BGreen June 2014

Issue 46 | JuNe 2014SuStainability in the Middle eaSt

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www.bgreen.aeJune 2014 1

EDITOR’S PAGE

Dubai’s belief in sustainable construction has gained traction in recent months. With the emirate winning the bid to host the Expo 2020, the mu-nicipality’s announcement to make the new Green Building regulations

mandatory could not have been staged at a better time. Both factors together are expected to serve as powerful catalysts that will propel the construction industry on an upward trajectory.

One of the strongest assets during Dubai’s Expo bid was a robust and well pro-gressed master plan with a clear focus on sustainability. At BGreen’s Sustainable Expo 2020 seminar last month, industry leaders agreed that to make the journey towards the Expo a hugely sustainable one, solid collaboration between all the stakeholders is a prerequisite. For Dubai to champion the spirit of sustainability, it’s important to strive towards making the emirate greener steadily over the next seven years in the run-up to the Expo and beyond.

Dubai’s efforts in achieving this are genuinely reflected thorough various ini-tiative such as the enforcement of the new Green Building regulation that aims at improving the performance of buildings by reducing the consumption of energy, water and materials. It’s amazing to see that the sustainability performance of the construction sector has already started to improve ever since the new codes came into effect. It would not be an exaggeration to say that by introducing the new mandatory regulations, Dubai is now showing direction to the developed world, which still relies on voluntary agreements.

At the BGreen seminar, Eng Abdullah Rafia, Assistant Director General, Dubai Municipality, interestingly pointed out that 80-90% of energy usage in buildings can be reduced only by following the new regulations.

Taking a leaf out of Dubai’s sustainability book, Saudi Arabia is now working to-wards stronger regulations as part of energy conservation measures in the build-ing sector. For instance, the Kingdom recently made thermal insulation manda-tory for all new buildings which can save up to 40% of energy in air-conditioning.

In this issue, BGreen also brings you a list of the GCC’s frontrunners and game-changers, who embarked on the journey of sustainability way ahead of the others and who have been slowly but surely bringing sustainability to the mainstream.

Regulations, expo and beyond

Editor,Ashish Sarafbgreen

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contents

www.bgreen.ae June 20142

ContentSJune 2014

Cover story

16The Big Expo DebateBGreen’s Sustainable Expo 2020 seminar was a perfect stage to discuss how Dubai’s construction industry can produce impeccably sustainable buildings in the lead-up to Expo 2020 and beyond.

top 15

23Leading the bandwagonBGreen brings you the most influential personalities driving sustainability in the Gulf countries.

Construction

34Heat WrapSaudi Arabia’s decision to make thermal insulation mandatory will boost businesses of suppliers in the Kingdom.

38‘LEED’ing the wayCanada ranks first on US Green Building Council List of Top 10 Countries for LEED; UAE secures 9th position.

Waste management

44Green cleaners Bee’ah’s new fleet of solar-powered cleaning boats remove debris from the middle of the lagoon and yet leave no emissions behind

Products

47Sustainable productsRockwell Automation’s energy efficient stub cleaning machine, Knauf’s ECOSE glasswool insulation and more.

news

8Dubai to spend $1.6bn to become ‘green paradise’

10FM Expo puts spotlight on sustainability

12Drive to make petrochemical supply chain efficient in GCC

14India plans to bring solar to 400m people

15UK designers create butterflies from recycled phones

16

44

38

34

15

3 NOVEMBER 2014 | JUMEIRAH BEACH HOTEL | DUBAI

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contents


51 Diary DatesWater Management in Oil and Gas, Emirates Green Building Council Awards 2014 and other upcoming events in June.

52CommentaryThe ‘Green building’ concept is fast becoming the global norm today amidst the strong clamour for sustainable, healthy and resource-efficient structures, say Imdaad CEO Jamal Lootah.

People

48Saudi Prince wins Conservation AwardAward recognises first-ever detailed maps of some of the world’s most remote coral reef systems.

Society

50Green PersonalityActor Ian Somerhalder’s foundation is actively involved in clean energy projects and distributes funds towards renewable energy development.

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www.wecreatechemistry.com

Most plastics don’t biodegrade, but ecovio® plastics from BASF disappear completely when composted in a controlled environment. Using compostable bags for collection of organic waste makes disposal more hygienic and convenient. Rather than ending up in landfills, the waste is turned into valuable compost. When the plastic bag you use today can mean a cleaner future for the environment, it’s because at BASF, we create chemistry.

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expeRt panel

Dr Michael KrämerSenior AssociateTaylor Wessing (Middle East) LLPLegal CounselMiddle East Solar Industry Association

William WhistlerManaging DirectorGreen Building Solutions International

thomas Bohlen NCARB,LEED AP, BD+C, ESTIDAMA PQPChief Technical OfficerMiddle East Centre for Sustainable Development

Dr Mutasim nourDirector of MSc EnergyHeriot Watt UniversitySchool of Engineering and Physical Sciences

tanzeed AlamPolicy DirectorEWS-WWF

Paolo CerviniVice president & General managerPhilips Lighting Middle East & TurkeyPhilips

Saeed AlabbarLEED AP, Estidama PQPChairman Emirates Green Building CouncilDirectorAlabaar Energy and Sustainability Group

Alan MillinLEED AP, Chartered Engineerconsultant/trainerMiddle East Facility Management Association

Roderick WilesDirector - Africa, Middle East, India and OceaniaAmerican Hardwood Export Council

Jose AlberichPartnerAT Kearney

Ivano IannelliChief Executive OfficerDubai Carbon Centre of Excellence

Abdulrahman JawaheryPresidentGulf Petrochemical Industries CompanyChairmanGPCA Responsible Care Initiative

His Highness Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al nuaimiEnvironmental AdvisorAjman GovernmentChief Executive OfficerAl Ihsan Charity CentreChairmanInternational Steering Committee for the Global Initiative Towards a Sustain-able Iraq (GITSI), based in the UAE

The BGreen experT panel provides a plaTform for Those who are acTive in encouraGinG susTainaBle pracTices across a wide secTor of indusTries. real experTs who can share Their views, analyses, and research wiTh our informed readers.

Our panellists meet every few months to discuss news, strategies and solutions on focussed topics related to sustainability.

Our panellists write for the magazine - opinions and analyses - as well as on our website in a portfolio format documenting their contributions.

The panel is growing as we seek to form the ultimate taskforce of decision makers, academics, consultants and engineers that contribute and encourage a sustainable watershed across industries.

If you would like to nominate an expert to join our panel, please email [email protected]

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news ReGIOn

dubai to spend $1.6bn to become ‘gReen paRadise’

Kuwait eyes 2,000Mw of renewables by 2030

building codes to cut energy use in Qatar

Ksa to spend $3.7bn on eneRgy efficiency pRojects

The massive invesTmenT has been earmarked for sofT landscaping and The irrigaTion neTwork in dubai

plans To produce 15% of energy needs from renewables

The kingdom aims To save 40% of The consumed energy

as part of Dubai Municipality’s efforts to make the emirate a “green paradise” by 2025, US $1.63bn has been ear-

marked for soft landscaping and the irrigation network in Dubai, according to senior officials at the Municipality.

“We have plans for giant projects by 2025, which include the expansion of sewer lines and the irrigation network,” said Salah Abdul Rah-man Amiri, assistant Director-General of the Municipality, was quoted as saying.

“These are mainly concentrated on prepara-tions for Expo 2020 as we want to make Dubai a green paradise,” Amiri told local media, add-ing, that new legislation is also being planned to ensure the private sector, mainly the big devel-opers and private property owners, shares the onus of expanding the green belt in the city.

Amiri, in charge of the Environment and Public Heath Services sectors, said over $816m would be spent on improving and expanding the irrigation network by 2025, which would bolster the landscaping projects.

A stronger irrigation network is key to main-taining sustainable landscape projects, he said. “We are having problems with sustainable land-

scaping. The challenge is mainly with water.” Taleb Abdul Karim Julfar, Director of Public

Parks and Horticulture Department at Dubai Municipality, said that along with improving the irrigation network, the civic body is also trying to reduce the demand on water for landscaping.

“Since we are expanding (landscaped areas), we need to control water consumption as well. Otherwise, we will run short of water in the next two to three years. So we are redesigning and using a lot of materials like special sand and stones to reduce water consumption and prevent the ground water from coming up and spoiling the plants,” he said.

The demand for energy is at an all-time high in Saudi Arabia, as it expe-riences a rise in all forms of lighting

– including lighting setups for factories, en-ergy plants and airports, emergency lighting systems for office and residences and oth-er innovative lighting solutions like the ones used in economic cities and universities. The Saudi Ministry of Water and Electric-ity is currently seeking to adopt cutting edge lighting solutions to regulate the consumption of electricity and reduce its wastage. To this ef-fect, the Ministry has awarded projects worth US $3.7bn, with an aim to save 40% of the con-sumed energy.

“The Saudi Ministry of Water and Electricity is on the look out for new technologies and in-

as local demand for oil increased by 67% over the past decade, Kuwait has pushed to implement a strategic

sustainability initiative that seeks to gener-ate 2,000MW of renewable energy by 2030. With one of the highest energy consump-tion rates per capita in the world, an average Kuwaiti uses 22 times more resources than the country provides per person, according to the latest data from the Global Footprint Network, putting immense pressure on the country’s oil reserves. In response, Kuwait recently announced a plan to produce 15% of its total energy needs from renewa-ble energy in the next decade and half, as part of a national sustainable strate-gy that will support its ongoing econom-ic development initiatives.

Kuwait’s unsustainable energy consump-tion practices, driven in large part by heav-ily subsidised electricity prices, an increase in local and expatriate population, a rise in economic activity largely generated around oil production and increased penetration of modern conveniences such as cars and elec-trical good has created a rising demand for energy which outstrips the oil rich country’s current capacity.

Codes and standards that will help lessen energy and water use as well as carbon emissions of buildings, especially those in urban areas in the GCC region, are to be de-veloped, according to an agreement signed in Doha recently.

The agreement was signed by Qatar-based Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (Gord) and the Standardisa-tion Organisation of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GSO). They also signed a memo-randum of co-operation (MoU) related to this. “Green buildings maintain an economical and environmental balance while estab-lishing an urban identity unique to the Gulf region,” Gord founding chairman Dr Yousef Mohamed al-Horr said.

novative lighting solutions which can tremen-dously decrease electricity consumption and its waste thereby reducing the burden on non-renewable energy resources,” Fahad Al Athel, Deputy GM, Riyadh Exhibitions Company, said.

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news ReGIOn

fm expo puts spotlight on sustainability in the gcc

imdaad to set up $27m Recycling unit in jebel ali

indusTry leaders sTress imporTance of aligning environmenTal and financial objecTives for growTh

planT will have an iniTial operaTing capaciTy of 1,000 Tonnes a day

bee’ah launches Recycling campaign

aveRda RetRieves oveR 1.2m Recyclables

Waste management company Bee’ah has launched its ‘Recycling Just Got Easier’ cam-paign, designed to make green and blue waste disposal and recycling bags available to the public across Sharjah Cooperative Society outlets. In parallel, following an expansion of its residential recycling programme, recycling bins will be distributed across new, key loca-tions in the emirate – including Al Juraina 1, Al Juraina 2, Al Garain and Al Noaf areas.

The residential recycling programme is set to help educate the residents of Sharjah on effective waste management solutions, the importance of recycling and the adverse ef-fects of improper disposal of waste.

Averda reverse vending machines retrieved over 1.2m recyclables across the region, and in the UAE alone, the machines collected 46,148 recyclables—89% of which were plas-tic bottles in 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, these machines in the UAE have already re-corded over 17,000 containers.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai alone generate close to 40,000 tonnes of solid waste daily, a rate which projects that most of the country’s landfills may reach their capacities within the next decade. averda launched standalone reverse vending machines in 2011 as part of its long-term plan to increase recycling rates.

