construction of three airports at Sohar, Duqm and Salalah.

Bahrain

CONTRACTORS BAG SAFETY RECORDBahrain Bay contractors last week completed fi ve million man hours without any accidents. The US $2.5bn project is being worked on by Nass Murray & Roberts, AMA Group, Unicorp, Al Hassanain, Sumitomo and Chappo. “Any project which passes the fi ve million lost-time injury-free (LTI) working hours milestone is a remarkable achievement and all should be congratulated for their efforts,” said Bahrain Bay CEO Bob Vincent.

UAE

CONSTRUCTION JOBS ON THE INCREASECompanies are looking to increase their staff numbers. Experts claimed that the UAE, and Dubai in particular, had suffered most in terms of a recruitment decline, but the GCC as a whole appeared to be stabilising.

NEWS IN NUMBERS

In Bahrain,38

construction workers, paid

US $212-$238a month went on strike last week

over being forced to do unpaid overtime and denied annual

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FRONT

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The Dubai Land Department (DLD) publicly praised the developer Al Fara’a Properties for completing and delivering the US $61 million Le Grand Chateau project in Jumeirah Village, Dubai, ahead of schedule. Jumeirah Village master developer, Nakheel, also lauded the developer for handing over the project six months earlier than its 2010 deadline. “The Dubai Land Department wishes to congratulate the fi rst batch of tenants on their move into Le Grand Chateau and for the excellent investment they have made with this exceptional project,” said DLD director general Sultan Butti Bin Mirjin.

An under-construction building on Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, last week caught fi re. Abu Dhabi police claimed the fi re was caused by the burning of insulation items and that several workers were treated for minor inhalation injuries on-site. Police added that the fi re was quickly contained in the structure that was set to be a residential car park.

Infrastructure works on phase two of the man-made Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah will begin next month, developer Rakeen has revealed. The work will cover facilities for electricity, water, drainage, telecommunications, soft and hard landscaping, channel crossings, street lighting and fi re fi ghting installations for Island Three and Island Four of the development. Italian company Rizzani was awarded the infrastructure contract for phase two in July this year.

Jotun Paints announced that it had so far delivered more than three million litres of paint for the fi rst phase of the Dubai Metro Red Line; under the terms of the contract that the paint giant had been rewarded, the company will also supply paints and coatings for the remaining phases of the Red Line and the entire Green Line, both set to open next year.

The Burj al Arab was last week named the region’s most iconic landmark, with Zaha Hadid the Middle East’s most infl uential architect or designer. In spite of being the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai ranked second in the list of most iconic buildings, with 29% of the vote (Burj Al Arab scooped 34%) in a survey of 3,000 designers.

NEWS IN PICS

> For more pictures log on to www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com

Middle East & Africa

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BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCESUSTAINABILITY MUST MAKE ECONOMIC SENSEA leading expert has highlighted the importance of ensuring sustainable construction projects are fi nancially viable.In a lively workshop session at the Construction Week Building Sustainability into the Middle East conference, Royal Group’s Neil Kirkpatrick said that projects should act as a showcase for sustainability but could only do so provided they created incentives for developers.“We need to mesh sustainability with fi nancial viability. A successful project needs to generate a profi t, as well as providing a prompt ROI, as well as acting as a showcase for stability and improve the quality of life for the building’s users.”

He said it was crucial to ensure sustainable solutions could be used on other projects to ensure benefi ts across the board.“You should seek to capture benefi ts and ensure they’re transferable. Creating win-win situations with your contractors is preferable,” he said.

Kirkpatrick also recommended introducing sustainability as a planning factor as early as possible.

Members of the Urban Planning Council (UPC) and Estidama tried to clear up confusion regarding new build codes at the conference.

Members of the audience – consisting predominantly of architects, engineers, developers and government agencies – had voiced their uncertainty over where the impending new building codes, which will be mandatory, would integrate with Estidama’s voluntary Pearl Design System, to be launched next year.

“Our original goal was for the new build code to be suf-fi cient for all new buildings to meet the minimum levels to reach a ‘one Pearl’ rating,” said Estidama senior plan-ning manager Gregory Acker.

“We’re working diligently to try to make that happen, but the deal’s not done yet. We’ll only know in January. What I can tell you is that we‘re in the process of growing regulations and guidebooks to help the industry.”

ESTIDAMA CLEARS UP BUILDING CODE CONFUSION

UPC associate planner Aysha Abu Shahab added: “We re-discussed this issue as we felt that even ‘one Pearl’ should be higher than the build codes required in order to keep raising the bar.”

Explaining why Abu Dhabi and UPC had seen the need to develop the Estidama and Pearl Design System guide-lines when other certifi cation systems, such as LEED, already existed, Acker explained: “There is the need for a more climate- and region-responsive system with cul-tural considerations.”

The UPC panel did explain that the two systems – the mandatory and voluntary – would mesh closely without repetition. “If it’s in the building code, then it won’t be in the Pearl Design System,” said Abu Shahab.

“However, we’ve not discussed whether, at any point in the future, a certain Pearl rating may become manda-tory in Abu Dhabi.”

Sustainability is not being taken seriously and is a race to the bottom, experts have cvlaimed.

Speaking to Construction Week, Holly Chant, corporate sustainability director, KEO International said: “Most projects and building materials manufacturers in the region are using tools like Leed cer-tifi cation and the ‘green’ word to market themselves or their products. There is a lot of green washing going on in the construc-tion industry.

“If one has to truly become sustainable, you have to incorporate green solutions right from the concept stage. You cannot ‘green wash’ your project in the construction stage and expect it to be sustainable.”

SUSTAINABILITY STILL MOSTLY ‘GREEN WASH’

She added that the main reason for this was due to the widespread misconception that sustainability costs more.

At the conference, Estidama held a train-ing workshop to help designers, develop-ers and agencies to begin to think about sustainable development in the region but Samuel Keehn, environment and sustain-able energy manager, Energy Management Services said: “It’s a race to the bottom I’m afraid. Many people are here to learn what the lowest required minimum standards will be after the green building codes are introduced in January. There is a lack of initiative in the market right now to push for sustainable construction and this is where the real change needs to come.”

HOLLY CHANT: THE WORD GREEN IS STILL A MARKETING TOOL IN THE REGION.

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A green building expert told delegates at Construction Week’s Building Sustainability into the Middle East conference that contractors and architects should design and construct buildings that go beyond the requirements of local building codes.

Abu Dhabi Education Council senior architect Jyoti Sharma said construction stakeholders should be motivated by more than meeting the lowest possible requirements.

“Building codes are the bare minimum that you have to meet simply to avoid breaking the law. If you want to build truly sustainable buildings, you need to build to a higher standard than the code.”

She also added that developers should avoid seeing LEED or Estidama as the only target to aim for when constructing a building.

“A rating tool isn’t a goal, it’s a practice of discipline,” she said. “It’s not about getting Pearls; it’s about trying to reduce energy and water requirements.

“Most ‘green’ decisions are simply sensible and logical deci-sions. How much does it really cost to ensure your building is oriented correctly to reduce the cooling load required?”

Sharma said she had worked on renovation projects in the US and found it was far easier to convert stock from the 1920s to be more sustainable than stock from more recent decades.

“At some point we decided we were going to try and solve all our problems through technology. We can’t solve all of them with technology; we should do it through sensible thinking.”

She added that green buildings had to be designed through an integrated process due to the need for fi nancial trade-offs. “The greater the ‘greening’, the more complicated the trade-offs, and the more the various disciplines in the design process must work together.

“If it’s not economically feasible, your client won’t make the decision to construct a green building.”

MEETING BUILDING CODES IS NOT ENOUGH

Members of the public are in danger of being exposed to toxins released by demolition, according to Pure Middle East CEO Yayha Al Rayyes, who warned that children were at particular risk.

“There are a quite a few buildings being demolished in Abu Dhabi, but no-one is paying attention to the pollutants released by this: things like asbestos, mercury, legionella and neon,” he warned, adding that he had seen demolition work taking place near parks where children play.

Al Rayyes, who once contracted a near-fatal illness as a result of poor building maintenance, said MEP consultants and FMs should pay close attention to solving HVAC health issues.

“The problem is that we’re not looking at something that has an immediate effect. We’ll see these problems, like cancer, occurring further down the line. What kind of a generation are we going to raise here – a sickly one?” he asked.

“Exposure to these sorts of things cannot be tolerated.”

