Big Project ME June 2022 by CPI Trade Media

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193 June 2022

MEConstructionNews.com

THE BUSINESS OF CONSTRUCTION

Sustainability at the Heart

IBRAHIM AL-ZU'BI OF MAJID AL FUTTAIM HOLDING, TELLS BIG PROJECT ME THAT SUSTAINABILITY IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD FOR THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT SECTOR

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CONTENTS

June 2022

ANALYSIS

FEATURES

INSIGHT

Expert Voice

Gavin Davids interviews Ibrahim AlZu’bi, chief sustainability officer at Majid Al Futtaim Holding, about why sustainability is good for business

Comments

Final Update

The Briefing

CBRE discusses the importance of a viable sustainability agenda, while KEO says sustainability must be at the heart of everything developers do

The Big Picture

Market Report

Analysis

A wrap-up of the biggest local, regional and international construction news stories

JLL finds that the home ownership drive is driving growth in the KSA residential sector

In Profile Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi

Project Profile Sharjah Sustainable City

Big Project ME visits Sharjah Sustainable City with Karim El-Jisr and Carl Atallah, to learn how the sustainable lifestyle residential development is the model of the future

Rob Jackson of Asite says that data can help the construction industry shed its tag of being one of the world’s largest carbon emitters

The industry’s leading experts share their thoughts and opinions about the construction industry

Infrastructure works completed on Al Shahd 2 in Jordan

Dr Mohamed Nazier of WSP Middle East discusses how a circular economy can lead to sustainable infrastructure

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

WELCOME

Introduction

Sustainable Purpose

s I write this editor’s letter, my thoughts are dominated by concepts such as sustainable living, energy efficiency, net positivity, carbon emissions and alternative energies. Part of this is because of how heavily this month’s issue is dominated by these topics, but also because we’re on the cusp of launching our first ever Energy & Sustainability Summit, which is being held on June 21, at the St Regis The Palm on Palm Jumeirah. Seeing this event come to fruition is a source of pride for me as it’s something I’ve been working towards for a number of years. I’ve always believed that it was essential to create a space where the construction and real estate industries could showcase their knowledge and insights about sustainability and efficiency in the built environment, and judging by the overwhelming response to the summit in terms of registrations, and by the number of people calling and emailing from all across the region about taking part, it’s clear that I wasn’t the only one who thought so! We’ve got a fantastic line up of speakers confirmed, including Ibrahim

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

Al-Zu’bi, Farah Naz, Ian Williamson, and Abdullatif Albitawi, as well a host of other sustainability and alternative energy experts. There has always been a lot of talk about these topics, but it seems to me that since the pandemic took hold, all that talk has started to turn into action. While talking to Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi for this month’s cover story, we both agreed that it is clear that the corporate world now believes that sustainability is the only way forward, given the amount of financial backing green initiatives are receiving. Once there’s a consensus across the financial, engineering and design sectors, real change can happen. Alternative energy is another topic we’re going to be covering quite strongly at the E&S Summit, and long time readers will know that this is a drum we’ve been beating for quite some time – whether it’s covering the many mammoth solar parks coming up around the region, or discussing how global giants are supporting the MENA’s region’s energy transition, we’ve been passionate advocates for this change, and I’m really looking forward to hearing some of the smartest minds in the industry sharing what they know with us on June 21. See you all there!

Gavin Davids

HEAD OF EDITORIAL & CONTENT gavin.davids@cpitrademedia.com @MECN_Gavin MEConstructionNews me-construction-news

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THE BUSINESS OF CONSTRUCTION

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Editorial HEAD OF EDITORIAL & CONTENT Gavin Davids

Sustainability at the Heart

IBRAHIM AL-ZU'BI OF MAJID AL FUTTAIM HOLDING, TELLS BIG PROJECT ME THAT SUSTAINABILITY IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD FOR THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT SECTOR ON THE COVER

Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi tells Big Project ME that sustainable business is the only business for the real estate and construction sectors

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DIESEL PUMP PRICES IN THE

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UAE HAVE INCREASED BY 35% SINCE JANUARY

It is a time like these that you are suddenly aware of the distances between your office and home. One of the underappreciated perks of living in a well-connected city like Dubai is how

MACHINERY

quickly you get from one

Al Naboodah’s Swaidan Trading beats global competition to win coveted Ashok Leyland Distributor of the Year award

side to another. Try getting from downtown LA, Tokyo or London to the suburbs in under 45 minutes. In

GALLERY: Grankraft builds Sheybarah Hotel’s overwater villas for TRSDC

comparison, a 30-40km trip is easily downed even in heavy traffic in Dubai, but I am realising that time is becoming far

CONSULTANT

less important compared

BSBG announces opening of 60,000sqft F&B venue

to the cost of the daily commute. I’m personally spending close to 1,000 dirhams a week to get to work and switching to public transport is not a practical option – yet.