Responding to the needs of the region’s matur-ing facilities management industry, thought leaders in integrated facilities management shared global best practices and GCC-specific case studies at this year’s FM EXPO and the collocated inaugural Middle East Waste & Re-cycling Conference and Exhibition, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The events, including the inaugural Com-mercial Cleaning & Hygiene exhibition, bring together more than 100 exhibitors from these three niche industries.

Recognising the integral role of sustainabil-ity and its applications to facilities manage-ment, Jamal Lootah, Imdaad CEO, said: “Better waste management leads to long-term con-crete results that will benefit the current and future generations. To achieve this, we should maximise the value of resources and reduce the environmental effects associated with the dis-posal of waste.

Facilities management company Imdaad has signed a deal with the Economic Zones World (EZW), a developer and operator of economic zones, technology, logistics and industrial parks under the Dubai Property Group, for setting up of a US $27m material recovery facility at TechnoPark in Jebel Ali to recover the recyclables from solid waste collected by Imdaad.

The agreement was signed by Jamal Ab-dullah Lootah, CEO of Imdaad, and Salma Ali Saif Bin Hareb, CEO of JAFZA and EZW.

Constructed over an area of 60,000sqm, the plant will have the capability to recover maximum recyclables generated from the Jebel Ali area including the World Expo 2020 venue. The plant will have an initial operat-ing capacity of 1,000 tonnes/day, with a pos-sibility to double the operation in the future. The facility will also be open to other waste collection companies.

Salma Ali Saif Bin Hareb, CEO Economic Zones World said: “The establishment of this facility will augment Economic Zones World’s own efforts in moving towards great-er sustainability under the Green Economy initiative announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. By providing Jebel Ali-based companies access to waste recycling at their doorstep, we are ensuring a cleaner and greener economy for our future generations.”

With the region’s key cities investing heavily in infrastructure developments, central busi-ness districts in Dubai, Doha, Riyadh and other hubs are being developed at a rapid pace.

Currently in the UAE investment levels into new energy management systems in 2013 is es-timated at a little less than US $30m annually. For the GCC as a whole, this estimate stands at $63m.

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97701_Anz_Reinigung_240x300_Dubai.indd 1 13.02.14 08:12


news ReGIOn

egbc signs deal for proMoting green Material testing

yingli solar eyes Middle east MarKet

Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC) has signed a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Dubai Central Laboratory (DCL), the in-tegrated facility of Dubai Municipality that undertakes all testing and analyses of green materials and products.

The SLA was signed by Eng Saeed Al Abbar, Chairman of EGBC, and Eng Salem Bin Mesmar, Asst Director General for Environment, Health & Safety Control Sector of Dubai Municipality during a tour of the Dubai Central Laboratory facilities conducted for EGBC members.

As per the agreement, DCL will perform the required tests and certification of the products and materials of EGBC members as per international standards. The lab will also provide technical suggestions and rec-ommendations relating to the testing spec-ifications, participate in EGBC networking events and workshops, co-operate in de-veloping future tours of the facility for the Council’s members and communicate new regulations by Dubai Municipality relating to green buildings.

Chinese photo-voltaic manufacturer Yingli Green Energy announced its plans to enter the Middle East and African markets.

Yingli Green Energy, which manufactures its products under the brand name Yingli Solar, says that its decision to strengthen its presence in the MEA region has been driven by the in-creasing move among governments to deploy environmentally sustainable solutions to run businesses and households in their countries. Currently, Yingli commands more than 9% of

dewa signs deal To enhance dubai’s elecTrical gridDubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) recently signed an agreement with consulting and engineering company CESI Middle East FZE to provide consultancy services related to connecting Dubai’s renewable energy gen-erators to the DEWA grid as part of one of three key initiatives by DEWA to transform the Emirate into the smartest city in the world to enhance quality of life and sustainable development.

News briefsmorocco awards $2.3m To solar Thermal, csp r&d projecTsThe Moroccan government has chosen six research and development projects involv-ing novel solar thermal and concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies to receive US $2.3m in funding under the InnoTherm III programme. The call for proposals included solar cooling technologies as well as CSP and solar thermal for steam and drying applica-tions, and was open to projects to develop and improve components and storage as well as network integration.

al hosn launches $10m oman greenhouse projecTAl Hosn Investment Co (HIC) has launched a greenhouse farming project in the Al Fulaij area of the wilayat of Barka, Oman, at an in-vestment of over US $10m. The total area of the project is 33 hectares, with a total annual production capacity of about 3,000 tonnes. The project will involve the production of a variety of vegetables, including various kinds of tomatoes and coloured pepper. The project is characterised by its ability to produce veg-etables throughout the year.

maf properTies achieves gold for susTainabiliTyProperty company Majid Al Futtaim Proper-ties’ head office in Dubai, Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Tower 2, has achieved the Gold stand-ard according to the requirements of Leader-ship in Energy and Environmental Design for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings (LEED EBOM). The Gold certification was awarded by the USGBC. MAF Tower 2 is the first building in the UAE to achieve a Gold rating for LEED EBOM.

gpca launches gulf sQas pRogRamme programme To drive susTainabiliTy and efficiency in The peTrochemical supply chain in The region

The Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals As-sociation (GPCA) has launched a three-year assessment programme across the

GCC region that will promote supply chain effi-ciency, flexibility and transparency in the pet-rochemical and chemical industry.

The Gulf Sustainability and Quality Assess-ment System (SQAS) is a uniform, independent and standardised programme for petrochemi-cal logistics service providers that will enable companies to track and monitor progress in their environment, health, safety, security and quality (EHSS&Q) processes, helping them to identify and improve weak areas in the sup-ply chain and develop cost-efficient prac-tices that shorten lead times and are envi-ronmentally sustainable. Reports generated from the assessment will assist petrochemi-cal and chemical companies in evaluating their service providers.

“The Gulf SQAS programme will measure the

EHSS&Q standards of all the logistics service providers in the six GCC countries,” said Alan Izzard, Director of GPCA’s SQAS programme. “Certified independent assessors will evaluate a variety of technical aspects related to chemi-cal and petrochemical warehousing, road and future rail transport and associated chemical cleaning stations, which are crucial elements of a product supply chain.”

The programme will essentially extend the chemical industry’s Responsible Care initiative beyond the fences of the petrochemi-cal plants. Responsible Care is a comprehensive set of standards for environmental, health, safe-ty and security for the chemical industry.

The GPCA introduced region specific guide-lines for Responsible Care in 2009, which are aligned with initiatives from United Nations Environment Program, United Nations Develop-ment Program and the International Council of Chemical Association (ICCA).

the global market share in solar panel sales, making it the world’s largest solar panel maker for the second consecutive year.

news world


geRmany bReaKs solaR poweR geneRation RecoRd

india plans to bRing solaR to 400m people

renewables surge To 74% of german elecTriciTy demand

The counTry’s naTional solar mission aims To insTall 20,000mw of grid-connecT solar power capaciTy by 2022

g ermany’s remarkable streak of renew-able energy milestones continues, with renewable energy generation surging to

a record portion - nearly 74% - of the country’s overall electricity demand by midday. With wind and solar in particular filling such a huge portion of the country’s power demand, elec-tricity prices actually dipped into the negative for much of the afternoon, according to Renew-ables International.

In the first quarter of 2014 renewable gen-erators produced 40.2bn kilowatt-hours of elec-tricity, up from 35.7bn kilowatt-hours in the same period last year. Much of the country’s renewable energy growth has occurred in the past decade. According to experts, the records will keep coming as Germany continues its En-ergiewende, or energy transformation, which aims to power the country almost entirely on renewable sources by 2050.

i ndia’s new government plans to use solar power to bring electricity to the homes of 400m people who currently do not have ac-

cess to it.

According to local media reports, the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would further enhance its commitment to aggressively implement the National Solar Mission that aims to install 20,000MW of grid-connect solar power capacity and 2,000MW of distributed solar power capacity by 2022.

Distributed solar power could prove to be extremely crucial for India’s power sector and economic development. The country’s power transmission and distribution is plagued with serious infrastructural flaws which were com-prehensively demonstrated by two of the largest power blackouts in world history in July 2012.

“We look upon solar as having the potential to complete transform the way we look at the energy space,” Narendra Taneja, convener of energy division in Modi’s administration, said.

PhiliPPines unveils 50-year eco-city master PlanThe ciTy will be powered by renewable energy faciliTies and a wasTe-To-energy planT

The Philippines is set to build Clark Green City (CGC) which features a 50-year master plan that will help decongest Metro Manila, drive the economy and guide the country towards sustainable development.

The Bases and Conversion Develop-ment Authority of the Philippines is lead-ing the development of the country’s first sustainable city.

The project is a 9,450-hectare master development plan located around the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, about 80km from Metro Manila. The CGC City will see five districts rise in three phases over the next five decades.

The city’s districts will feature, among others, government centre, a central busi-ness district, an academic district, an agri-forestry research and development area, and a wellness and eco-tourism district.

It will also be powered by renewable energy facilities and a waste-to-energy plant, as well as enhanced by sustainable modes of public transport like a bus rapid transit system, urban farms, and the use of high-capacity connectivity to support e-governance platforms.


nEWS Off BEAT

butteRflies fRom Recycled phonesThe bugs have been builT To promoTe recycling, and are consTrucTed from old phones

O2 HOPES TO PLACE THE BUTTERFLIES IN UK SHOP WINDOWS TO PROMOTE THEIR RECYCLING CAMPAIGN, AS WELL AS GIVE CONSUMERS THE CHANCE TO INTERACT WITH THE ROBOTIC INSECTS

a group of designers has created a set of artificial butterflies made entirely from recycled mobile phones that in-

teract differently when existing smartphones make contact with them.

The robot beasts, which were unveiled re-cently at the Natural History Museum in Lon-don, each have their own mobile number which, when dialled, will trigger a burst of activity, in-cluding “extendable antennae, a head which moves on more than one axis of freedom and laser eyes.”

The mechanical bugs were assembled by art-ist collective “is this good?”, and feature wings built out of phone screens that display constant-ly changing patterns. The project was commis-sioned by UK phone network O2, which will be moving the butterflies to its The O2 arena venue later this year, where they’ll be on public display.

The butterflies have each been mounted on a plinth and connected to a tablet that displays a phone number. If users ring the number shown on the tablet screen, the butterfly in question comes to life, and the way they have been pro-

grammed means that each robot reacts differ-ently when called, using the digits in a number to prompt individual reactions.

Chris Cairns, creative director at “is this good?”, said: “We wanted to give the ‘old and forgotten’ a new lease of life and showcase the fact that even the discarded can emerge as something new and beautiful, which is what up-cycling and O2 Recycle is all about.”

“We hoped that by creating ‘Social Butterflies’ we would raise a smile and remind people that we can create moments of recognition and hap-piness out of products we have previously loved and now overlook,” Cairns added.

O2 hopes to place the butterflies in UK shop windows to promote their recycling campaign, as well as give consumers the chance to interact with the robotic insects.

Bill Eyres, head of sustainability at O2, said: “We can see this project creating a type of ‘but-terfly effect’. As people experience this amaz-ing recycled technology, we hope they will be inspired to regularly recycle their old devices. Many people don’t realise that their old tech-

nology can have a second life.“There’s an environmental need to dig out old

gadgets so they can be used again, rather than lying unused and unloved in a drawer. O2 Recy-cle offers a simple, sustainable way to recycle unused gadgets and receive a cash payment in return. We all have a role to play in making sure that old technology lives on even when we’ve finished with it.”