DEMOLITION PROJECTS ENDANGER PUBLIC HEALTH

CONSTRUCTION WEEK APRIL 4–10, 20096


ANALYSIS

EXCLUSIVE: Estidama reveals Pearl rating system - almostABU DHABI’S GREEN CERTIFICATION SYSTEM GIVES BEST INSIGHT YET, INTO ITS CONTENT

By Matt Warnock

Offi cials and consultants responsible for creating the Abu Dhabi-led sustainability ranking system, Estidama, gave the clearest insight yet, into how buildings would be ranked at the Construction Week Building Sustainability into the Middle East Conference that took place in the UAE capital last week.

Based on what they described as the “four pillars: environmental, economic, social and cultural,” Estidama associates claimed the guidelines would be “appropriate, market sensitive, incremental and will raise the quality of the urban environment.”

“The Pearls Design System (PDS) is a voluntary green build rating tool for mas-ter plans and individual developments,” explained Estidama’s Amy Haddin.

“We’ve been testing and refi ning the sys-tem for the past few months and now have a categories-based classifi cation, as can be seen on the Estidama website.”

Urban Planning Council (UPC) associate planner Aysha Abu Shahab explained that the whole rating system would be overseen by an Estidama assessor from the UPC, however each development team will have an Estidama trainer.

“It could be anyone in the design and development team - at least one person but it can be the whole team too. It’s the point of contact responsible for understand-ing regulations and supplemented design guides to facilitate PDS.

“Estidama trainers will have to pass an exam on the rating method carried out by a secure, independent service provider.”

The team admitted that they did not know how much the Estidama or PDS scheme would cost to participate in, although they maintained that it would be as low as possi

10 TIPS ON HOW TO GO GREEN WITHOUT INCURRING ADDITIONAL COSTS

By Jyoti Sharma, Senior education facilities design

specialist, Abu Dhabi Education Council

1. The use of energy effi cient lighting

2. By the use of solar panels

3. Using water effi cient gadgets

4. Green roofs

5. Day lighting

6. Acoustic and thermal comfort

7. The use of low-emitting materials

8. Mold prevention

9. Alternative transportation like bicycles

10. Recycling and joint or community use of facilities

ble; the associates also claimed that many lessons had been learnt from the ten-develop-ment-strong pilot programme that ran recently.

“We learnt that we’d set the bar too high and we needed to re-evaluate where the fi fth Pearl would go,” continued Haddin.

“We also needed to simplify the tools and the language used, as well as creating a sys-tem that applied to more build-ing types, rather than simply offi ces, residential and retail. So, future guidelines will apply to schools, health centres, hotels and resorts.”

The PDS works on a one to fi ve basis and has six categories, each worth a different percentage of the total, based on its perceived importance. This also ensures that, if a development or com-munity is unable to comply with certain guidelines, it may be able to make up points with absolute best practices in other areas.

The six categories are: liv-ing systems (12%), liveable

“WE’VE BEEN TESTING AND REFINING THE SYSTEM FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS AND WE NOW HAVE CATEGORIES ONLINE”


> For the latest analysis log on to www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com

TOP RIGHT: UPC ASSOCIATE PLANNERS VLADIMIR LIMIN AND AMY HADDIN PRESENTED THE RATING SYSTEM TO THE ASSEMBLED AUDIENCE AT THE CONFERENCE.

ABOVE RIGHT: DELEGATES TAKE NOTES AS DETAILS OF THE GREEN CLASSIFICATION SCHEME ARE REVEALED.

communities/buildings (30%), precious water (22%), resourceful energy (22%), stewarding materials (12%) and innovative practice (2%).

Taking the resourceful energy category as an example, the section holds a sway of 22% of the overall rating; there are three pre-required points, seven additional credit areas with one of those a necessity for reach-ing a fi fth Pearl rating.

The prerequisites are: minimum energy performance; energy monitoring and report-ing; and ozone impacts of refrigerants and fi re systems.

The seven additional credits are: improved

energy performance (5th Pearl); cool build-ing strategies; energy effi cient appliances; vertical transportation; peak load reduc-tion; renewable energy; and global warming impacts of refrigerants and fi re systems.

But why exactly will developers, already being bound by the Abu Dhabi building regulations and development codes, sign up to achieve Estidama rating?

“It’s all about doing the right thing,” said Estidama senior planning manager Gregory Acker.

“The real way to affect change is to fi nd what resonates. What

code do businesses hold themselves to? “But, to be honest, this is an easy sell with

the way that attitudes are changing these days. What we’re trying to do is fi nd some-thing that works in this region. We want to be the tide that raises all the ships.”

The government structure in the UAE is ideal, claimed Acker, with directives from the right source quickly taken on by indus-

try. “Things can happen fi ve times faster here than elsewhere.”

And now is the perfect time too,

“WE SET THE BAR TOO HIGH AND NEEDED TO RE-EVALUATE WHERE THE FIFTH PEARL WOULD GO.”

ANALYSIS

added Acker. “It’s always the case that in boom times, there’s not much time to look around for progression.

“Abu Dhabi has always been a little more thoughtful and considered, but the reces-sion adds another layer to that - there’s less expediency and more focus on quality.”

“THERE ARE A LOT OF PLATINUM LEED BUILDINGS BUT THERE WON’T BE MANY FIFTH PEARLS”

perhaps what is a three Peal today won’t be a three Pearl in years to come, but with fl exibility you can continually raise the bar. One thing I can promise is that we will always be extremely vigorous. There are a lot of Platinum Leed buildings, but there won’t be many fi fth Pearls!” �

SENIOR PLANNING MANAGER GREG ACKER AND ASSOCIATE VLADIMIR LIMIN TAKE QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE.

And Acker conceded that, just as the sus-tainable industry will move on, Estidama will also have to evolve.

“It’s extremely fl uid; version one is just version one. Like every rating system, Esti-dama will get wider and richer.

“It’s a given that things will move on and


FACE-TO-FACE

The government is currently educating people and industries, so

we’re defi nitely on the right track but that’s not suffi cient. People

still take time to react, so new technologies and best practices

need to be enforced.

HOW GREEN IS THE INDUSTRY AT THE MOMENT?

HOW RESPONSIVE HAS THE INDUSTRY BEEN TO YOUR PRODUCT?

WHAT TYPE OF PROJECT DOES YOUR PRODUCT WORK BEST ON?

DOES YOUR PRODUCT REQUIRE INCREASED ATTENTION AT THE DESIGN STAGE?

MOHAMAD NASRELDINGM, Green Builders

VEERU VEERAMANIsales and marketing director, Ruud Lighting Arabia

HOW DOES YOUR PRODUCT STAND UP FINANCIALLY?

The awareness of the major issues is defi nitely improving, even

if it’s still not 100%. However, sustainability is becoming well-

supported, in actions as well as words. People know what is

required and they’re pursuing those changes.

Structural Insulated Panels (Sips) are a brand new product for the

Middle East market and most people are astonished that green

wood is now so technically advanced. Everyone I talk to seems

happy to discover such an environmentally good building material.

Very responsive. Invariably, anybody interested in energy saving

enjoys fi nding out about our LED lighting, but last year, maybe only

two in every 100 were in a position to buy. Now, that percentage

has increased to ten in 100.

For the time being, we’ll limit the number of storeys to three or four

until there’s confi dence in the material, but in the US Sips has been

used on 10-storey buildings. Sips can be used on villas, commercial

properties and offi ces. In the US, they’ve enacted green wood laws

to create safe and healthy schools for our children.

Our LEDs have external applications, so they’re ideal for street

lighting, fl ood lighting, car parks, security lights, canopies at petrol

stations, for example, or under deck lighting in tunnels.

For architects, the design is exactly the same with Sips as it is for

concrete or steel. For structural designers, it’s even easier. We use

a tabular approach; wind, life cycle...it’s entirely prescriptive – you

simply decide the Sips thickness accordingly.

If LEDs can be implemented at the design stage it’s so much

better as the client can make such great savings on cables, panel

boards...the earlier the better and we’re happy to help from the

concept stage onwards.

Firstly, Sips is 10% cheaper than concrete but then there’s the

whole issue of speed and manpower. Just 12 labourers working in

two shifts could complete the superstructure of a villa - walls, fl oor

and roof - in just 24 hours.