CONSTRUCTION

We’ve made great strides

JCDC awards masterplan design contract for $20bn Jeddah Central Project

in building a network in the city but connecting newer developments on its edge now needs to be far higher in the list of a developer’s priorities. In the meantime, I’m going to be spending a lot less time eating gas in the fast lane. And that’s

CONSTRUCTION

Diriyah Gate and Saudi’s OSP ink MoU to use sustainable polymer construction material June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

EXPERTS: Is repurposing structures the future of sustainable development?

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Date

21 Nov

Venue

Riyadh, KSA

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R I YA D H / K S A

Understanding the complexities of making Vision 2030 a reality 21 Nov 2022 | Live

About the

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Construction Intel Summit KSA

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Work on a number of large-scale, iconic construction projects is well underway in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as part of its Vision 2030 blueprint. While the Kingdom’s leadership aims to transform the country, it also wants to be mindful of what this transition means for its people, its culture and its environment.

Meet representatives from the industry and engage with a captive audience of decision makers and influencers, who are involved in purchasing or specifying products and services. Our sponsorship packages offer you a wide range of opportunities adapted to your needs and the level of visibility that you want to reach.

Therefore, as the GCC’s largest country moves towards a more diverse and sustainable economy, it is essential that the global construction industry equips itself with the knowledge and insight to grasp the unprecedented opportunities presented to them by Saudi Arabia’s transformation. This is why the Construction Intel Summit KSA is coming to Riyadh on November 21, 2022. The third edition, and the first live iteration of the Construction Intel Summit KSA aims to inform and educate attendees about the massive opportunities that remain across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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THE BRIEFING

Sustainability

A Sustainable Legacy MIDDLE EAST

Having a viable and effective sustainability agenda is absolutely vital writes CBRE’s Alexander Barzycki June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

he year 2019 was a landmark year for the sustainability agenda. With the acknowledgment of climate change as an existential threat to our way of life, and the acceptance that the lack of meaningful action taken to date, meant we were on the verge of tipping into an irrecoverable climate crisis. It is now 2022 and this realisation has just become more important than we could have ever imagined. This

isn’t hyperbole. Today, our news feeds are filled with the evidence that the physical effects of climate change – stronger and more frequent hurricanes, storm surges, wildfires, heavy rainfall, and wave after wave of storms – are now happening with increasing frequency. The challenge, as set out in the 2016 Paris Agreement, was to ensure that action was taken to hard limit global average temperature increases to 2-degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2050, however

40%

The built environment contributes about 40% of global carbon emissions

THE BRIEFING

do everything possible to not go beyond 1.5-degrees. Commitments were made at corporate and national levels, including in the UAE where it launched its Energy Strategy 2025. The strategy aims to increase the contribution of ‘clean energy’ from 25% to 50% of total energy consumption by 2050 and reduce the carbon footprint of power generation by 70%. The pandemic has also played a part in focusing on this global issue. Whilst in the vast majority of cases the pandemic has led to numerous negative externalities, arguably, one positive externality comes from economic recovery plans enacted. GREEN PLANS The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that member countries have allocated approximately $336bn to the green recovery, as part of these plans. However, it is important to put this in context, this only accounts for 17% of the total. Clearly, more must be done, and the built environment will continue to be a significant area of focus given it accounts for an estimated 40% of carbon emission around the globe. It all seemed to be going so well. Levels of cautious optimism ahead of COP26 (held by the United Kingdom at the end of 2020) were rising and there was real hope that we may now see global action to mitigate the risk posed by climate change, until COVID-19 stopped the world virtually overnight. The period of lockdown imposed by nations to reduce the impact of the virus led to huge reductions in carbon emissions due to plummeting car, air and rail travel for business and leisure. The question is, as the world opens again, how do we maintain the reductions catalysed by the lockdowns and push on to achieve net-zero carbon? We believe that the office sector will be a key area of focus in the future, their use will continue to be a central part of our working lives, albeit in a different form. While we believe that the office will always be a key feature of cities around the world, how they are used will undoubtedly change.