BGREEn SUSTAInABLE ExPO 2020 SEMInAR

thE BIG EXPO DEBatE

bgreen’s susTainable expo 2020 seminar seT The sTage for The indusTry To discuss how dubai can produce impeccably susTainable buildings in The lead-up To expo 2020

The year 2014 is crucial for Dubai, as it promises to cre-ate a strong foundation for the sustainable construc-tion industry to flourish in the region. The new Green

Building Regulations, which were made mandatory earlier this year and the winning of Expo 2020 late last year are to-gether expected to serve as powerful catalysts that will pro-pel the industry on an upward trajectory. Companies that have sustainable products will expand their offerings, new companies will join the bandwagon, more jobs will be cre-ated and a solid collaboration between all the stakeholders will be established. That was the key conclusion reached by

Bgreen SuStainaBle expo 2020 Seminar


panellists at BGreen’s Sustainable Ex-po 2020 seminar, which was held on May 21 at Grand Habtoor, Dubai.

The panel of speakers comprised government officials, developers, sup-pliers and contractors who focussed on the new Green Building Regulations and construction opportunities in the lead up to Expo 2020. The opening key-note was delivered by Eng Abdullah Rafia, Assistant Director General and Chairman of Sustainability Commit-tee at Dubai Municipality.

Speaking about the formation of the Green Building Regulations, Eng Rafia said: “2014 is really a turning point for us as this year, the Green Building Regulations became mandatory. It is the first out of the eight programmes decided by the demand side manage-ment committee as per the energy usage reduction strategy in buildings, which aims to bring down the con-sumption by 30% by 2030.”

He went on to add that 80% - 90% of that will be achieved by just following the Green Building Regulations. “Close to half a billion sqft of building area will be developed in the next five years, which will all adhere to the new regu-lation. We are expecting huge saving,” he said.

Presently, about 70% of the total energy produced is consumed by build-ings and out of that, 80-85% is con-sumed for air conditioning. Eng Rafia also shared that out of 130,000 exist-ing buildings in Dubai, at least 50,000 will be retrofitted. He cited examples of government building such as Al Fa-hidi, which despite being built as per the green building regulations, did not increase construction costs.

“As per the mandate, cost increase should be below 5% but in this case it was 0%. We should have been saving 50% and 20% of the water and energy consumption respectively. However 25% of water and 43% of the energy is saved,” he said.

The first panel discussed the ben-efits and challenges of implementing

the regulations and what should be done to make the construction pro-cess efficient and more profitable for the industry.

The panellists including Eng Rafia, Amelie Zegmout, Head of Sales & Busi-ness Development, Legrand, Ibrahim Al Zubi, Head of Sustainability, Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Properties, and Jani Huotari, Regional Manager, Technical Sales Support and Codes, KONE Mid-dle East, kick-started the discussion by focusing on the challenges faced by the construction industry in build-ing green.

Jeff Willis, Associate Director, Arup, who moderated the first panel felt that the regulations are positive and that the proof provided by Eng Rafia further raised hope that they can be implemented successfully.

“There is a lot to learn from Eng Rafia and his knowledge in apply-ing the regulations as most of us haven’t worked on government buildings,” he added.

One of the major steps taken by the government to mitigate challenges was to increase awareness about the subject to consultants, contractors and suppliers, according to Eng Rafia. But he added the major shortcomings here are the supplies.

“When you are supplying to the market, you want to produce some-thing that is sold fast and doesn’t sit in your storage. However, now that the regulations are mandatory, a demand will be created and production will in-crease because there is confidence to sell,” he said. He supported this with the example of how the price of solar water heaters dropped from US $3,800 per unit to $800 once it was made mandatory by the municipality.

“The good thing is that the manu-facturers and the suppliers respond to the situation very fast and make their products available in record time,” he added.

Zegmout of Legrand agreed with Eng Rafia that a lot of awareness was spread in the last few years, but point-ed out that there were not many pro-jects during that time.

“We took advantage of this slow pe-riod to educate consultants about the green strategies. But the positive en-ergy that we have been talking about is there since the beginning of 2013 as a lot of projects that were on hold are being redesigned,” she said.

As a supplier, Zegmout also noted the need for collaborations beyond these awareness sessions. “Suppli-ers need to support the design of the

“PRESENTLY, ABOUT 70% OF THE TOTAL ENERGY PRODUCED IS CONSUMED BY BUILDINGS”Eng Abdullah Rafia

Eng Abdullah Rafia, Assistant Director General, Dubai Municipality delivers his opening keynote address



project because, for example, you can install as many sensors as you want to in the building but it is of no use if the design is inefficient. So it is all about working hand in hand with all the stakeholders so that everyone understands the requirements of the building.”

During the panel discussion, Eng Rafia raised the point that suppliers who produce building materials would like to have a region-wide market rath-er than in just one city. This thought resonated among other members of the panel who also felt that the sup-pliers will be able to provide the goods at a cost effective pricing if there is re-gional demand for their goods.

“That is why the specification should be for all of UAE, the GCC or the MENA region and this is exactly what we are trying to do,” said Eng Rafia.

“We will try to get the GCC to come on board. Irrespective of whether they want to make it compulsory or not, at least the regulation should be imple-mented and standard should be the same. Next, we can take it to the MENA region,” he said.

Al Zubi of MAF Properties second-ed Eng Rafia’s opinions on the sub-ject and said that regionalised green building standards can globalise Dubai’s strengths.

“When it comes to green buildings in the MENA region, we have amazing opportunities to lead globally because we have huge developments and we make things happen. But most impor-tantly, I raise a flag here that we should make sure that it makes sense to our region,” Al Zubi said. He explained that MAF Properties began with energy, water and waste efficiency and used the data to make its own regulations such as the internal green build-ing policy, which is said to be at par with LEED or other international equivalents.

According to Huotari of Kone, the new regulations are a great platform from where we all can start building a sustainable society and that in Dubai it is great to see the government’s ef-forts in creating awareness. “Through this awareness we can create demand. And this demand needs to be convert-ed into reality. From a supplier point

of view, as elevators and escalators are part of the building, we have a great opportunity to provide eco-efficient services. We can assist people in refur-bishing existing units with more green products. There are a lot of things we can do in this market,” he said.

Like Zegmout, Huotari too believes that firstly all stakeholders must take responsibility and collaborate, as legis-lation alone cannot drive an industry. “We need to take responsibility in all areas and the developers, main con-tractors, consultants and suppliers must guide each other for the better future and a more eco-efficient world,” he said.

This is however challenged due to lack of time, according to Zegmout. “Today, consultants clearly have no time for suppliers. A year ago, people could spend 2 to 3 hours with all the engineers at the table to make sure that everybody is trained and understands how to design the systems. Today, con-sultants can spare only half an hour. Everybody should understand that design is very important to the pro-ject and it takes time to understand,” she reiterated.

Willis concluded the debate saying there should be proper coordination between the designers, contractors and the operators who maintain the building. “This whole process in the past has been segmented and one of the things that the regulations will help is in joining them all together,” he said.

Ushering In expo 2020Many industries are expected to pros-

per in the run up to Expo 2020 and construction is definitely one of them. If 25m visitors are expected to arrive in Dubai as part of the Expo, an all-round infrastructural development, from roads to hotels, will be required. Now that all buildings are supposed to be green as per the new regulations, it will be interesting to see how this next big sustainable infrastructure mile-stone will pan out for Dubai as well as the region. BGreen’s Sustainable Expo 2020 seminar intended to do just that as its second panel discussion which was titled ‘Construction Opportunities for 2020’ and discussed the burgeoning green market.

Shaikha Ebrahim Al Mutawa, Direc-tor, Business Development, Dubai De-partment of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM); Jane Boyle, Head of Sustainability & Energy, Middle East, WSP; Stuart Mee, Head of Sustainabil-ity, Al Futtaim Carillion; Lindsay Pres-ton, Business Development Manager, BASF Construction and Ibrahim Al Zubi were part of the second panel.

The discussion started with the topic of developing sustainable hotel establishments and according to Al Mutawa, DTCM started the journey in 2008.

“We knew that sustainability comes as a priority agenda for the leadership here in Dubai and the UAE and since 2008 we have seen re-markable results and changes in all hotel establishments in Dubai. What we have noticed from our experience is that effort is needed in disseminat-ing the right knowledge, guidance and legislation, to ensure that we are cre-ating a sustainable system in the city,” she said.

She went on to share recent statis-tics on how following workshops and training programmes conducted by DTCM, hotels were able to reduce the consumption of electricity by 20% and water by 27% in 2012. “Even though the management in most hotels have well outlined sustainable initiatives, we have helped to empower them, al-lowing them to frame their own codes and criteria with the help of our pro-grammes,” Al Mutawa said.

This clearly suggests that sustain-ability has been an ongoing process

50,000ExISTInG BUILDInGS

In DUBAI WILL BE RETROfITTED

90%Of EnERGy USAGE CAn BE REDUCED OnLy By fOLLOWInG ThE nEW

GREEn BUILDInG CODES

Ibrahim Al Zubi, Head of Sustainability, Majid Al Futtaim Properties



be a lot of attention from international designers in terms of the actual build-ings, Boyle said. It will be interesting to watch how the international regula-tions can be applied in Dubai to future proof the development - so that it is not something that is built for just one occasion but for the whole community.

A valid point raised by BASF’s Pres-ton at the discussion was the lack of better means of interaction with po-tential customers. “One of the main concerns is how do we take our tech-nology to the consultants because it is getting difficult to get time with people and it is an exhaustive issue. For exam-ple, we have a system called Senergy which may be very interesting for Expo 2020. It can offer significant energy re-ductions and savings for new building and for retrofit. There are no more than 50 buildings in Dubai or in fact in the UAE with this system on it. Now we need to get to architects and we need to get to consulting engineers organi-sations, but significantly we need to get to clients, because without them most of these projects will be much slower to roll out.”

Another key issue that Dubai will look forward to tackling is how the Expo can create more jobs. “Today’s event is an excellent example of how sustainability is booming. More than 12 years ago, when we started talk-ing about CSR and sustainability there were only three to four sustainability

developers and the end users, he said.Mee believes there should be more

focus on reducing waste, energy, fuel and water use during the construction phase. “They are all a part of our busi-ness, they make us profitable and at the same time they help us protect the environment. One of the main things about the Expo 2020 is that it may not necessarily focus on the capital cost be-cause a little upfront spending will get a potentially more energy and water ef-ficient building during operating period and during the lifetime of the building.”

However, Boyle felt that there is a lot more opportunity in this part of the world to become more cost effective, but agreed with Mee that strides to-wards sustainability should start early. “You read reports that sustainability does have a cost impact, but I think the best way to ensure that we have minimum cost impact is introducing it at as early a stage as possible. The Green Building Regulations is a driver that will ensure buildings reach a min-imum level of sustainability,” she said.

In the run up to the Expo, there will

which has been making rounds in Dubai for a while now and not initi-ated specially for the Expo 2020.

Al Zubi explained, “When we did our business model in MAF Properties and our expansion, we did not necessarily take Expo 2020 into consideration. We did a holistic approach for the boom-ing Dubai and other regional countries based on geopolitical conditions. But at the same time, we embedded this in the DNA of the business along with the sustainability policy.”

However, ever since Dubai won the Expo bid, MAF Properties’ business development team has added a sus-tainability checklist as part of the due diligence and risk management. But it has definitely boosted investments in the construction field.

“We have just launched a mall in the Tecom area. The Mall of the Emirates will be expanded soon and last week, we announced a five-star hotel in Al Barsha area. The money was there and the investments were waiting to happen. But will this bid impact sustainability? No. It won’t,” Al Zubi said.