Take Al Sowwah Island, Abu Dhabi, for example, where they

replaced luminar lamps with our LEDs along 5km of tunnels. The

additional cost for this was AED1.9 million, but on day one they

saved AED300,000 on cables, AED400,000 on not having to

seperately light the pedestrian walkway, so AED 1.2million net.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE DECOMMISSIONING STAGE?

Well, that’s exactly the point of Sips. Our product is 100%

recyclable – every inch of our buildings can be reused, once a

building has been decommissioned. That’s why, we describe the

building’s lifecycle as cradle to cradle.

Well, our LEDs are completely recyclable without any diffi culty at

all, which makes them stand out from traditional lighting solutions.

There’s no mercury or heavy metals being dumped back into the

earth, which is exactly what we all want.

SUSTAINABLE TALK

CW LOOKS AT TWO SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS THAT ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

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> For the latest news and comments log on to www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com/comment

COMMENT

The opinions expressed in this column are of the author and not of the publisher.

The construction industry has witnessed a distinct shift in priorities over recent months as market conditions have made contractors, consultants and developers re-evaluate their strategies.

There has certainly been a noticeable change in respect to time: the time to deliver; the time to pay (or not); the time to invest and the signifi cant amount of time invested in changing working practices. Together, these have served to keep many offi ces extremely busy as they look to understand how they have been affected by recent events.

Cost, cost management and cost control now dominate boardroom discussions across the region: the cost to complete, the cost of a tender and overall project cost are now all being closely monitored and scrutinised. Cost has become absolutely central to the diverse strategies employed by companies working within the industry. Minimising operational overheads through change in working practices and resource streamlin-ing is intended to increase profi tability, but not at the expense of performance.

Attitudes to time and cost have certainly been affected but perhaps the most sig-nifi cant development has been in respect of risk. Inevitably businesses around the world have become acutely aware of the role that risk exposure and risk manage-ment play in prudent commercial strat-egy. Risk will always be a factor in business growth but construction companies must now seek to control it even more tightly as the changes in world economy and sub-sequent business conduct take effect. The question is how?

In most industries, technology has played a major role in helping to manage and control business processes and risk. Unfortunately, for many years the construction industry has proven an exception to the rule; a fact that is surprising when you consider that many construction projects actually cost

more than the total annual turnover of most medium to large sized companies.

The forces of supply and demand being what they are, the industry’s laggard reputation has meant that software development has historically been slower and more piece-meal than in other industries. The fi nancial accounting (ERP) applications were primarily deployed to meet the requirements of only the head offi ce accounting disciplines of a construction business. It was the intention that these systems should also be employed to manage, facilitate, control and deliver accurate fi nancial reporting of the corpo-rate business, as well as the construction specifi c activities. But the bottom line is that they haven’t been up to the job, falling short of the requirements of detailed com-mercial reporting of construction projects – a risk in itself!

The infl exibility and inability of the cor-porate accounting system to capture and allocate data in this format has, in many cases, left no alternative but for the com-mercial and IT departments to develop complex spreadsheets, access databases and in-house systems to plug the gaps and capture, manage and report information in the required project format.

This approach in itself can create prob-lems as the systems are often run in isola-tion and stand alone from the corporate fi nance solution, creating the need to re-key data, resulting in errors, ineffi ciencies and duplication of effort.

The need for “construction specifi c” tech-nology that can offer comprehensive manage-ment across all disciplines of a organisation is self-evident. Such solutions allow for proactive management of structured and unstructured information required for the delivery of projects within a budget. Today, this is absolutely essential to mitigate risk for those winning work, delivering work and clients awarding the work.

Time, cost, risk and then there’s technologyPAUL MADEIRA LOOKS AT HOW RECENT EVENTS HAVE AFFECTED THE ISSUES OF TIME, COST AND RISK ACROSS THE INDUSTRY AND HAVE HEIGHTENED THE VALUE OF TECHNOLOGY

Paul Madeira is chief operating officer for Causeway with 18 years of experience from the IT industry

through working with UK and North American global software firms. After college he studied a

two year Institute of Management course to gain a qualification as an organisational and methods analyst. In December 2008, he

relocated with his family to Dubai to lead Causeway’s continued

development in the Middle East and Asia Pacific region.

“COST, COST MANAGEMENT ADN COST CONTROL NOW

DOMINATE BOARDROOM DISCUSSIONS ACROSS

THE REGION”


EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWLAURIE VOYER

When one’s in the presence of ingenuousness, you know it. The smiles are different, the handshake’s fi rm and most importantly, you’re looked straight in the eye, unabashed, with nothing to hide. And that’s Laurie Voyer for you – an honest man who seems like he’s not afraid to take on the world or answer an impertinent question.

“I love pressure,” laughs Voyer when asked if he felt a little in awe of the job he’s taken on. “It doesn’t frighten me.”

His reputation for health and safety standards precedes him and it is also one of the many changes he’s here to make.

But all work and no play is certainly not what expatriates in Dubai are known for, so it’s good to know that Voyer is destined to fi t in perfectly. Fresh off the boat from Australia, he says his fascination for the Middle East is probably the main reason why he accepted the job.

“I suppose from my point of view I was very happy to continue working in

Australia but the Middle East has always fascinated me beyond a work career. I guess what drew me here was the director of Al Habtoor Leighton Group, but also in my own space, I thought it was a part of the world that I’ve never fully understood. And quite honestly, the only way you can understand a place is if you’ve been there.

“I want to be here; I want to work here; I’ve got an opportunity to be here for the next four to fi ve years and it’s not just for the work – I’d like to understand the whole place, the culture, the religion, how things work, so I’m quite excited to be here.”

The tie-up between Al Habtoor and the Leighton Group happened like “magic” he joked. Leighton was looking to expand its presence world wide and similarly, the Habtoor family and shareholders were looking to couple-up

with an international contractor. The Leighton group had worked with Al Habtoor group in the 80s, both CEOs met, discussed it and boom! Al Habtoor Leighton Group emerged. Magic.

A positive outlook could possibly be Voyer’s most valuable asset in a market, which is still struggling to cope with

the widespread damage the economic downturn has caused. And this is probably why he’s able to take things in his stride.

“It was inevitable,” he says

looking unaffected. “But having said that the construction industry worldwide continues to function like a roller coaster – sometimes it seems to go deeper between the troughs and then peaks again at various points, so it’s pretty natural in this industry to see things

“I’D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND THE

WHOLE PLACE, THE CULTURE, THE

RELIGION, HOW THINGS WORK, SO I’M EXCITED TO BE HERE”

CHANGE IS HERE‘CATCH THEM WHEN THEY’RE YOUNG.’ OR IN THE CASE OF LAURIE VOYER, NEW.

VOYER IS THE FRESH BLOOD AT AL HABTOOR LEIGHTON GROUP AND HAS PROMISED TO TAKE THE FIRM, ALSO ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONSTRUCTION CONGLOMERATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, TO NEW HEIGHTS.

CONSTRUCTION WEEK EDITOR, CONRAD EGBERT CAUGHT UP WITH HIM IN THE REGION’S FIRST EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NEW FORCE BEHIND AL HABTOOR LEIGHTON

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like this, however, I think Dubai has probably got a long way to go. I mean all the units still being built and the amount of confi rmed residential units to come online within the next six months, will continually keep the market constant for the next 5 to 6 years maybe.”

And that’s pretty much the most honest and feasible answer anyone in the industry has ever given. He continues: “Infrastructure has got a long way to catch up, a lot of road works and support structures for all those developments still have to be done, whether it’s power, water or sewer. Transportation still needs to catch up to the building activity that is going on. I think there will be spot opportunities around.”

So has the region seen the end of projects like big residential communities and crazy structures that have defi ned Dubai in the past? Voyer says yes and no.

“We’re still involved in some early feasibility works on some major opportunities but I don’t think they’ll be building anywhere near like the crazy record that they’ve been attempting to. Instead of taking three years like before,

I might take fi ve years now to build and it’s a much steadier, safer and simpler way of doing things. And it makes more sense. It’s considerably more practical as well.”

The Al Habtoor Leighton Group’s work in hand is currently around the US $6 billion (AED22 billion) mark. In addition, it is chasing about $3 billion in Qatar alone. Voyer shines the light.