In order to maximise the opportunity this presents, it is essential that there is responsive collaboration between owners, occupiers, property management, engineering and sustainability teams. The demand changes of reoccupation will vary based on the occupier’s needs and on the future direction of the virus itself. LEGACY OF THE PANDEMIC From an operational perspective, this might mean reconfiguring access control systems to reduce the operational area of a building

Early implementation The industry must be able to improvise, adapt, share knowledge and implement strategies early.

Responsive collaboration In order to maximise the opportunities presented by office work culture changing, stakeholders must collaborate in response to changing needs.

and, in turn, the area requiring full lighting and ventilation and prioritising the monitoring of internal air quality to enable better control of energy use and better health outcomes for building users. Such strategies would need developing for each building to account for the subtle differences between them and take steps to ensure that all the systems are ‘COVID compliant’, and they are being maintained and adjusted to meet changes in demand. The changing working practices leads to a positive opportunity such as ageing plants requiring considerable downtime to replace and causing disruption to occupiers, or costs to replace out of hours, could be replaced with a more energy efficient system during periods of decreased occupancy, reducing capital cost and decreasing future energy consumption. Whatever happens from here, our clients need knowledgeable and trusted advisors to react quickly to future shocks based on the lessons learnt over the last couple of years, provide facts, reassurance, and support. We need to be able to improvise in the current situation, adapt by following credible science and engineering and sharing our knowledge, and overcome challenges by implementing strategies early. MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

THE BRIEFING

Development in the Age of Sustainability MIDDLE EAST

Dr Ioannis Spanos of KEO International Consultants, explains why real estate developers need to have sustainability at the heart of everything they do from now on

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

WHAT DOES IT MEANS TO BE TRULY SUSTAINABLE? To better understand how a project can be truly sustainable, we first need to understand the history and meaning of the term “sustainable development”. Initially the term was used to describe a project developed to meet the needs of the present by maintaining the current quality of life while not minimising the potential for the future generations to have the same quality of life. For the real-estate sector, that can mean projects that have, and will continue to have, after 30+ years, indoor and outdoor environments that comply with the best practice international standards and provide buildings that have the lowest environmental impact overall. Building certification schemes such as, LEED, WELL, ESTIDAMA, GSAS and CEEQUAL provide the design

criteria. With a higher certification rating the owner and user know that the development complies with more of the best socio-environmental international standards. However, sustainability and environmental certifications systems are just the tools for assessment against best practice standards and guides. Truly sustainable developments need to start from a brief where design solutions consider most, if not all, of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (UN SDG). Considering the Climate Change implications of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, new developments also need to consider an optimum path for decarbonisation and adaptation to extreme climatic conditions within the next few decades, when most of these developments will be used and thrive.

THE BRIEFING

Highly sustainable developments should start by questioning how solutions can be found within the architectural concept. These solutions should target resource efficiency, community improvement, the health and well-being of occupants and labour, net positive land and biodiversity value, equality and education, climate change risk mitigation and opportunities, reduction of energy and water to the minimum possible, responsible consumption and supply chains, and improving life overall. THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS Financial profitability is directly linked with the valuation of the final real estate or infrastructure asset against the initial investment of the development. The valuation of a real estate development is linked with the demand for such a development and the scale of mitigation of the potential climate-change environmental risks within 50-60 years, the minimum expected life of a real estate asset. For buildings, the actual building cost is circa 1:20 of the cost of human output and production that will be delivered within the building. Assume that a fully sustainable building will cost, under a worst-case scenario, 20% more than one that complies with the minimum local building regulations. This initial cost of the investment is only 1% of the total operations value output. During the last few years, academic research has concluded that worker productivity, which is a reasonable indicator of work output and revenue performance, in highly sustainable buildings is improved by 2-10% against those considered for a typical development. It is not a surprise therefore that international and global organisations have included, as part of their policies, that new buildings and new leases need to be highly sustainable. A comparable situation is observed in the education sector. For the residential sector, it is important to understand who the future buyers are. Several global studies indicate that younger generations are willing to pay

COP impact The upcoming COP events in Egypt and the UAE will have a significant impact on the regional construction and real estate industries, says Dr Ioannis Spanos.

Optimum path New developments must consider an optimum path for decarbonisation and adaptation to extreme climatic conditions.