Al Futtaim Carillion has been im-plementing sustainability strategy which, according to Mee, has brought substantial financial savings through delivery of the projects. And if strate-gies are developed as part of the 2020 for the associated works that go with it then there will be benefits for the

L-R: Ashish Saraf, Editor, bgreen; Jane Boyle, Head of Sustainability & Energy, WSP; Shaikha Ebrahim Al Mutawa, Director, Business Development, DTCM; Ibrahim Al Zubi, Head of Sustainability, MAF Properties; Stuart Mee, Head of Sustainability, Al Futtaim Carillion and Lindsay Preston, Business Development Manager, BASF Construction at the second panel discussion

“THERE SHOULD BE MORE FOCUS ON REDUCING WASTE AND USAGE OF ENERGY, FUEL AND WATER DURING THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE”Ibrahim Al Zubi



examples for sustainable architecture. “Even today, after 35 years, it is one of the most sustainable architectural designs, thanks to its cultural inherit-ance. Its wide and deep Arabic arches serve as a concrete umbrella shield-ing direct sunlight from its glass win-dows and eliminating glare and hot spots. Still the building has plenty of views and comfortable natural light-ing,” he said.

The bgreen Sustainable Expo 2020 seminar was held in association with Dubai Municipality and sponsored by BASF, KONE, Thomas Bell-Wright and ASP Access Floors. Lunch was sponsored by ETAP. The seminar was supported by Dubai DTCM, Dubai Green Tourism and Clean Energy Business Council. The of-ficial BIM sponsor was Autodesk.

Shaikha Al Mutawa during the second panel discussion

Left: Panel of speakers during the first discussion on the Green Building Regulations; Below: Ashish Saraf delivers closing remarks

professionals and no clear man-dates to follow. Today, we have the EGBC, Green Building Regulations and dedicated companies, which means green economy is booming. So is sustainability as a profession booming in the Middle East? Yes. Will the Expo 2020 support it? Ab-solutely,” concluded Al Zubi.

Clearly, the entire industry is upbeat about the prospects of improved busi-ness and with the advent of the new Green Building Regulations, sustain-ability will not just keep up with the

burgeoning growth but will up to an extent drive it too. As Al Zubi put it, Dubai is a hub of many things but the Expo 2020 will make Dubai the hub of sustainability. Indeed a turning point for sustainability in the region.

Before concluding the day’s events, Michael Nuyttens, CEO of ETAP UAE, which provides all-round lighting so-lutions, gave an interesting overview about sustainability in the country’s construction past. He explained how the Dubai World Trade Centre still remains to be one of the world’s first



Over

200industry professionals attended

the BGreen Sustainable Expo 2020 seminar

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TOP 15 susTainaBiliTy personaliTies

bgreen brings you The mosT influenTial personaliTies driving susTainabiliTy in The gcc

leading the bandwagon

a combination of business development pro-grammes and policies are assisting the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) in their

efforts in becoming a global leaders in sustainability. Thought leaders from across business, government organisations and civil society are playing a major role in shaping the evolution of sustainable development in the Gulf countries. Sustainability has now become a key

component in developing some of the regions most no-table and recognisable projects as magnifies the im-age of the company and adds to the brand equity. BGreen lists some of the frontrunners and the game-changers who embarked on the journey of sustainability a little ahead of the others and who have been slowly but surely bringing sustainability to the mainstream. (Listing in no particular order)



Saeed Mohammed al TayerMD and Ceo, DeWA

Safeguarding Dubai’s utilitiesThe Dubai Water and Electricity Authority has a major role to play in the city’s goal to build a green economy and as its MD and CEO, Saeed Mohammed al Tayer has crucial responsibility to realise the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to build a sustainable future for the Emirate of Dubai.

Al Tayer has been heading DEWA since 1991 and has formulated and backed all the green initiatives be it by creating community awareness about water saving or by introducing smart metering or by laying the foundation for Mohammed bin Rashid Al Mak-toum Solar Park, which is expected to provide up to 1,000 MW of renewable energy for the Emirate of Dubai. Setting standards for the rest to follow, DEWA under the aegis of Al Tayer commissioned to build the largest sustainable government building, which won the Platinum Award for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) achieving 98 points out of 110 as per US Green Building Council’s evaluation. Al Tayer is also the founder of the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX), which is held an-nually. This year it was held along with the World Green Economy Summit, under the theme ‘At the forefront of sustainability’, making it one of the largest conferences to focus on green issues.

Eng Hussain Nasser LootahDirector General, Dubai Municipality

Leading civic sustainabilityEng Hussain Nasser Lootah has been the Director General of Dubai Municipality since January 2009. In the past he has been the assistant director general for environment and public health affairs and in 2004 was transferred to the post of the assistant director general for planning and building affairs. He also chaired a number of committees in the municipality such as those for strategic plan-ning and e-government. He was instrumental in winning 30 local, regional and international awards for Dubai Municipality. Eng Lootah played a distinctive role in setting up the UAE Engineers Society and was its chairman from 1992 to 1996.

Under his leadership, Dubai Municipality has been continuously undertaking sustainability initiatives in all its spheres of governance. The civic body is work-ing hard to make Dubai one of the top 10 sustainable cities in the world by 2020 by implementing initiatives such as the green building regulation and related orders in line with the strategic vision and goals of the Dubai Government. Be it in promoting sustainable living or in passing the green building legislation, the municipality has not only been involved at all levels of decision making but has been actively pursuing the next big step in being green.



Sultan Ahmed Al JaberChairman, Masdar

Leading UAe globallyIn 2006, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber spearheaded the launch and es-tablishment of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s pioneering renewable energy initiative and now continues to drive the company’s strategic di-rection as it takes on an increasingly prominent role in global effort toward advancing renewable energy and clean technology.

In 2009, Al Jaber was invited by the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to serve as a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC). That year he also coordinated and led Masdar’s participa-tion in the United Arab Emirate’s successful bid to host the head-quarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi and, eventually, in Masdar City.

Al Jaber’s leadership in advancing the development and de-ployment of renewable energy and clean technology solutions led to his appointment in 2010 as UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change. That year he was appointed Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the newly established UAE National Com-mittee for Climate Change, a multi-departmental body set-up by the UAE government to coordinate and oversee the Federation’s climate change and renewable energy policies. Al Jaber holds a PhD in Business and Economics from the UK and an MBA and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the US.

Helal Saeed Al MarriCeo, Dubai World trade Centre

Managing holistic developmentDubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is one of the frontrunners to begin green initiative in the city and Helal Saeed Al Marri has been leading them from the beginning. Founded in 1979, the DWTC has been instrumental in establishing Dubai as a global financial and commercial hub and Helal Saeed Al Marri was appointed its head in 2004. Launched in 2006, DWTC’s major urban development-Dubai Trade Centre District (DTCD)- was among the first in the region to be designed according to the highest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Standards.

This committed the organisation to sustainable design and architecture, while incorporat-ing sustainability principles through the complete development life cycle of its properties, including operation and maintenance. Buildings within its development are environmentally sustainable and makes the best use of naturally-lit spaces and the DWTC also encouraged innovative use of energy-saving and carbon neutral technology throughout the construction process. According to Al Marri, DWTC has been a long-standing proponent of environmentally conscious development and design, to ensure that it is contributing to Dubai’s positioning as a healthy and environment friendly city. He also believes that enforcing green building stand-ards makes sound economic sense, while producing energy savings and reducing utility costs.

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Adnan SharafiBoard member at eGBC and WorldGBC

Making global impactAdnan Sharafi, ex-Chairman of Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC), is a civil engineer by profession and has over 30 years of experience in technical and management positions - both in the public and private sectors. He has been instrumental in setting the strategies and action plans for the council, complementing the sustainable development vision of the UAE.

He is the first Emirati to serve on the Board of World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), a network of national green build-ing councils in more than 90 countries. The appointment is said to underline the success of EGBC in promoting sustainable built environments in the region.

During his tenure as the chairman of the EGBC, Sharafi worked with key agencies in the government and private sector to further enhance awareness on sustainable buildings. He also li-aised with members and non-members in leading the council, and in establishing its thought-leadership in the field. Sharafi has been involved in condition surveys for government organisations as well as extended support on engineering investigations for Dubai Po-lice. He has played a key role in developing the multidisciplinary Dubai Central Laboratories, the Dubai Municipality engineering laboratories and the Dubai Accreditation Centre.

A certified lead auditor for the ISO 9000 Quality Management System, he is also a certified real estate management profes-sional and certified OAM. His research works have been pub-lished in peer-reviewed journals, and he has presented confer-ence papers at international events.

Habiba Al MarashiCo-founder & Chairperson, eeG

Campaigning for environment Under Habiba Al Marashi’s guidance, Emirates Envi-ronmental Group (EEG) became the first environmen-tal NGO in the world to receive an ISO 14001 certifica-tion in 2001. EEG is also the only organisation of its kind in the GCC, having been accredited by two highly esteemed UN bodies, namely the United Nations Con-vention to Combating Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Environmental Program’s (UNEP) Gov-erning Council. EEG is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2008.

Through her leadership, she initiated the first corpo-rate social responsibility (CSR) network in the country in 2004 as the only multi-stakeholder forum with lo-cal and multinational entities. The network has grown and evolved into an independent body known as the Arabia CSR Network. She is one of the founders of the Emirates Green Building Council, a board member of the UN Global Compact since 2006 and President of the UN Global Compact Local Network for the GCC States.

Al Marashi is involved in many leading initiatives on environment, women and development at the nation-al, regional and international levels. She is a recognized representative and spokesperson for West Asian Arab nations at high ranking international summits. She is a recipient of several awards for her contribution and achievements in environmental and social work.



Ronald DiabManaging Director, energy efficiency Group

efficient energy servicesRonald Diab is the co-founder and Managing Director of Energy Efficiency Group (EEG), one of the most experienced energy service providers in the region. With over 18 years of experience in the energy efficiency, energy services and sustainable consulting, Diab is one of the leading experts in the industry. He pioneered the ESCO concept in the region, establishing the first such operation in Lebanon in 1996. Since then, he has been involved in over 550 energy audits and 200 energy efficiency and renewable energy implementation projects across the world.

He has also worked as a key energy expert in a variety of EU/UN funded projects covering topics from energy auditing to climate change and demand side management. He has expertise in energy auditing and energy services of luxury hotels and resorts and has worked on more than 150 properties. An energy services company, EEG deals with energy auditing, energy consult-ing, energy efficiency projects, enterprise energy management and remote energy management. The company has completed projects in more than 16 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East covering all verti-cal sectors from the hospitality to the healthcare, commercial, governmental and industrial sites.

Issa Bin Mohammad Al MohannadiFounder & Chairperson, QGBC

extending scope of greenIssa Bin Mohammad Al Mohannadi founded the Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) to actively promote sustainability in the local construction industry, as the organisation works towards being an established member of the World Green Building Council. Aiming to increase awareness and knowledge of green building practices, he expects to build capacity of industry professionals through ongoing professional development and research. His efforts to build and engage an active membership body and network of stakeholders to champion the green building movement is also said to extend to support the adoption, legislation and implementation of green building practice and standards.

Al Mohannadi has been the chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) and prior to this he was the founder and chief executive officer of Msheireb Proper-ties, a subsidiary of the Qatar Foundation, and one of the world’s most progres-sive real estate companies, promoting sustainability in visionary architecture and heritage preservation in Qatar. His project management and international business background serves QTA well as it embarks on rolling out the new tour-ism strategy for Qatar. He will be involved with planning, regulating, developing and promoting a sustainable tourism sector in Qatar. He is conscious of the importance of environmental sustainability and as the regulator of industry standards and codes, he is ensuring that the tourism board will take the lead in ensuring growth.