“There’s a people mover in the education city that we’re looking at. We’re in consortium with Siemens there, to provide a transportation system for Education City. We’re also very active in the bidding for the Doha Port. I’m sure you know, we just won a Kahramaa (Qatar’s general

water and electricity corporation) water reservoir project, so we’re looking to grow in that area and that type of activity, which we probably haven’t been traditionally known for in Qatar or even here for that matter. So that’s a part of the Leighton stable, I suppose, together with Habtoor Business, that we see the Habtoor Leighton brand beginning to deliver.

“We see great opportunities in the oil and gas market in Qatar and we’re probably going to struggle a bit, but we’ll

make some inroads there in the next four months I think.”

Guessing that Qatar is the Group’s focus is a no-brainer. But Voyer dismisses it, saying it is the kind of work that is the focus rather than geographical location. Despite many of the biggest fi rms attempting to break into the Saudi Arabian market, he says it’s not a sole focus for him. But he also doesn’t deny that Al Habtoor Leighton has its eyes peeled for work in the kingdom.

“I think the greatest opportunities lie in the work, rather than the place, and I think a lot of the Gulf countries have under spent in the last 20-odd years or so, in terms of infrastructure resources. So each of those particular GCC countries and their capitals, we look at, where they may be wishing to go with expanding or improving their infrastructure. So all the places you care to mention, we’re looking at and we want to probably get in there fi rst, rather than follow. Maybe the action is in Saudi today but there could soon be more action in Kuwait, here or Bahrain. All those places are all looking as optimistic, so maybe we can jump ahead.”

It seems mister Voyer has a lot on his plate and much chalked out for his time in one of the hottest seats in the region, probably even the world. First on his agenda is to understand better the contracting opportunities available to him. A shift from Dubai to Abu Dhabi

FRESH BLOODAs managing director of HLG, Laurie

Voyer will oversee the operations of

the company. He has over 35 years’

senior management experience in

the construction industry. Prior to

relocating to Dubai in July, Voyer was

deputy managing director for Leighton

Contractors, the Leighton Group’s

fl agship operating company. He was also

in charge of the company’s construction

and mining operations across Australia

and New Zealand. The Al Habtoor

Leighton Group’s work in hand currently

exceeds US $6 billion (AED22 billion).

“I THINK THE GREATEST

OPPORTUNITIES LIE IN THE WORK, RATHER

THAN THE PLACE”

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and Qatar is also on the cards and could see some more job opportunities open up – an idea that would be more than welcomed by many in the current employment market.

“We feel that we’re a little under-resourced at the moment in some more technically challenging projects. There is a lot of university work and hospital work coming out of Abu Dhabi. And because there hasn’t been much of that sort of work being done in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, the job market is mainly unskilled in those areas and we’re actively campaigning at the moment to reinforce our professional staff in technically challenging projects like hospitals and universities.

“There’s a lot of hospital work coming out of Abu Dhabi, but we’re not focusing on that alone, we’re focusing on other markets as well. We don’t ever want to be caught over-exposed to one particular market or one segment of that geographic market, so we’re looking at the complete geography that is available to us. We’re going to be far more strategic in where we take our business.”

Voyer’s reputation in health and safety and labour rights precedes him. The boys on Build Safe UAE seemed to know more about his safety record than he probably would. According to him, labour reforms take up a big chunk of his agenda.

“I think we have a reasonable approach to health and safety. We like to ensure that our labour are effi ciently suitable for the task and are motivated to do the task because that makes sure we get a quality output and we deliver on time. All human being are entitled to go home safely at the end of the day. So from my point of view, whether I’m in Australia or Kuwait or downtown Dubai, standards should be no different. In our experience in Australia we’re seeing a signifi cant improvement in output and productivity of our workforce when we’ve got a very safe site. Motivation

makes a huge difference. We’re all human beings at the end of the day.

“We’re also reassessing our labour agreements and all the conditions of our workforce and I strongly believe we’ve got an adequately skilled workforce. We should be able to produce better quality work, more safely and on time and we’re going right back up the whole supply chain to refocus on the inputs into our business, which is labour, and many other things, to understand that we can perhaps get a better output if we concentrate on our inputs better. We are

reassessing everything.”Being in a tight spot is

part of the game and Al Habtoor Leighton has been up against a few more walls than most have. The company has, in the recent past, faced a corruption

scandal, had issues with Sama Dubai, faced construction problems with the Sorbonne University dome in Abu Dhabi and recently suffered a labour strike, but Voyer says it’s all going to change and despite bad press, the company is running at a high.

“We weren’t particularly happy with what happened about three or four weeks ago when we had those riots, but we were already starting to look at various matters inside the workforce anyway. It clearly brought about an embarrassment and brought forward our plans for the whole evaluation of our supply chain particularly in the labour market. So we’re probably a few weeks away from having those matters solved.

“There are still some issues with Sama Dubai; Sorbonne – we handed phase one over on time, the issue of the

roof has been dealt with and we have a satisfactory solution there. I think the team has done an extremely good job of dealing with that.”

During Al Habtoor Leighton’s time as contractor on the Sorbonne University project in Abu Dhabi, the dome of the main structure faced a few construction problems that were eventually ruled out to be design fl aws.

“There seemed to be some design issue that weren’t perhaps fully analysed at the time but it’s been rectifi ed now and we’ve got a course of action in place to make it more stable now and in the future,” explains Voyer.Many contractors in the industry feel that designs in the region, sometimes, over step the practical line and need to be revisited but Voyer doesn’t think that view applies to him.

“I wouldn’t say that’s right,” he argues. “I guess the problem we would see in some of those situations, and of course beyond the dome at Sorbonne, is always this continual pressure to try and reduce costs and to make it look architecturally more elegant. But there is a balance somewhere, and you say enough is enough; we need robust designs that will operate under any conditions. Probably this needs to be done in more technically challenging structures like the dome at Sorbonne, where you need a third party review process from what I can see looking back.

“Maybe the third party review process wasn’t thorough enough and perhaps it should have been. In the future though we will always look at independent third party reviews of our designs in those sorts of structures. Habtoor Leighton will insist on third party reviews.” �

“ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE ENTITLED TO GO HOME SAFELY AT THE

END OF THE DAY”

THE ROOF OF THE SORBONNE UNIVERSITY IN ABU DHABI HAS BEEN DEALT WITH ADEQUATELY SAYS VOYER.

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SPECIAL REPORT

OCTOBER 31–NOVEMBER 6, 2009 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 37

LEED COMPLIANTHOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE TO GREEN BUILDING


The preservation of our environment is quickly climbing up many people’s agendas – be it world leaders, environment protectionists or even

individual industries, including the likes of construction and oil and gas.

At fi rst, it was just activists shouting slogans on street corners, but it soon caught the attention of global leaders and governments all over the world.

The gravity of the situation has now seeped deep into the daily lives of the world populace with many incorporating green methods into everything they do. Recycling is a small example. It has also made its way into the conscience of manufactures – case in point, building materials manufacturers.

Construction activity is one of the biggest contributors that harm the environment and many suppliers have begun to realise this and turn to less emitting materials and greener products.

However, the change has also given birth to a new opportunity – an opportunity, which some manufacturers have used to market themselves.

ARE YOU LEEDING THE INDUSTRY ON?GREEN BUILDING PRODUCTS CAN CONTRIBUTE, IN A BIG WAY, TO ACHIEVING A LEED CERTIFICATION. CW DELVES DEEP INTO THE ISSUE.

By Conrad Egbert

(Leed) Green Building Rating System was developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998 and provides for environ-mentally sustainable construction. Attaining a Leed certifi cation is considered one of the hardest achievements and this is due to its transparent process where the technical criteria proposed by the Leed committees are publicly reviewed for approval by more than 10,000 membership organisations that constitute the USGBC.

So what do building materials manufac-turers really mean when they say they are Leed certifi ed? David Guilabert Ortuno, planning director, Cemex explains it from a suppliers point of view.

“It means they are a supplier of products

“It drives me mad when I get phone calls from building material manufacturers try-ing to lure me to meet with them on the back of their Leed certifi cation,” said Holley Chant, Leed AP, who is corporate sustain-ability director at international consultancy fi rm Keo.

“As soon as someone says they’re Leed certifi ed, I make sure they’re ruled out com-pletely. Leed does not certify products, it certifi es buildings and from there on, com-

munities etc. People calling me up to say their products are Leed certifi ed already shows how little they know about Leed.”

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

CEMEX TIP ON HOW TO DISTINGUISH A REAL GREEN PRODUCT FROM A GREEN WASHED ONE?