Khaled Al HuraimelGroup Ceo, Bee’ah

Better utilising wasteAs the Group Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah, the integrated en-vironment and waste management company, Khaled Al Huraimel oversees the company’s day-to-day operations and maximises the efficiency of projects by ensuring cooperation and communica-tion between different departments. He helps Bee’ah operate at the forefront of the environmental industry both regionally and internationally while his strategic planning helps strengthen the company’s environmental achievements, growth and profitability.

Bee’ah works towards an environmentally sustainable future through international best industry practices, transforming atti-tudes and behaviours in individuals and communities. It enables them to lead by example of positive sustainable growth by pro-viding the infrastructure, tools and support that they require to achieve their environmental goals.

Through the use of international best practices, Bee’ah has suc-cessfully developed and built integrated infrastructure and im-plemented programmes within Sharjah relating directly to waste management. These include collection and storage, recycling, city beautification, landfill reengineering and policy development.

Under Huraimel’s leadership, Bee’ah is committed to investing in innovative technology and ensuring that its expertise is uti-lized within the waste management industry. Therefore, Bee’ah’s long-term strategy for growth would position the company as the leader of environmental change not only in Sharjah, but beyond the emirate’s borders as well.

Gundeep SinghPresident & Founder, the Change Initiative

Promoting green lifestyleFounded by Singh in 2008, The Change Initiative helps people to make responsible lifestyle choices, by offering thousands of innovative B2B and B2C solutions such as Fair Trade food, energy efficient light bulbs, ecological detergents, organic clothing, and locally made soaps, low emitting paints and solar tubes. Not only is it in a business of selling ecological friendly products but its 4,000sqm retail shop received the world’s highest LEED Platinum rating of 107 points. Singh said in a statement that, “Most people believe that Dubai cannot be sus-tainable or is less sustainable. But we’ve proven that if Dubai can build the tallest, the biggest, then it can also build the most sustainable building.”

He began his career as an operations manager with ITC in India, before serving the Charanjit Singh Group as Senior Manager Operations from 1988-1994. He later became the youngest general manager of the South-ern Pacific Corporation in South East Asia, working for the company between 1994 and 1997. A graduate of India’s University of Madras, Singh has master degrees from New York State’s Cornell University and the ES-SEC Business School in Paris, and received a Fulbright Scholarship. The Change Initiative is planning to open 25 more stores around the globe.



Dr Mohammed ShehadehSenior Vice President, Unibeton Ready Mix

Pioneer in concretingDr Mohammed Shehadeh, a pioneer in Self Com-pacting Technology in GCC, is a civil engineer from Jordan. Highly acclaimed leader in the entire construction arena across the globe, Dr Sheha-deh has been conferred with Doctor of Laws, honoris causa at the Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada. A prolific industrialist by nature, he wanted his organization to be the first choice for sustainable ready mix con-crete solutions.

During his early days, as an incumbent in the construction industry in UAE in 1989, Dr Shehadeh to his dismay found that the entire industry was in disarray and lacked innovative technological advances together with environment concerns. A firm believer in sustainability as a futuristic & achievable goal, his first task was to move away from the traditional methods of producing con-crete by introducing innovative modern technolo-gies in concrete production. By setting up state of the art batching plants with due considerations of the environmental impact including silo manage-ment, dust control and noise monitors in place, he was able to change the way people looked at the construction industry. These paid off when his company Unibeton became the first ready mix concrete company in the region to be certified for ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.

Abdulrahman JawaheryPresident, GPIC

Sustainability in petrochemicalsGulf Petrochemical Industries Co is one of those organisation that takes its sustainabil-ity seriously. GPIC, under the leadership of Abdulrahman Jawahery has taken every ef-fort to promote green and is even considered a role model in the protection of the environ-ment fighting rising challenges. The organi-sation also commissioned one of the world’s largest and the Middle East’s first carbon cap-ture system at its Sitra petrochemical complex. GPIC has effective management systems and accreditations, Responsible Care Certification RC 14001 and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Certification ISO 31000, and has won the International Fertilizer Industry Association’s Sustainability and Protection Certification.

GPIC has joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s leading corpo-rate citizenship initiative, and is committed to implementing its ten principles and the UN development goals for sustainability. It has also produced the GPIC Sustainability Report 2010-2011 in compliance with the Global Re-porting Initiative (GRI), for which it has been awarded application level “B”.

GPIC has won many accolades, including the Sir George Earle Trophy from RoSPA in the

UK and the R W Campbell Award from the US National Safety Council for excellence in HSE management systems.

Eng Essa Mohammed Ali KaldariCeo, LReDC

Bettering community livingLusail Real Estate Development Company (LREDC) has been entrusted to deliver Lu-sail City as the ‘conscience of sustainable development’ and to set new standards for

community facilities and services. Eng Essa Mohammed Ali Kaldari, as the head of LREDC, is ensuring that the facilities that are built at Lusail are up to the standard of intelligent designs and creative engineering.

LREDC, under the leadership of Kaldari was one of the first organisations in Qatar to adopt Gulf Organization for Research & De-velopment’s Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS). This is serving as a national role model in sustainable development while striving to fulfil Qatar’s National Vision 2030.

Kaldari supports sustainable and environ-mentally conscious initiatives in Qatar. The master plan for Lusail City has been developed with sustainability embedded in all aspects of the plan right from the land use, to urban de-sign of various districts to the actual building design. As a result, Lusail is a community that provides sustainable living for its residents, workers and visitors, while the civic facilities and public buildings will also be designed and built to achieve high standards of sustainabil-ity with a minimum of 4 star QSAS rating.



Mohammad HusainPresident & Ceo, equate

environmental consciousness Equate has ambitious plans to promote sustainability and Mo-hammad Husain, as its CEO, has been ensuring overall sustain-ability of the company by including partners, customers, suppli-ers, workforce, and surrounding communities. He aims to chase a combination of business growth, social responsibility and envi-ronmental excellence.

With over 30 years of extensive professional service, Husain has held various leading posts at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Pet-rochemical Industries Company (PIC) and at Kuwait National Pe-troleum Company (KNPC) and served on Equate board from 2004-2012. Hand in hand with being a leading industrial organization, Equate, under the leadership of Husain, takes overall sustainabil-ity with the utmost dedication. The company undertakes various professional development approaches such as, environmental initiatives, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, and educational development plans for employees and the greater community, which are making an impressive impact in Kuwait and beyond. He has also undertaken plant water recycle project, which is expected to recover 80% of process water and reuse the recovered water, and green carbon project for minimizing CO2 emissions.

In recognition of its sustainability achievements, Equate has earned several prestigious honours, including His Highness the Amir Award for the Best Plant in Kuwait and the American Associa-tion for Safety Engineers (ASSE) Gold Award in Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) for Gulf private sector companies.

Ibrahim Al ZubiHead of Sustainability, Majid Al Futtaim Properties

Raising green propertiesThe head of Sustainability for Majid Al Futtaim Properties (MAFP), Ibrahim Al Zubi, has over fifteen years of experience in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Al Zubi oversees the sustainability strategy and rais-ing the company’s sustainability profile in the Middle East.

Selected as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Europe and the Mid-dle East in 2011 by Center for Sustainability and Excellence in the US, he has taken environmental and sustainability initiatives to another level in the Middle East and internationally through awareness campaigns for en-vironmental issues, climate change and education programmes, as well as private sector engagement. As head of CSR at MAFP, Al Zu’bi oversaw the company’s strategy focusing on coordinating and driving MAFP approach consistently across the business, delivering CSR communication strategy and raising the profile of MAFP in the Middle East.

He has coordinated and initiated numerous environmental projects/campaigns in the MENA region as well as internationally, raising awareness for climate change and education programs. Al Zubi is also an official am-bassador and education representative for the Al Gore Climate Project ini-tiative and works closely with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Civil Society, Youth, Sports and Sustainable Development issues as the West Asia Coordinator of the UNEP UNESCO YouthXchange Project.

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ConstruCtion thermal insulation


heat wRap

T he use of thermal insulation in buildings has increased sig-nificantly in recent years and

has become mandatory in some coun-tries. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, thermal insulation will soon be man-datory in 23 cities and towns including Riyadh, Al-Kharj,Makkah, Jeddah, Taif, Madinah, Yanbu, Dhahran, Al-Khobar, Dammam, Qatif, Al-Ahsa, Hafr Al-Batin, Buraidah, Unaizah, Hail, Sakaka, Ar’ar, Tabuk, Abha, Khamis Mushayt, Jazan and Al-Baha. The move is perhaps a result of higher demands on human thermal comfort inside residential, commer-

cial, and governmental buildings, beside the ever increasing costs of energy production and its negative impact on the environment.

Municipalities and engineering consultants will coordinate with Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to implement the policy. If any building fails to install insulation, it won’t be able to subscribe for power supply and the municipality will also not approve permanent permission.

An exclusive integrated system will be developed between municipalities and SEC to verify the installation, Minister of Municipal and Rural Af-

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdulaziz

saudi arabia’s decision To make Thermal insulaTion mandaTory will boosT businesses of suppliers in The kingdom

THERMAL INSULATION REDUCES THE PACE OF HEAT TRANSFER INSIDE THE BUILDING THROUGH THE WALLS AND ROOF AND AS A RESULT, SAVES ABOUT 40% OF ENERGY IN AIR-CONDITIONING


COnSTRUCTIOn | ThERMAL InSULATIOn

Exterior Insulation Finishing System is an energy efficient thermal wrapping applied to the exterior surfaces of a building

fairs, Prince Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdulaziz, said recently. The min-ister instructed municipalities in the Kingdom that installation of thermal insulation was manda-tory for all buildings irrespective of whether they were residential, commercial or any other facility like government projects

Air-conditioners account for about 70% of electricity consump-tion in Saudi Arabia and with more than 1.5m new homes needed to keep pace with population growth, domestic energy demand is antici-pated to double by 2030, according to the SEC. Thermal insulation reduces the pace of heat transfer inside the building through the walls and roof and as a result, saves about 40% of energy in air-conditioning.

While the new regulation will reduce power consumption, it will most likely increase construction costs. However, the decision will boost businesses of thermal insula-tion suppliers in the Kingdom.

“Thermal insulation becoming mandatory will have a significant and positive impact on the environ-ment and improve energy efficiency in the Kingdom. We expect these new regulations to have a positive impact on our thermal insulation business in the Kingdom, and the region as a whole, in the coming years,” Eric Widström, CEO, Terraco told BGreen. Terraco is a specialist in Exterior In-sulation Finishing System (EIFS), an energy efficient thermal wrapping applied to the exterior surfaces of a building.

The new announcement is likely to attract scores of thermal insula-tion companies in the region and abroad. “The highest levels of ther-mal insulation and energy efficiency are the most important requirements demanded by clients today. To meet this need, we have developed a range of thermally efficient and fire safety roof and façade solutions including Qbiss One metal modular façade solutions and Trimoterm sandwich

panels,” Trimo spokesperson said. Trimo is a provider of thermally in-sulated building envelope solutions and is represented by NAFFCO in the region.

While most of the focus is towards insulating walls, experts believe thermal insulation of pipework has not been given enough attention by building owners and design engineers in Saudi Arabia.

“Poor insulation value leads to high heat gain or heat loss which in turn leads to higher energy con-sumption and costs due to poor thermal efficiency. For example on a chilled water pipe (which is key for providing cool air to the building oc-cupants) high heat gain would lead to the chilled water not being cold enough which in turn would mean the system consuming more ener-gy,” said Bart Hinten, owner, Resolco Insulation, a company specializing in pipework insulation.

Resolco developed their own res-in manufacturing process used to

ConstruCtion thermal insulation


make Insulphen phenolic foam insu-lation, produced as a moulded bun or block of foam. “With Insulphen, building owners will save on energy costs. An example of this comparison between Insulphen and commonly used insulation materials shows that on a 0.05m (2inch) chilled water pipe insulated with 25mm thickness of Insulphen phenolic, expanded rub-ber would need to be 80mm thick to achieve the same thermal efficiency. Insulphen is a 100% zero ozone de-pletion material,” Hinten added.