Ask building materials suppliers how

they can help reduce the carbon

footprint of their projects, improve their

environmental management system and

contribute to obtain any of the green

building rating system points.

“PEOPLE CALLING UP TO SAY THEIR PRODUCTS ARE LEED CERTIFIED ALREADY SHOWS HOW LITTLE THEY KNOW ”


that can help construction projects gain Leed credits,” he says. “There is no Leed certifi -cation for suppliers; it is a building rating system not a company rating system.

“However, a company can position itself to be a supplier of materials that will help a project earn a host of different Leed credits. For example, Cemex can supply products to reduce the UHI (urban heat island) effect, contain certain levels of recycled materials, reduce energy consumption in a building or help projects gain innovation credits by surpassing the normal performance require-ments. These are some examples of where the building materials used, can contribute directly to a projects Leed certifi cation.” But Tarana Daroogar, technical services

MAPEI’S TIPS ON HOW SEALANTS, ADHESIVES AND BUILDING CHEMICALS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO ACHIEVING A LEED RATING

• Materials that improve air quality by

developing an indoor air quality plan

to reduce particles in the air

during installations.

• Low VOC emitting products by using

indoor environmental quality.

• Recycled content by reducing impact

from extraction and processing of

virgin materials.

• Using of regional materials by

reducing environmental impact

from transportation.

manager for building materials provider Mapei, feels that the correct term is not Leed certifi ed but “Leed compliant”.

“There is often a misconception on this point. Products are often referred to as ‘Leed compliant,’ which means that they can contribute to the points

required for the Leed rating or other green building certifi cations.

Chant agrees that certain products can help towards attaining a Leed certifi ca-tion but that again depends on a host of many factors, and a product that is pegged to be green could just as well become an

offender, depending on the way it is used. “It’s a very strict process and each material is assessed individually. Even products, are then further assessed and what went into making the product is looked at, the condi-tions it was manufactured in, the resources used and many other factors.”

But with such pressure mounting in the region to become environmentally friendly and sus-tainable, are building materials manufac-turers beginning to really go green and is the same pres-sure also driving some manufactures to simply ‘green wash’ their products?

“Absolutely,” says Daroogar in response to the former. “Many manufactures are responding to the requirements of the mar-ket in the introduction of ‘green’ products, however, we fi nd that some manufactures are taking advantage of this opportunity

and trying to label their products as green products, while it requires more detailed analysis of the actual application and con-ditions of use and also the manufacturing process involved.”

Cemex’s Ortuno agrees: “Sustainable con-struction is a reality and is clearly becom-ing a differentiation factor in our industry.

Leading companies in the construction sector are implement-ing green products and practices around the world.

“Being the GCC, one of the top con-structions spots in the

world, the need to go green will increase. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers are ready to take on such a new challenge and their green products campaign looks more like ‘green wash’ rather than a truly green product.”But with more and more manufactures becoming responsible, coupled with a more educated market, there is very little space

CHANT SAYS LEED CERTIFICATION IS NOT EASY.

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“EVEN PRODUCTS ARE ASSESSED AND WHAT WENT INTO MAKING THE PRODUCT IS LOOKED AT”

left for green washed products to survive. The economic downturn has had a cata-strophic impact on the industry but along with the bad there is good and fake green products are set to be washed away. �


The Big 5 is undoubt-edly the largest con-struction industry event held in the Middle East. So with the sector feeling the full effects of the

global recession, how has the exhibition been affected and what does this mean for its future?

The region’s construction industry has undergone major changes since the pre-vious Big 5 in 2008 and it seems certain that evidence of this is likely to be seen at the 2009 event both in terms of footfall and the types of products being exhibited. However industry opinion leading up to the event remains positive. In addition to the returning exhibitors, numerous fi rms have booked exhibition spaces for the fi rst time in order to enter the region’s market and there is a widely held view that the Big 5 can only become more successful if it adapts to meet the changing market needs.

MAKING AN ENTRANCEAmong the new entrants to the Big 5 this year are Porcellan and Newell Rubbermaid. The two fi rms offer very different product ranges and demonstrate the diversity of products that will be showcased at the exhibition.

THE BIG EVENTCONSTRUCTION WEEK CONTINUES ITS PREVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY’S LARGEST

EXHIBITION IN THE REGION AND ASKS: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THE BIG 5?By Alison Luke

during the event. “The successor to the Rhino 5000, with this newest addition to our industrial grade hand-held label printer line professional installers can now enjoy advanced features such as more ‘hot keys’, an improved ergonomic design and a larger graphical display,” explains Newell Rub-bermaid trade marketing manager MEA Leslie Konrad.

ALI IHSAN CETINER, GM, EMIRATES INDUSTRIAL PANEL.

EMIRATES INDUSTRIAL PANELS CAN HELP TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION AND FIRE SAFETY.

“Porcellan is the latest venture of the Jamal Al Ghurair Group and will produce 18 mil-lion m2 of glazed, polished, unpolished and technical porcelain tiles per year,” explains Porcellan marketing consultant Sara Al Ghurair. The fi rm offers a wide range of porcelain tiles with a high aesthetic stan-dard and quality, in different sizes.

It showcased its products for the fi rst time at the Cersaie trade show in Italy during September 2009 and is using the Big 5 as the launch pad for its portfolio in the Middle East. “We consider Big 5 as an appropriate platform to launch our prod-ucts in the local and regional markets. We believe that this will give us a big boost in terms of our product exposure and brand visibility,” explains Al Ghurair.

Newell Rubbermaid has also deemed the Big 5 as the most suitable platform from which to showcase its products to the wider construction the market in the region. The fi rm will be exhibiting its Rhino industrial labeling solutions and handheld label print-ers. Aimed at professional installers, the printers include features such as ‘hot keys’ which format commonly used labels, plus a built-in library of industry symbols and terms in order to reduce time on site.

Newell Rubbermaid will also be offi cially launching the Rhino 5200 to the Gulf region

PORCELLAN AMBIENCE WILL BE SHOWN AT BIG 5.

“THE PANELS PRODUCED ON EIP’S CONTINUOUS LINE ARE PRODUCED FROM RAW MATERIALS WITH ZERO ODP”


> For more special reports visit www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com

EXPANDING SERVICESOf the returning exhibitors to Big 5 in 2009, many are taking the opportunity to introduce new products and services to the region that are more in line with the changing construction market. Fire safety, sustainability, improved client service and new construction methods are all factors cited as reasons for new product lines.

Concrete cooling specialist KTI Emirates will be introducing its 4th generation of ice water and cold water plants and 3rd genera-tion of fl ake ice plants to the market at the Big 5. The fi rm will also be launching new service packages and contracts reports KTI Emirates’ Tobias Graf.

Emirates Industrial Panel (EIP) is planning to take the opportunity to address two of the top considerations in the region: sustain-able building and fi re safety. The fi rm will be showcasing its insulated metal panels for industrial and commercial investments and demonstrating how the products can assist in these issues.

“The panels are widely used for covering the roof and façade of industrial and com-mercial buildings as well as creating cold

stores inside buildings that are used by food and pharmaceutical industries,” reports EIP general manager Ali Ihsan Cetiner. “Although insulated metal panels have been present in the UAE for some years, the industrial types that are produced on the latest technology continuous lines were not present,” explains Cetiner.

EIP is a supplier of PIR fi re-resistant panels that are certifi ed to withstand fi re and preserve their insulation and integrity features up to certain time limits as will be outlined in detail at the Big 5.

Their contribution to sustainable build-ing will also be in focus. “The panels pro-duced on EIP’s continuous line have much improved properties that increase their contribution to preserving the environ-ment: they are produced from raw materi-als with zero ODP; and they have superior insulation capabilities, hence decrease the consumption of fossil fuels,” adds Cetiner.

NEWELL R5200 LCD CAN BE FOUND AT THE BIG 5.

WHAT’S THE LONG-TERM FUTURE OF THE BIG 5 FOLLOWING THE RECESSION?

“It might be likely that smaller exhibitions

fi nd it diffi cult to ‘survive’ in the future

and the interest might be concentrated

on bigger shows where you can meet

everyone.” Leslie Konrad, trade

marketing manager MEA, Newell

Rubbermaid

“[The Big 5] will still increase as it is the

construction exhibition for the Middle East.”

Tobias Graf, KTI Emirates

“A big exhibition covering all components

of interest for the visitor will be more

successful [in the future].” Marco Thomas

Vincenz, general manager Middle East,

Foamglas

“Smaller new exhibitions focusing on green

building and sustainability are coming up

and the future will show if the Big 5 can

incorporate that.” Jens Schuell, marketing

manager, Uponor international

“The global downturn in the construction

sector is not here to stay. I think next year

the Big 5 may have to be organised on an

even larger scale. Of course, bringing in

elements of focus on specialised areas of

construction will surely add value to it.”

Sara Al Ghurair, marketing consultant,

Porcellan

“We believe that investors and

professionals could reap more benefi ts

from more focused versions of Big 5,

targeted at a more specifi c parts of

the construction sector.” Ali Ihsan

Cetiner, general manager, Emirates

Industrial Panel

“WE SEE HUGE POTENTIAL STILL IN THE ARABIAN GULF COUNTRIES”

Foamglas and Uponor will also be taking the opportunity to highlight the sustainable nature of their products when used in the region’s construction projects. “Foamglas is a thermal insulation that is produced from recycled glass, which has properties such as, it is fully impervious to water and humidity, absolutely non-combustible and is very eco friendly,” explains Marco Thomas Vincenz, general manager Middle East, Foamglas.

The fi rm will be using mock-ups to dem-onstrate the use of Foamglas in buildings. It will also be launching its new website and

JENS SCHUELL, MARKETING MANAGER, UPONOR.

UPONOR PROVIDED ITS SOLUTIONS IN BANGKOK.

Organised by

11.00 - 22.00 daily23-26 November 2009

Dubai World Trade Centre,Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.thebig5exhibition.com/visit

11.00 - 20.00 daily

AN EXPERIENCE WHICH IS TRULY...‘BEYOND EXCEPTIONAL’

the fi rm will show how its system can be applied with the new riser system being used in the region, particularly for high-rise construction.

ECONOMIC EFFECTSDespite the fall in construction activity in certain parts of the region over the past year, the Big 5 exhibitors remain confi dent about future sales potential of the exhibition and the Middle East region in general.

“The economic downturn has affected us more in Europe and North America; outside of these areas the situation is quite stable,” reports Uponor International marketing manager Jens Schuell. “But in general we see huge potential still in the Arabian Gulf countries,” adds Schuell.

“In the Middle East the downturn was obvious, but not in each country,” reminds Graf. “The demand will increase for sure; it was just a temporary uncertainness at the beginning of the year and the growth in the years 2007 and 2008 was over-proportional,” he adds. He cites the previous planning for

mega-projects and ongoing demand for new applications and products as aspects that are set to provide a positive future in the region. “The growth in countries that were not affected much by the crisis will be on a high level,” predicts Graf.

EIP is hoping that the Big 5 will provide it both with new business and a true indi-cation of the future of the market. “In the very recent months we have seen signals of an upturn and are very much looking forward to Big 5 to get a validation of those signals,” states Cetiner. “Big 5 will play an important role in assessing the situation of the markets in relation to the economic crisis,” he adds.

Despite being a recently established com-pany, EIP has already exceeded its growth expectations and expects its presence at Big 5 to contribute to further growth. “We did not have too high expectations and we were focusing our strategy on being a sus-tainable and reliable supplier that would still be in the market for its clients during and after the downturn,” explains Cetiner.

a new product, Foamglas W+F (wall and facade), which has been specially designed for wall applications and has an improved thermal conductivity rating.

Uponor International’s product portfolio includes a wide range of underfl oor cooling, heating, and installation solutions: multi-layer and PE-Xa pipes, pipe-fi xation, mani-folds and control devices. At the Big 5 it will demonstrate its new underfl oor cooling concept and outline the special project ser-vices it offers in this fi eld for consultants, architects and contractors. These include simulation of buildings, calculations includ-ing bill of quantity, installation plans and supervision of the installation. In addition,

KTI EMIRATES WILL LAUNCH A NEW RANGE AT BIG 5.

> For more special reports visit www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com

“This has paid off sooner than we thought: the growth experienced within the last one year period was almost 1.5 times the pro-jected rate,” he adds.

Newell Rubbermaid also reports a posi-tive upturn in business: “We have increased our distribution this year and have grown our business by 35% in the Gulf against last year,” reports Konrad. “We have big busi-ness expectations in this region and see a lot of potential,” she adds. After examining the development potential of the Rhino products in the region the fi rm believes that this is the right time to increase its activities, hence its participation in Big 5. “Apart from a small phase of hesitation in Q1, we experienced tremendous growth rates against the previous year,” reminds Konrad. Rather than simply seeking new clients and agreeing sales at the Big 5, Foamglas is viewing the event as an opportunity to educate and present its solutions to profes-sionals that are aware of typical thermal insulation problems in the region. “Plan-ners know exactly the high risk related to

believe that investors and professionals could reap more benefi ts from more focused versions of it that target specifi c parts of the construction sector,” states Cetiner.

Al Ghuair agrees: “Bringing in elements of focus on specialised areas of construc-tion will surely add value to Big 5,” she states. “Smaller, new exhibitions focussing on green building and sustainability are coming up and the future will show if Big 5 can incorporate that,” adds Schuell.

However, Al Ghurair stresses that chang-ing worldwide economics will play a large part in future developments.

The sheer scale of the event may prove to be one of its most positive attributes accord-ing to Konrad. This increased focus has already spread to the exhibitors themselves. Schuell explains: “Many exhibitors that were present in 2008 are not participating in 2009, only the companies with long-term interests in the market are present.”

Good news for time-strapped fi rms that rely on the event as a major source of con-tacts and product information. �

Middle East humidity or fi re in building applications,” states Vincenz. “Also con-sultants looking for sustainable and green solutions are very welcome and appreciate our green product, which will contribute Leed credits [to projects].

THE FUTURE OF BIG 5?With the future of the Big 5 intrinsically linked to the health of the construction sector in the region, what can we expect from 2010 and onwards?

An increased focus on certain areas of the construction sector is one suggestion put forward by exhibitors in order to ensure its future effectiveness. “We are not expecting any reduction in the size of Big 5, but we

“WE HAVE INCREASED OUR DISTRIBUTION THIS YEAR AND HAVE GROWN OUR BUSINESS BY 35% IN THE GULF AGAINST LAST YEAR”

FORMO INDUSTRIES LLCP.O. BOX 35112WAREHOUSE #3 23-32 IND. ZONE, AL JAZEERA

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EMAIL: [email protected]: www.formouae.com

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www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com/directory

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DIRECTORY

OCTOBER 31–NOVEMBER 6, 2009 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 47

48 TENDERS49 PROJECTS

SPECIALIST SERVICES50 Building materials51 Construction chemicals/concrete52 Education & training/fl ooring53 Recruitment/steel

CITY UPDATE54 Jubail, Saudi Arabia

TENDERS | PROJECTS | SUPPLIERS | CITY UPDATE


�TENDERSFREE TENDERS AND SERVICES IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRYTO INCLUDE YOUR TENDERS IN THIS SECTION EMAIL TENDER DETAILS TO [email protected]

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BAHRAIN

Issuer: Ministry of HealthTender No: MOH/155/09Description: Asphalting and landscaping for properties of the Bahrain Ministry of Health.Closes: November 4Fees: BD15Contact: www.tenderboard.gov.bh

EGYPT

Issuer: Chamber of Commerce in AssuitDescription: Construction of the Chamber’s new residence.Closes: November 23Fees: EP1000Bond: EP150,000Contact: Al Awqaf Buildings, Building No.5, Assuit

OMAN

Issuer: Ministry of HealthTender No: 278/2009Description: Construction and maintenance of Sinaw Hospital extension.Closes: November 2Fees: OR250Contact: www.tenderboard.gov.om

Issuer: Ministry of Transport and CommunicationTender No: 290/2009Description: Pavement works for Thumrait Al Maziona RoadFees: OR900Contact: www.tenderboard.gov.om

Issuer: Ministry of HealthTender No: 294/2009

Description: Consultancy engineering services for the design and supervision of a new general hospital in Saham.Closes: November 16Fees: OR125Contact: www.tenderboard.gov.om

QATAR

Issuer: Public Works AuthorityTender No: PWA/GTC/009/09-10Description: Construction of trunk and internal sewers within Ain Khalid Area – phase 2.Closes: November 10Fees: QR8000Contact: Contract department, Public Works Authority