So is the industry prepared to em-

brace the new regulations? Widström of Terraco believes that “while it may take some time for consultants and builders in Saudi Arabia to become accustomed to specifying and using an exterior insulation finishing sys-tems, we notice that in most markets architects are quick to see the ben-efits that these sustainable building systems give. They not only allow de-signers a very large degree of design flexibility but also typically generate the best Return on Investment (ROI) and provide a compelling cost-to-benefit rationale.”

Retrofitting existing buildingsWhile most part of thermal insulation is carried during the construction phase, it is equally important to make sure the old and existing are retrofitted as part of energy conservation measures.

“Our understanding is that the regulations, at this stage, are pri-marily targeted at new buildings, but with an estimated 70% of elec-tricity consumption in the Kingdom being utilised for air-conditioning and an expectation that domestic electricity consumption will dou-ble by 2030 according to the Saudi Electricity Company – there is a compelling argument to make that the old building stock should also be renovated to improve thermal ef-ficiency,” Widström said.

“EIFS is ideal as it can be applied to both new and existing buildings. In fact, many older buildings are rejuvenated and given a facelift us-ing Terraco EIFS, because as these systems are applied to the exterior of a building, not the interior. Im-portantly internal living space is not sacrificed - and critically there is no need for occupants to vacate the building while installing the Ter-raco EIFS which makes EIFS perfect for renovation work. EIFS is known to provide energy savings of up to 55%,” Widström added.

Application of thermal insulation has been in existence in the Kingdom for the past three years, but building owners merely made promises to mu-nicipalities while obtaining permission for house without actually implement-ing it. But with regulations becoming stricter, thermal insulation is likely to be implemented effectively in the Kingdom at a faster pace now.

IT MAY TAKE SOME TIME FOR CONSULTANTS AND BUILDERS IN SAUDI ARABIA TO BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO SPECIFYING AND USING AN EXTERIOR INSULATION FINISHING SYSTEMS

With regulations becoming stricter, thermal insulation is likely to be implemented effectively in the Kingdom at a faster pace now


COnSTRUCTIOn US LEED RAnKInG

leed goes global

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) released its ranking of the top ten countries for

LEED outside of the United States, demonstrating the global reach of the movement that is transforming the built environment into healthy, high-performing structures that benefit the planet and all of its people.

“The global community is increas-ingly recognising the imperative for action as we combat the extraordi-nary challenge of worldwide climate change,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC.

“LEED’s success across a wide variety of cultures, climates and communities represents not only a growing recogni-tion of its demonstrated benefits for human health and operational cost savings, but also its potential to be part of the solution to a warming planet and rising sea levels.”

The list of the top ten countries for LEED reflects the global adaptability of the world’s most widely used and recognised system guiding the design, construction, operations and main-tenance of green buildings. To date, project teams in more than 140 coun-

100 Wellington Street West Tower in Toronto, the first project in the city to achieve Platinum certification under LEED for Existing Buildings

canada ranks firsT on us green building council lisT of Top 10 counTries for leed; uae secures 9Th posiTion

tries and territories have implemented LEED in their building projects, taking advantage of its global, regional and local applicability to create struc-tures that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions; create healthier indoor en-vironments for workers, students and community members; and lower util-ity bills for building owners through reduced energy and water use.

The ranking of the top ten countries for LEED outside of the US is based on cumulative gross square meters (GSM) of space certified to LEED in each nation as of April 2014.


COnSTRUCTIOn US LEED RAnKInG

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Headquarters, LEED Platinum

building success in the Middle East, at No 9 with 1.82m GSM of LEED-cer-tified space.

notable certified projects in these nations include:

6 Canada: 100 Wellington Street West Tower at the Dominion Cen-tre in Toronto, LEED Platinum, the first project in the city to achieve Platinum certification under LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance

6 China: Haworth Showroom in the Parkview Green in Beijing, LEED Gold, the first project to certify under LEED v4, the latest version of LEED

6 India: ITC Maurya Hotel in New Delhi, built in 1977, Platinum un-der LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance

6 South Korea: Samsung GREEN TO-MORROW, the first LEED Platinum project in East Asia

6 Taiwan: Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world, LEED Platinum under LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance

6 Germany: MesseTurm in Frank-furt, an iconic 63-story skyscraper and one of the tallest in Europe, LEED Silver

6 Brazil: Castelao Arena in Fortaleza, the first 2014 World Cup stadium to earn LEED certification

6 Singapore: Asia Square Tower 1, a 43-story office building, LEED Platinum

6 United Arab Emirates: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority Headquarters, LEED Platinum

6 Finland: Sello shopping center, the first European shopping mall to receive LEED Gold

Collectively, more than 59,000 commercial and institutional projects are participating in LEED, represent-ing 967m GSM of construction space worldwide.

In June 2013, USGBC launched the LEED Earth campaign, offering free certification to the first projects to certify in the more than 100 countries where LEED has yet to take root. Since then, 15 projects in various nations have earned free certification, includ-ing Venezuela and Kuwait.

the full ranking is as follows:

CHINA AND INDIA TOOK SECOND AND THIRD PLACE ON THE LIST, RESPECTIVELY BOASTING 14.30M AND 11.64M GSM OF LEED-CERTIFIED SPACE

Rank Nation GSM of LEED-certified space (million)

Total GSM of LEED-certified and registered space (millions)

Total number of LEED-certified and registered projects

1 Canada 17.74 58.66 4,0682 China 14.30 96.22 1,6383 India 11.64 66.22 1,6574 South Korea 3.84 16.61 2425 Taiwan 2.98 6.97 1146 Germany 2.90 7.32 3657 Brazil 2.85 23.24 8298 Singapore 2.16 3.86 919 United Arab Emirates 1.82 47.16 85010 Finland 1.45 3.56 148

Canada tops the list, with 17.74m GSM of LEED space. Collectively, Canada boasts 4,068 total LEED-registered and certified projects, representing 58.66m total GSM of LEED space.

China and India, two of the world’s fastest growing economies and rapid adopters of sustainable building practic-es, took second and third place on the list, respectively boasting 14.30m and 11.64m GSM of LEED-certified space.

Other Asian nations in the top ten in-clude South Korea, at No 4 with 3.84m GSM of LEED-certified space; Taiwan, at No 5 with 2.98m GSM; and Singapore, at No 8 with 2.16m GSM.

In Europe, Germany and Finland se-cured spots sixth and tenth, respectively - Germany with 2.90m GSM of LEED-certified space and Finland with 1.45m.

In South America, Brazil stood at No 7 on the list, with 2.85m GSM, while the United Arab Emirates represented green


advertorial delta faucet company

delta faucet announces 2014 sustainability challenge winneRssupporTed by The uniTed naTions decade of educaTion for susTainable developmenT in parTnership wiTh alabbar energy & susTainabiliTy group and The associaTion of professional inTerior designers, This year’s compeTiTion saw 58 parTicipanTs

d elta Faucet Company, a world-wide leader in residential and commercial faucets, and

originator of water conservation solu-tions, today announced the winners of its 2014 Sustainability Challenge. The initiative, now in its second year, engaged interior design and archi-tecture students from the American University in Dubai (AUD) to encour-age innovative and practical designs, in a bid to raise awareness of sustain-ability and water resources in the UAE

and the wider Middle East.Delta Faucet Company’s 2014 Sus-

tainability Challenge, supported by the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD), and in partnership with Alabbar Ener-gy and Sustainability Group (AESG) and the Association of Professional Interior Designers (APID), focused specifically on water conservation within the hos-pitality sector.

The competition required students to use mandatory design elements

that addressed water conservation, energy efficiency, water quality, and product durability in compliance with government design requirements. Sub-missions ranged from sustainable hotel rooms and spa facilities, to commercial kitchen design and pop-up café con-cepts, all of which utilised Delta Faucet Company’s innovative technologies and water-saving products.

The winner of this year’s Sustaina-bility Challenge was Zainab Al Swalhi, whose ‘Junkyard Café’ design focused on reusing and recycling material such



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as aluminium cans to create a sus-tainable café concept. Nouran Kamel and Bahare Yaghar were awarded second and third place respectively. Nouran’s submission followed a fu-turistic, energy-saving theme with her ‘TeleFuture’ concept, in line with the Expo 2020 criteria, while Bahare’s ‘Pyrite’ hotel merged modern design with traditional features.

Commenting on the competition, Ross Jackson, General Manager Delta Faucet Company, Middle East, said, “It is our firm belief that in order to impact change in people’s approach to water conservation tomorrow, we must raise awareness amongst the youth of today. These students are the future generation of architects and interior design profes-sionals, and will undoubtedly retain and

apply their learnings for years to come.” “Following the success of last year’s

event, we have already seen a marked increase in the level of participation in the 2014 Sustainability Challenge with 58 participants submitting their de-signs. We were highly impressed with the standard of projects shared during this year’s competition and, although selecting a winner was not an easy one, we congratulate Zainab on her well-de-served victory and wish her all the best in future endeavours.”

Full information on the challenge criteria, entries and shortlisted designs are available, upon request, from Manal Shaikh at Capital MSL+971 55 109 [email protected]

About Delta Faucet Company:Founded by Masco Corporation in 1954 with the introduction of the single-handle faucet, Delta Faucet Company is proud to be America’s faucet innovation leader, featuring Delta, Brizo and Peerless products. A WaterSense partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Delta Faucet is a global organization that offers kitchen faucets, bath faucets, shower heads, shower systems, toilets and related accessories, selling products in more than 53 countries. For more information, visit worldwide.deltafaucet.com.

About AUD:The American University in Dubai (AUD) is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning founded in 1995. It serves UAE nationals and international students who seek world-class career-oriented education. AUD, as an international institution of higher education, encourages global understanding by providing an atmosphere of cultural diversity and opportunities for an international education.

• AUD is officially licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the United Arab Emirates. The Ministry has accredited the university’s programs in International Studies, Business Administration (both undergraduate and graduate), Communication and Information Studies, Engineering, Computer and Information Technology, Architecture, Visual Communication and Interior Design, Education (graduate), and Construction Management (graduate), in addition to a Certificate program in Middle Eastern Studies.

• AUD is accredited by the Commission on Colleges (COC) of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

• AUD is approved to operate by the State of Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (NPEC).

• AUD has received specialized accreditation for its Bachelor’s of Business Administration (B.B.A.), and Master’s of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree programs in business through the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).

• The university’s undergraduate majors in Marketing Communications and Advertising have been accredited by the International Advertising Association (IAA) in New York.

• The Civil, Computer, and Electrical Engineering Programs of AUD’s School of Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. The Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Technology (B.S.C.I.T.) program is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.


WASTE MAnAGEMEnT BEE’Ah

gReen cleaneRs

The United Arab Emirates, which boasts sandy beaches and beau-tiful creeks, has been steadily

fighting to keep waste out of its water bodies. In fact, the country now records one of the highest rates of waste gener-ation per capita in the world, thanks to rapid industrial expansion, construc-tion boom and population growth. A 2011 report by Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi (SCAD) observed that plas-tics make up approximately 19% of the municipal solid waste generated in the UAE. However, one emirate that has been taking waste seriously is Sharjah, where Bee’ah, the integrated envi-

ronmental and waste management company, is spearheading holistic activities towards a greener and a cleaner environment.