Issuer: Public Works AuthorityTender No: PWA/GTC/038/09-10Description: The construction of the remaining part of Al Amir Road and a roundabout junction at the end of the road.Closes: November 10Fees: QR2000Contact: Contract Department, Public Works Authority

Issuer: Public Works AuthorityTender No: PWA/GTC/036/09-10Description: Construction of a medical training centre, a car park, roads and all related service works. Closes: November 10Fees: QR2000Contact: Contract Department, Public Works Authority

SAUDI ARABIA

Issuer: Ministry of FinanceTender No: 1193Description: Expansion of the Ministry of Finance in Qassim.Closes: November 3Fees: SR1000Contact: www.mof.gov.sa

Issuer: Al Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic UniversityDescription: Construction of a women’s campus.Closes: November 4Fees: SR75,000Contact: www.imamu.edu.sa

Issuer: Saline Water Conversion CorporationTender No: MT-384Description: Replacement of high voltage cables.Closes: November 7Fees: SR500Contact: www.swcc.gov.sa

Issuer: Royal Commission for Jubail and YanbuTender No: PIC G-1679BDescription: Procurement, testing, commissioning and construction of two mosques in Yanbu.Closes: November 15Fees: SR1000Contact: Director for Purchasing, Contracting Department, PO Box 30031, Madinat Yanbu Al Sinaiyah

Issuer: Ministry of FinanceTender No: 1200Description: Construction of a dual carriage way in Al Regei outlet.Closes: November 17Fees: SR2000Contact: www.mof.gov.sa

UAE

Issuer: Dubai Electricity and Water AuthorityTender: CE/0081/2009Description: Supply of inlet air chilling for gas turbines at ‘L’ Station Phase 1 at Jebel Ali.Closes: November 4Fees: AED5000Closes: www.dewa.gov.ae

Issuer: Dubai Electricity and Water AuthorityTender No: CNE/606/2007Description: The construction of Hassyan Power and Desalination Station.Closes: November 8Fees: AED5000Contact: Head offi ce of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority

Diyar Al Muharraq is currently managing the development of a mixed-use development with the same name. Earlier this month, it was revealed that the fi rst tender for the Bahrain project would be opened to bidders by the end of the year. The tender will involve the construction of 500 affordable houses and associated infrastructure.

Construction is set to start on the development’s infrastructure in mid 2010. Diyar Al Muharraq will cover an area of 12km2 and offer 30,000 residential units. The main investor of the project is Kuwait Finance House. �

Tender focus

DIYAR AL MUHARRAQ

DIYAR AL MUHARRAQ IS ONE OF BAHRAIN’S LARGEST PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS.

> For more tenders check online at www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com/tenders

ONE TO WATCHIssuer:Issuer: Diyar Al MuharraqDiyar Al MuharraqDescription:Description: Construction of 500 affordable houses.Construction of 500 affordable houses.Open date:Open date: Q4 2009Q4 2009Contract value:Contract value: Unknown UnknownContact:Contact: PO Box 75777, ManamaPO Box 75777, Manama

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�PROJECTSA KUWAIT DATABASE - BUILDING PROJECTS FOCUSTO LIST YOUR PROJECTS IN THIS COLUMN EMAIL DETAILS TO [email protected]

The project calls for the construction of a 171km metro, 6km of which will be built underground. The metro will run across the inner city of Kuwait and will include four lines. A consortium led by Al Dashti International Group , along with the local Kuwait United Development Group and member of Spain’s Ingenieria and Consultoria de Transporte carried out the feasibility for the US $7 billion (KD2 billion) development. Companies will be invited to bid for the main construction contract in 2011. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2016. �

Project focus

KUWAIT METRO

TENDERS WILL BE INVITED ON THE KUWAIT METRO IN 2011 .

PROJECT TITLE CLIENT CONSULTANT MAINCONTRACTOR

VALUE(US$MN)

STATUS

KUWAITCENTER FOR RESEARCH & STUDIES AT SHARQ Ministry of Public Works Gulf Consult Al Jaraih Contracting 12 project under construction

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES AT SHUWAIKH

Public Authority for Applied Education & Training

Al Dowailah Engineering Consultants

Not Appointed 16 - 30 award awaited for the main contract

VOCATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE IN JAHRA The Public Authority for Applied Education & Training

In House Not Appointed 31 - 100 award awaited for the main contract

INJASSAT TOWER Injassat Real Estate Projacs/KEO International Ahmadiah Trading & Contracting 20 project under construction

AL AQEELAH TOWER Al Aqeelah Finance Leasing & Investment Co;

Al Mousawi Engineering Consultant

Kharafi National 16 - 30 project under construction

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AT KUWAIT INTERNA-TIONAL AIRPORT

Directorate General of Civil Avia-tion (DGCA)

Dar Al Handasah/Jassim Qabazard

Not Appointed 101 - 250 award awaited for the main contract

HEALTH CENTER AT BAYAN PALACE Ministry of Public Works In House Alamiah Building Company 53 project under construction

IMMIGRATION HEADQUARTERS AT FARWANIYA Ministry of Public Works Kuwait Technical Consultant Not Appointed 2.5 - 15 bidding underway for the main contract

IDEAL HIGH SCHOOL AT AQAILA Ministry of Public Works/Ministry of Education

Al Zamami Consultant Bader Al Mulla & Brothers Company

17 project under construction

KUWAIT BUSINESS TOWN AT AL MIRQAB AREA - ZONE 3

Kuwait Business Town Holding Company

Projacs/Pace/Fentress Bradburn

First United General Trading & Contracting


AL HAMRA TOWER Ajial Real Estate Company Al Jazeera Consultants Ahmadiah Trading & Contracting 241 project under construction

HOTEL AT SALMIYA Mr. Fahad Al Maiylem Al Aliyan Consulting Not Appointed 31 - 100 project under design

NEIGHBORHOOD CENTRE AT EAST OF AL AHMADI Ministry of Public Works Kuwait Technical Consultant Not Appointed 40 award awaited for the main contract

SPECIAL FORCES TRAINING FACILITY Ministry of Public Works/Ministry of Interior

Dar Al Handasah Alamiah Building Company 204 project under construction

KUWAIT INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE Ministry of Public Works/Ministry of Justice

Al Zamami Consultant Not Appointed 31 - 100 bidding underway for the main contract

KUWAIT BUSINESS TOWN AT AL MIRQAB AREA - ZONE 1

Kuwait Business Town Holding Company

Projacs/KEO Int’l/Gensler Associates

First United General Trading & Contracting


IMMIGRATION HEADQUARTERS AT FARWANIYA Ministry of Public Works Kuwait Technical Consultant Not Appointed 2.5 - 15 bidding underway for the main contract

> For the latest projects information visit www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com/projects


�SPECIALIST SERVICESCONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES MADE EASY IN CONSTRUCTION WEEK’S DIRECTORYTO ADVERTISE PLEASE CALL +971 4 435 6375, OR EMAIL [email protected]

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BUILDING MATERIALS

Reem Emirates Aluminum (REA) is part of the Royal Group based in Abu Dhabi. The group is a conglomerate of more than 150 companies specialising in a range of commercial and industrial activities including real estate, landscaping and construction. REA was established in May 2006 to provide solutions to the construction industry in the UAE and the Gulf.

At its inception, the company specialised in architectural curtain wall and cladding for buildings and, due to its success the company has recently established two busi-ness units, which will allow REA to offer more services to its clients. These include Reem Emirates Metal, which was established in February this year and Reem Emirates Glass, which was set up in May this year.

The company also has offi ces in Doha, Qatar and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. REA is typically involved during the earliest stages of a project giving technical advice and scheduling information to improve the quality of its architectural claddings. It provides products such as 3D metal cladding, domes, rolling shutters and skylights. REA is also promoting energy effi cient, environmentally friendly façade construction. �

Supplier focus

REEM EMIRATES ALUMINIUMMANUFACTURER OF ARCHITECTURAL FINISHES AND METAL WORKS

REEM EMIRATES ALUMINUM CEO AND FOUNDER DEREK BRUCE.


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BUILDING MATERIALS HARD LANDSCAPING SUPPLIER

> For directory information visit www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com/directory

DEWATERING

Engineering Works Foundation Infrastructure (L.L.C.)

SPECIALIZED DEWATERING SERVICES:• Specialized in Deepwell, Wellpoint,

Open pumping techniques

• Professional Service

• Round the clock backup

• Effective Groundwater control

P.O. Box: 111245, Dubai - U.A.E. P.O. Box: 2752, Abu Dhabi - U.A.E.Tel: +971 4 340 9022 Fax: +971 4 340 8952 E-mail: [email protected]

CEILINGS/PARTITIONS

CONSTRUCTION/MANUFACTURERS

CONSTRUCTION CHEMICALS

CONSTRUCTION/MANUFACTURERS

Fiberglass reinforcing mesh

OTAL (LLC) Dubai, U.A.EPhone: (+971-4) 267 9646 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.otal.ae

Calcium silicate and cement � bre boards of thickness 6mm, 9mm and 12mm.Tiles vinyl fabricated and painted.


�SPECIALIST SERVICESCONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES MADE EASY IN CONSTRUCTION WEEK’S DIRECTORYTO ADVERTISE PLEASE CALL +971 4 435 6375, OR EMAIL [email protected]

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LANDSCAPING

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CONTRACTORS/MANUFACTURERS

FLOORING

HVAC & PLUMBING RELATED EQUIPMENT

POST TENSIONING


> For directory information visit www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com/directory> For directory information visit www.ConstructionWEEKonline.com/directory

RECRUITMENT

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HEM, IPE, IPN, UPNHEM, IPE, IPN, UPN

WOOD AND TIMBER


CITY UPDATEJUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA

Much like Yanbu, its c o n g r u -ent city on Saudi Ara-bia’s west coast, in

1975 Jubail was designated as an indus-trial city, and is now the largest industrial complex of its kind in the world.

Having been described as far back as 1983 as ‘the largest construction and engineer-ing project ever attempted’, the city shows no sign of slowing down. The city is now expanding to create a Jubail Two, an 84km expansion project located some 8km to the west of the established Jubail One.

Recent months have seen a fl urry of big value contracts awarded, with little sign of a slowdown. In July, Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu awarded fi ve construction contracts for Jubail Indus-trial City worth a total of US $257.5 million (SR964.3 million).

The largest contract, worth $93.5 million, was awarded to Azmeel Contracting and Construction Corporation in association with Saudi Tumpane Company for phase one of Jubail’s Community site develop-ment. The contract will run for three and a half years.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco handed out 13 EPC contracts, worth a total of $9.6 bil-lion, to undertake work on its Jubail Export Refi nery mega project.

Manufacturing and infrastructure remain high on the agenda in the city. In antici-pation of increased growth, Suez Energy International and Acwa Power Projects are constructing a $3.4 billion independent water and power plant for the Power and Water

“WHEN THEY WERE STARTED IN THE 1980S

EVERYBODY WAS SAYING ‘THESE PEOPLE

ARE CRAZY, DON’T BOTHER DOING IT’”

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PETROCHEMICAL INFRASTRUCTURE REMAINS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF CONTRACTS.

The world’s largest construction projectJUBAIL HAS BEEN GROWING SINCE 1975 AND SHOWS NO SIGN OF STOPPING AS THE FIRST

CONTRACTS FOR JUBAIL TWO ARE AWARDED

By James Boley


JUBAIL’S INDUSTRIAL FOCUS HAS CREATED A MASSIVE DEMAND FOR POWER AND WATER PROJECTS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA.

KSA DEPUTY MINISTER ABDULRAHMAN AL SHAIKH SAYS JUBAIL INDUSTRIAL CITY IS A MODEL FOR SUCCESS.

Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu. The power plant will comprise of four

blocks and will be based on combined cycle generation gas turbines. Meanwhile, the desalination plant will comprise of 27 units that will use multiple effect distillation tech-nology (MED). Jubail IWPP will produce 2,745MW of power and 800,000m3 per day of desalinated water to Jubail Indus-

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TOP PROJECTS US$Jubail IWPP 3.4bnNew Petrochemical Facilities in Jubail Industrial City 1.1bn LDPE Plant in Jubail 300m 8AB Substation in Jubail 80m Site development of Jubail 2- stage 2 - phase 1 75m

trial City and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Construction began in 2007 and is expected to fi nish in Q1 2010.

However, the city isn’t ‘all business’. Sep-tember saw Rezayat pick up the construc-tion contract for the $7 million social and cultural centre. The 2,261m2 building is due in Q1 2011.

Jubail itself has proved to be a valuable

training ground for the economic city develop-ments taking place across Saudi Arabia.

“Jubail and Yanbu are very successful stories. When they were started in the 1980s everybody was saying ‘these people are crazy, don’t bother doing it’ – everybody was gambling about its failure and now everybody is talking about its success. It proved to be the right decision at the right time,” says Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minis-ter for Town Planning Dr Abdulrahman Al Shaikh. �

“EVERYBODY IS TALKING ABOUT ITS [JUBAIL] SUCCESS. IT PROVED TO BE THE RIGHT DECISION AT THE RIGHT TIME”

CONSTRUCTION WEEK OCTOBER 31–NOVEMER 6, 200956

DIALOGUETAREK EL FAR

What systems and services does your company offer?Ista is the global leader of energy and water consumption-based billing and has 100 years of experience. Our offi ces are in Germany but we have global presence and installations in 26 countries, plus millions of meters and billed units. Europe and the US are the main markets, served by 4600 employees. The company offers radio frequency technology, including hardware, as well as a range of fl exible billing solutions. Web portals, energy management, retrofi tting and consultancy services are also integral parts of the portfolio.

What are consumption-based billing and sub-metering?Metering is from the utility or district cooling plants to the building. Sub-metering is inside the building. The consumption cost is often distributed by square feet. This is not fair; since tenants do not know whose energy they are paying for and cannot even arrange their own energy fi nances. Consumption-based billing means paying only for individual consumption based on the accurate reading of the sub-metering system.

What differentiates you in the market place? Ista’s innovative wireless solution is cutting-edge technology. It features bi-directional frequency, whereby meters are sending and receiving. This eliminates the need for numerous data concentrators, saving hardware cost and time during installation and programming. It combines all types of energy (chilled water, water, gas and electricity) in a single bill, and includes a tailor-made web portal. This system has recently been awarded a best practice award for outstanding performance. The same system has been specifi ed for the iconic Burj Dubai.

What is the value of the Burj Dubai contract and what is the scope of the work?We can’t talk much about this. However, the building challenges the laws of

Green billingIsta International managing director Tarek El Far discusses how his company’s billing solutions can benefit both the environment and the purse strings

By Sarah Blackman

physics so you can imagine the level of sophistication it takes to execute this job.

How do your services stand to benefi t the region in terms of energy effi ciency and green building?You can save energy but, fi rst, you have to know where exactly energy is being used so that you can manage it. Sub-metering identifi es this and is proven to save 10% to 20% of energy consumption. It helps facilities managers do a good job, and it helps optimise building designs and energy requirements.

What customer base are you targeting?We offer services to utility professionals, real estate developers, facilities managers and district coolers. Building management system suppliers and MEP contractors often require the hardware as well. In general, we work on mixed-use projects.

Why did you choose to set up business in the Middle East?The Middle East was a possible location for the company to

expand to but it was handled remotely from our head offi ce in Germany. However, to cope with the phenomenal growth in the Middle East, particularly in the GCC countries, we established Ista Middle East in 2007. UAE leaders always look for best practice, innovative solutions when it comes to energy savings and reduction of carbon emissions, so the Middle East was the perfect hub for Ista.

What is your outlook for the future? Has the economic slowdown had any signifi cant impact on your business?We often talk about privatisation, outsourcing and cooperation between government and private sectors, however, this is still not the case in our fi eld. Energy providers should outsource services and focus on their core business. Authorities like Dubai Green Buildings and Estidama will make this happen.

Tarek El Far is the managing director of

Ista in the Middle East, based in Dubai and

covering the Middle East and North Africa.

Tarek is an Egyptian who moved to the UAE

10 years ago as the business development

manager for a global leader in the electrical

substations fi eld. His task was to expand

the business in the UAE.

His engineering background, along with

13 years with a multinationals in various

countries, exposed him to utlities best

practices. As a result, in January 2008

he was chosen by Ista International to

establish and manage the company’s

operation in the region through Ista

Middle East. Through his leadership, Ista

Middle East is expanding rapidly as major

developers and district cooling plants

become aware of the benefi ts of the Ista

business model.

Alumil Gulf fzcsubsidiary of ALUMIL in the Middle EastTechnology Park, RAK FTZ, RAKtel +971 7 2444106, fax +971 7 2444107email [email protected], [email protected]

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