In what could be yet another step in Bee’ah’s goal to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2015, the company has in-troduced solar-powered cleaning boats to keep waste out of Sharjah’s waters. The new fleet includes ‘zero emis-sion’ mobile equipment such as waste compactors, urban vacuum clean-ers, automated sweepers and street vacuums. It will be the region’s first solar-powered water cleaning boats and will be able to collect up to 200kg

The new fleeT of solar powered cleaning boaTs from bee’ah remove debris from The middle of The lagoon and yeT leave no emissions behind

THE FLEET IS BEING MANAGED BY TANDEEF, THE WASTE COLLECTION AND STREET CLEANING DIVISION OF BEE’AH, WHICH IS DEDICATED TO SHARJAH’S WASTE MANAGEMENT

of floating debris each day from Shar-jah’s lagoons.

The fleet is being managed by Tand-eef, the waste collection and street cleaning division of Bee’ah, which is dedicated to Sharjah’s waste manage-ment and is primarily responsible for the beautification of the city. In many ways, these ‘cleaning solar boats’ sup-port and build upon Tandeef’s existing fleet that are not not only to be highly cost effective and easy to maintain, but also continuously help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

“Tandeef’s fleet of electric-powered vehicles has proven to be highly cost effective and easy-to-maintain,” con-firmed Khaled Al Huraimel, Bee’ah’s Group CEO.

“At Tandeef, we strive to significantly

waste management Bee’ah


TANDEEF AIMS TO CLEAN UP THE WASTE IN THE EMIRATE AND REDUCE THE ACTUAL VOLUME OF WASTE THROUGH COMMUNITY OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

reduce carbon dioxide emissions stem-ming from our company’s equipment and vehicles.

These new boats further acceler-ate our journey towards achieving zero-waste to landfill in the Emirate of Sharjah by 2015 – a goal established in accordance with the vision of HH Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Ruler of Sharjah to ensure an environmentally sustain-able future.”

The advantages of the solar-powered boats are two-fold. They not only help to remove floating garbage from ports and swimming areas, thereby improv-ing efficiency, but are also the first ‘zero emission’ boats in their class.

Manufactured by Grove Boats SA, under a class name of Solar Sea Clean-er 400, the solar boat was launched in 2012. It has a length of 4m, a maximum speed of 4 knots, working speed of 1.5 knots, solar panels generating 600 W and a crew capacity of 1 to 2 personnel. The boat is capable of collecting float-ing waste such as plastics, polystyrene, algae, and wood, and storing it on board in a dedicated container.

These boats are targeted for harbour areas and relatively calm waters as they aren’t yet adapted to heavy seas and large capacities. It is said to be easy-to-use, as the only caution the operator needs to exercise is to avoid the accumulation of weight on a single side of the boat. As a catamaran, the boat possesses a high degree of stability, but strong side winds and severe weather conditions might reduce the manoeuvrability of the craft, while sudden acceleration and course changes can reduce the stability of the boat significantly.

The solar-powered boat has a clear advantage in tourist areas as it has a low speed, long autonomy and almost makes no noise. Presently, a fleet of five solar-powered boats are in use on the waterway along the corniche of the Al Khaled Lagoon as part of a pilot phase, which is expected to determine the most efficient area ratio. “The boats are being closely monitored by Tandeef’s team,” Bea’ah’s Huraimel said.

The maintenance of these boats is also easy, according to Bee’ah. They are inspected regularly and taken out

of water every month and cleaned us-ing high pressure water jet or mild soap. Other parts that need to be regularly maintained include the electrical con-nections, such as the batteries, which need to be securely placed and protect-ed against corrosion.

The waste once collected is taken to Bee’ah’s Waste Management Centre in Al Saj’ah where it is sorted and sent to the different state-of-the-art facilities managed and operated by the company along high international standards of health and safety.

For example, the centre consists of various facilities to treat municipal solid waste (MSW), discarded tyres, construc-tion and demolition waste, electronic waste, wastewater and sludge, amongst others. The waste management centre also takes care of landfill reengineer-ing, education and outreach, as well as policy development.

As part of the company, Tandeef aims to clean up the waste in the emirate and reduce the actual volume of waste through community outreach activi-ties based on the four environmental Rs —reducing, re-using, recycling and redeeming — to minimise waste quan-tities dramatically. Sharjah’s aim is to serve as one of the top environmentally responsible cities in the world and the region’s environmental capital.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIoNS The Solar Sea Cleaner is a catamaran consisting of:Star side and port side hulls filled with closed-cell foam in inaccessible compartments.Electric motors are located under each hull and motor speed controllers are included in the boat. The craft is manoeuvred using two separate engines.Battery compartments: Each hull contains a pack of batteries, which power the electric motors. These batteries, of 24VDC voltages, are maintenance free. Collector basket forms a part of the collecting mechanism. The basket, located at the front of the vessel, is made of a steel grid. Using a simple mechanism, the operator can scoop it in and out of the water.operator’s platform is located at the rear of the boat, a.k.a. port board. The operator can access the boat commands and manipulate the collecting mechanism from here. The operator can also freely move around the collecting basket.Solar roof consisting of solar panels is mounted on a laminated board which is supported by a tubular structure made of aluminium. The roof of the boat is covered by six 100W solar panels, adding up to a total installed power of 600W.

KONE Eco-efficient™ solutionsKONE Elevators

KONE eco-efficiency milestones

• 1987: KONE introduces the V3F frequency converter, improving the energy efficiency of its hoisting machines.

• 1991: KONE is the first elevator company to utilize regenerative drives in its elevators.

• 1996: KONE invents and launches the first machine-room-less elevator, KONE MonoSpace® , providing up to 70% energy savings compared to conventional technology.

• 2005: KONE MonoSpace is the first elevator to include LED lighting as a standard feature.

• 2006: KONE unveils the concept of solar powered elevators.

• 2009: KONE launches high-performance regenerative drives for a full range of applications.

• 2010: KONE receives A-class energy efficiency ratings for its elevators (VDI standard 4707).

• 2012: KONE launches completely renewed and more energy efficient KONE EcoDisc® hoisting machine for the KONE elevators.

KONE is the pioneer of eco-efficiency in the elevator industry. For several decades, KONE has led the way in creating innovative solutions that help to significantly cut the energy consumption of buildings.

Lifecycle assessments of KONE elevators show that the greatest environmental impact of an elevator stems from the electricity used in the operation of the equipment. Therefore, the key focus area for KONE is to systematically reduce the energy consumption of its elevators with each new product release.

Elevators consist mostly of metals and over 90% of this material can be recycled.

Supporting green building through energy measurements and calculationsKONE MonoSpace elevators have achieved excellent A-class energy efficiency ratings in measurements performed by independent third parties. We offer VDI A-class energy efficiency for our entire elevator range. KONE is focusing on the ongoing development of standards such as ISO/DIS 25745, Energy Performance of Lifts and Escalators, which will define globally agreed criteria for measurement and comparison between different technologies and products in terms of energy consumption.

KONE has developed tools to estimate the energy consumption of customer-specific solutions in the design phase of each project. These tools are especially helpful for customers working on green building certified (e.g. LEED, BREEAM) projects.

KONE follows the latest green building trends through its involvement in green building associations around the world.

* **Guideline issued by the Association of German Engineers

KONE elevator energy efficiency performance according to VDI 4707***

KONE N MonoSpace®

KONE S MonoSpace®

KONE N MiniSpace ™

KONE S MiniSpace™

KONE MiniSpace™

Environmental impacts during the lifecycle stages of a typical KONE elevator *

*The calculations are based on an elevator speed of 1,6 m/s, a load of 800 kg, 200,000 starts/year, an average travel height of 14 m, and 18 ofl ors.

Raw material production

Component manufacturing

Use

Delivery

Maintenance

End-of-life treatment

KONE Middle East LLC - P.O. Box 21474, Dubai, UAE - Tel. +971 4 2221393Find out more info on products and local branch listings at www.kone.ae


PRODUCTS

a sustainable energy supply, the increasing costs of mainte-nance and the high cost of steel shots used in shot blasting machines are just a few of the concerns aluminium smelt-

ers are facing nowadays. With technical assistance from Rockwell Automation, a new Stub Cleaning Technology, developed by Met-alTech Gulf and manufactured by Lefebvre Engineering in Sharjah, helps aluminium smelters solve one of their operational challeng-es, optimise power conservation and reduce investment costs. The new technology is based on a set of heavy duty rotary chain flails for coarse cleaning of the stubs and roller wire brushes for fine cleaning. The new technology claims to significantly reduces both capital and operational expenditures compared to conventional steel shot blasting machines.

This new technology promises many benefits including: reduced cost of ownership; increased machine availability for production due to lower maintenance requirements; improved productivity because cleaning

cycle times are reduced; in-creased quality of cleaned stubs on anode rods re-sulting in increased energy savings in the reduction cells; a safer working en-vironment and a faster return on investment. Several aluminium smelt-ers have already shown interest in this new stub cleaning technology.

panasonic has launched the Mid-dle East’s largest air-volume humidifying air purifier the F-

VXK90M – a nanoe powered model that is especially tailor-made to suit the requirements of the Middle East-ern consumers.

The F-VXK90M has an inbuilt pre-filter which is washable and fitted to protect against the sand storm. Every new model of this air purifier comes with an additional filter that can be changed later.

The Panasonic patented nanoe tech-nology embedded within the Air Purifier emits long-life micro particles wrapped in water molecules which can penetrate into fabrics thoroughly and reach in far corners to decompose viruses and allergens.

OH radicals in nanoe particles inhibit odour by attracting hydro-gen from odour particle. These nanoe particles are tiny enough to penetrate into clothes or any fabrics. Experiments have proven that the nanoe technology is effective in inhibiting mold and bringing a fresh living environment.

The HEPA filters are randomly arranged fibers. Panasonic’s HEPA Filters equipped with Super Alleru Buster, Green Tea Catechin & Anti Bacteria Enzyme enhance the purifying function inhibiting 17 kinds of virus, bacteria and allergen up to 99%.

RocKwell stub cleaning machine

panasonic aiR puRifieR

Knauf ecose technology

knauf Insulation has launched a new generation of glasswool us-ing patented ECOSE technology which reduces the product’s embodied energy and delivers environmental sustainability.

With glasswool insulation made using recycled glass bottles and also being highly compression packed, it is already ranked in independent sustainability tables as the best performing insulation in terms of low environmental impact. ECOSE Technology extends the leading position of glasswool and as a result, Knauf Insulation’s EarthWool products claim to provide Australia with a new choice of highly sustainable insulation.

EarthWool products made using ECOSE Technology benefit from a binder which has no added formaldehyde and is based on renewable bio-based materials.

The technology has been developed for Knauf Insulation’s glasswool and rock mineral wool products, enhancing our environmental creden-tials whilst maintaining the thermal, acoustic and fire performance and mechanical properties.

ecose is a new formaldehyde–free binder Technology based on renewable maTerials

rockwell auTomaTion launches an energy saving Technology for cleaning sTubs on anode rods

f-vxk90m is Tailor-made To suiT The requiremenTs of mideasT consumers

PEOPLE


dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, UAE Minis-ter of Environment and Water, upholds ICBA’s (International Center for Bio-

saline Agriculture) tradition by appointing a new Board of Directors, who bring a wealth of regional and international experience to the table. The new Board of Directors includes leaders from international NGOs, government organisations, donors’ institutes, and research organisations. This reinforces ICBA’s new vi-sion to be the global centre of excellence for innovative agriculture in saline and margin-al environments.

The new chair of the ICBA Board is Abdul-rahman Sultan Al Sharhan, a former dean of the faculty of science at the UAE Univer-sity and a current member of the Higher Committee for the Zayed International Prize for the Environment. Al Sharhan brings great experience in strategic management of research institutions.

Joining Prof Al Sharhan on the Board is Saif Mohammed Al Shara (Assistant Undersec-retary for Agricultural and Livestock Affairs - UAE Ministry of Environment and Water). Al Shara oversees the agricultural portfolio within the Ministry and represents the UAE at the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) level for agricultural files.

The new Board will also include Jaber Eidha

uae Minister appoints icba’s new board of directorsabdulrahman sulTan al sharhan chairs new board

saudi prince wins conservation award

Ismahane Elouafi (left), DG, ICBA with Chairman of Board of Directors Abdulrahman Sultan Al Sharhan

Al Jaberi (Deputy Secretary-General - Environ-ment Agency - Abu Dhabi).

“These are very exciting times for ICBA; es-pecially that the center has embarked on a new ambitious ten year strategy that looks at ex-panding the scope of ICBA’s mandate, building on past successes and adapting to current and future needs,” said Ismahane Elouafi, Director General of ICBA.

“We look forward to working hand in hand with the new Board of Directors to continue the success story of ICBA in achieving our goals. On behalf of all ICBA employees and ICBA man-agement; I would like to sincerely thank the previous board under the leadership of H.E. Fawzi Al Sultan for their tremendous contri-bution to ICBA,” Elouafi said.

The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Founda-tion and its founder, Prince Khaled bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, have been awarded a Peter

Benchley award for Excellence in Ocean Exploration. The award recognizes their work exploring and cre-ating first-ever detailed maps of some of the world’s most remote coral reef systems.

The Peter Benchley Awards are billed as the worlds’ preeminent ocean conservation awards and other winners this year are EU commissioner Maria Damanaki, The Honorable Leon Panetta, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Casey Sokolovic, Captain Charles Moore and Dr Steve Gaines.

Addressing the award ceremony by video from

Saudi Arabia, Prince Khaled said “When I started the Living Oceans Foundation almost fifteen years ago, it was with the idea that scientific knowledge could help us better protect our oceans.”

He continued “I believe that ocean exploration today gathers critical information for making wise conservation decisions for the future.”

The Living Oceans Foundation is in the middle of a five-year ocean research expedition called the Global Reef Expedition.

Scientists on the expedition collect information about the health and status of remote coral reefs, including population and biodiversity assessments of important fish populations.

award recognises firsT-ever deTailed maps of some of The world’s mosT remoTe coral reef sysTems

renesola appoints Jason wu as vp of MarKetingChinese Solar photovoltaic manufacturer ReneSola has appointed Jason Wu as the company’s Vice President of Marketing. In this newly created position, Wu will oversee the company’s global marketing, new product management, as well as brand enhancement.

Prior to joining ReneSola, Wu was Vice President of global solutions for Hua-wei Technologies, a telecommunications technology provider, where he was di-rectly responsible for Huawei’s worldwide sales and marketing operations. Wu has held several leadership and international sales and marketing positions at Andrew Corp, Alcatel-Lucent, and TECOM CO. Wu received his MBA degree from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chi-cago in 1994.

“We have already established 19 local offices and 29 logistic centres worldwide to provide local support and instant deliv-ery to our customers. With Jason’s 23 years of experience in sales and marketing, and having specialised in global business devel-opment and management of large teams, we are confident he will help take our global network to the next level,” Xianshou Li, the company’s chief executive officer of Renesola said.

Prince Khaled bin Sultan


GREEn PERSOnALITy

the gReen campaigneRacTor ian somerhalder’s foundaTion is acTively involved in clean energy projecTs and disTribuTes funds Towards renewable energy developmenT

He set up the non-profit Ian Somerh-alder Foundation in 2010, which, among other activities, aims to support renew-able energy projects, raise awareness of the impacts of deforestation, and to engage young people in environmental issues.

Somerhalder has also supported the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) by promoting World Environment Day– the biggest global day dedicated to positive action on the environment – which is organised every year by UNEP on 5 June.

Sumerhalder joined UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors Gisele Bündchen, Don Cheadle and Rahul Bose to film video spots to advertise World Environment Day across the globe.

The Ian Somerhalder Foundation is actively involved in clean energy projects and distributes funds towards renewable energy development, as well as support-ing green technologies, green disaster relief and promoting environmentally responsible practices in the entertain-ment industry.

According to the mission statement of the foundation, long-term goals will focus on: habitat and biodiversity, clean energy and animals, with specific projects in re-forestation, biodiversity, extinction and species-specific sterilization methods of domestic pets. Short-term goals are inviting everyone to get involved, creat-ing teams of passionate volunteers, and fund-raising.

In 2010, Ian helped to clean up after the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster. Through public service announcements, he helped galvanise efforts to clean up the oil spill which harmed wildlife and habi-tats along the Gulf coast where he grew up.

Ian has said of his environmental work “I don’t know how to do anything else other than be an actor. If I wasn’t in this, I would be in alternative energy and conservation”.

Ian Somerhalder is involved with Go Green Mobile Power, a maker of portable energy and illuminating devices.

Somerhalder was the winner of the Most Responsible Celebrity Award 2012 at a International Green Awards ceremo-ny in Battersea Power Station, London. Receiving over 50% of the public votes, he was heralded as the greenest inter-national media luminary for 2012 at a glittering green gala dinner.

star of the ‘Vampire Diaries’ series, and win-ner of an Emmy, Screen Actors Guild Award, and other accolades as a cast member of the

hit show ‘Lost’, Ian Somerhalder is known as a pro-lific environmental campaigner.

GREEn PERSOnALITy IAn SOMERhALDER

www.bgreen.aeJune 2014

society diary dates

51

diaRy dates

Kuwait energy and Water efficiency Conference 2014June 2-4, Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa, Kuwait CityKuwait Energy & Water Efficiency, organised at the request of the Min-istry of Electricity and Water, the Ministry of Oil, KPC and the Envi-ronmental Public Authority, is the only conference to address the need for sustainable energy solu-tions in Kuwait.

Be a part of discussions at the highest level for developing an energy efficiency strategy, and gain invaluable insight into the mindset of Government leaders and policy makers.

Discover what sustainable en-ergy solutions have a proven track record of not only reducing energy consumption but also reducing costs for you and your business, plus other opportunities on the horizon.

1st CSR Meetup in DubaiJune 3, Burjuman Arjaan, Dubai, UAEThe 1st CSR Meetup in Dubai is co-organised by Sustainability Knowledge Group and Dr Michael Hopkins Founder of CSR Meetup, Founder & CEO of MHCi and its sub-sidiary CSRFI. This event provides a

unique opportunity to CSR & Sus-tainability advocates working in UAE to network, exchange ideas and best practices. CSR Meetup Dubai, is a platform that enables all profession-als to discuss advanced CSR trends & Sustainability issues in order to gain greater insights.

Water Management in oil and GasJune 8-11, Abu Dhabi, UAEWater is scarce in the world with over 2.8bn people live in water stressed regions and 2bn lack access to safe drinking water. It is also an integral part of a wide range of operations in the oil business in the form of oilfield produced water and refinery waste-water.

However the Oil and Gas indus-try faces several challenges such as reusing water, reducing water, mini-mising the environmental impacts of wastewater disposal as the water quality, treatment technologies and its reuse and recycle applications widely vary according to the type of water resources.

IQPC has announced the upcom-ing Water Management in Oil and Gas conference due to take place from 8 – 11 June 2014 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

This conference will bring together global experts and regional leaders in water management to come and share their expertise, challenges and solutions when it comes to the optimization of water consumption, conventional and non-conven-tional usage of water, best-in-class technologies that are being used for monitoring the quality and fore-casting production and the most sustainable way to minimise dis-charge and finally environmentally sustainable disposal techniques.

emirates Green Building Council Awards 2014June 11, Grosvenor House, Dubai, UAEEmirates Green Building Council (EGBC) will announce the winners of the EGBC Awards 2014 on June 11, 2014 at a gala event to be held at Grosvenor House, Dubai.

EGBC Awards 2014, which honours the best practices in sustainability, has received strong response from across the Middle East.

The awards will be presented in six key categories: Green Building of the Year, for a building finalised be-tween 2012 and 2014 in the MENA region that employed the highest sustainability standards and in-cluded innovation in design and processes in its construction and completion; Green Facility Manage-ment Organisation of the Year for a UAE-based FM organisation for its commitments towards sustain-ability; Green Building Material/Product Award for the successful introduction to the MENA region of a construction material or product/component which addresses green building principles; Green Building

System Award for a building system that provides a more sustainable solution to green building construc-tion than traditional construction methods; Green Building Research Award for research that establishes dependable data, in an area not pre-viously available, related to green building performance; and Training Initiative of the Year for the best sus-tainability training initiative in the MENA region.

Smart Living City Dubai 2014 September 15-16, Dubai, UAESmart Living City is a biannual gath-ering that takes place in Dubai, San Francisco and Singapore. It displays the latest technologies and inno-vations related to smart cities and smart human capital.

This year’s Dubai edition will gath-er high-profile representatives from startups, investors, foundations, researchers and cities – including del-egates from, the Dubai Government, Stanford University, The Massachu-setts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cisco, and Microsoft. TASWEEK is partnering with Inside Investor on the event’s run from September 15 to 16, 2014.

The event will highlight how government-led ‘smart’ initiatives and services powered by advanced technologies and supported by part-nerships with the private sector are creating a sustainable ecosystem for Dubai. Smart Living City - Dubai is drawing strong global interest in the rapidly growing ‘smart city’ sector – an industry which a recent report from market research firm Market-sandMarkets forecasts will be worth around US $1tn by 2019.


COMMEnTARy

boosting pRofitability, saving the enviRonment

The ‘Green building’ concept is fast becoming the global norm today amidst the strong clam-

our for sustainable, healthy and re-source-efficient structures. The trend has become even more evident after studies warned that commercial and residential buildings will become the world’s biggest emitters of green-house gases by 2025 if significant measures are not taken today. Sus-tainable buildings are then seen to reduce the impact of the mainstream building industry on the environment and human health.

Discussions on green construction, however, have taken a new turn over the years, going beyond the many en-vironment and social benefits of sus-tainable buildings. One of the debated topics touches on associated costs. Green structures are often perceived

as more expensive to build and main-tain than conventional buildings. But while it is true that going ‘green’ en-tails big investments, it is also possi-ble that one can achieve a ‘green’ goal without exceeding the set budget. The financial returns are also enormous as green buildings have proven to have many financial benefits that are not often seen in conventional buildings.

According to California Sustain-able Building Task Force, an initial green design investment of just 2% will produce savings that are more than 10 times that of the initial in-vestment based on a 20-year building lifespan. According to the task force’s findings, an initial investment of US $40,000 in green design for a project worth $2m will not only be repaid in just two years, but it will yield savings worth $400,000 in a span of 20 years. Jamal Lootah

Efficient use of resources such as energy and water – which can be at-tained in green buildings but could be difficult in conventional infrastruc-tures – contributes to sizable savings in the long run.

In the UAE, promoting sustainable practices is part of the government’s development agenda. UAE leaders en-vision the country to be a global leader in carbon footprint reduction in the built environment, among other sec-tors. The country is being lauded for implementing green building policies and regulations. In Dubai, for instance, green regulations implemented on government buildings resulted in 43% reduction in energy and 15% reduction in water.

Every citizen, industry, and sector plays a crucial role in attaining the gov-ernment’s goal of building sustainable infrastructures. Facilities manage-ment companies, in particular, must realign their objectives to make them more environmentally efficient. Their role is crucial in sustaining the environ-mental performance of the buildings as well as providing significant support to their clients’ efforts to minimize their impact on the environment.

This is what we are doing at Imdaad. As a provider of integrated FM solu-tions in the GCC, we recognise the role of sustainability and its applications in FM such as waste management and water and energy management. We are always on the lookout for ways to im-prove out systems and processes to en-sure that they are aligned with our en-vironmental and societal objectives.

[The author Jamal Lootah is the CEO of fa-cilities management firm Imdaad]

new pracTices and profiTabiliTy are making green building The face of The fuTure

BGreen June 2014

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