2050 During COP26, the UAE and the KSA pledged ‘net zero emissions by 2050’

a price premium for a product that considers the impact and mitigation of climate change. They are the ones who will need to live with any environmental stresses caused by climate change, and they would like to have a home that is ‘sustainable’. This increased willingness to pay is a trend in the Asia-Pacific region and seems to be an increasing trend in the Middle East as some of our most highly sustainable developments have high rental and occupancy rates. Financial profitability is also linked to the terms of the borrowed cash for the investment; green funding and Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) requirements of financial institutions and listed companies integrated annual reporting provide an additional incentive to finance and be involved in highly sustainable projects. THE COP IMPACT The COP27 in Egypt and the COP28 in the UAE are two key events for global decisions on limiting the impacts of climate change. The first United Nations Climate Change Conference in the region was COP18 in Doha in 2012, which discussed adaptation, financing, mitigation, and technological solutions. In COP27 and COP28, the great work that was partially completed in COP26

in Glasgow needs to be finalised, as scientific communities are still projecting a global average temperature increase of more than 1.5°C. Escalation of average temperatures above 1.5°C will have an impact on land and ecosystem, energy, urban and infrastructure, and industrial systems. One of the highly potential impacts will be that 1 in 100 / 200year weather events will instead be likely to happen in 1 in 30 / 50 years. During COP26, the UAE and the KSA announced ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ and ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2060 pledges respectively: positive statements to a global audience. The minimum lifespan of a real estate and infrastructure asset can be 50-60 years; 2050 and 2060 are within its lifespan design considerations. Even subsystems within buildings, such as electro-mechanical installations, last a minimum of 25years. Existing buildings will be remodelled and renovated during this period too. It is of no surprise therefore that full decarbonisation of assets and reduction of ecological impact during construction is in the current briefs of institutional and large-scale developers. During the next two years such studies and considerations are expected to increase. Considering these changes in the construction industry, the next question is how these decarbonization plans will be implemented, from the national level down to small developers. Thought will need to be given to the supply chain of design, resources, materials, and the optimisation of electro-mechanical solutions to ensure they do not have a significant impact on project costs. Various national forums in almost all Gulf countries have started discussing these issues. The only way forward is with the full collaboration of all parties involved in the industry using data-based decision-making and continual discussions to seek optimised solutions. Steadily increasing the minimum building-related regulatory framework on decarbonisation is only a small part of the overall climate change mitigation solution. MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

THE BIG PICTURE

01 GERMANY

03 EGYPT

Bauma 2022 to put autonomous machinery in focus

AD Ports Group and RSPA sign agreements for major port projects in Egypt

The route to greater autonomy in construction machinery will be highlighted at Bauma 2022, which is billed as the world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and equipment. Intelligent machines could relieve machine operators of repetitive and tiring activities while remaining independent of their individual tasks – an advantage that could be crucial when there is a shortage of skilled workers. The event will take place from 24-30 October in Munich.

02 SPAIN

Tim Dawidowsky appointed as COO of Siemens Gamesa Siemens Gamesa has appointed Tim Dawidowsky as its Chief Operating Officer. Dawidowsky, who has been a member of the Board of Directors of Siemens Gamesa since 2020, joins the company on May 5 from Siemens Energy where he was serving as Senior Vice President, Project Excellence. In a 28 year career in the Siemens group of companies, Dawidowsky has held leading functional positions in service, supply chain management and manufacturing as well as a number of CEO roles in different countries. In his new role, Dawidowsky will be based in Madrid.

Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group and the Red Sea Ports Authority (RSPA) have signed a Term Sheet and a Head of Terms agreement for major port projects along Egypt’s coastline, it has announced. AD Ports Group will develop, operate and manage a multipurpose terminal in Safaga Port in a consortium with the Red Sea Ports Authority and the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals Company, the commercial arm of the Egyptian Ministry of Transportation. The new JV will provide port users with a wide range of marine services.

04 KUWAIT

06 SAUDI ARABIA

Kuwait ministry to appoint consultant for sewage plant feasibility studies

Green Riyadh launches in seven neighbourhoods

A consultancy will be appointed to conduct integrated feasibility studies for the North Kabd sewage treatment plant project and related works by Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works. The North Kabd plant will be implemented as a public-private partnership project with the aim of raising the level of infrastructure services, meeting the state’s needs, keeping pace with urban development, treating sewage, and benefiting from treated water for agricultural and irrigation purposes.

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

05 SAUDI ARABIA

Dewan appointed as lead design consultant for Qiddiya Water Theme Park

Dewan Architects + Engineers has been appointed as the lead design consultant for the recently announced Qiddiya Water Theme Park, which is one of the flagship projects in Qiddiya, Saudi Arabia’s disruptive and futuristic destination. Dewan has successfully delivered the design of the water park and is now supervising the physical construction of the landmark development. The firm is working with a large team of renowned water theme park experts, ride vendors, engineering and infrastructure professionals.

Green Riyadh has officially launched in seven neighbourhoods in the city. The project, which is billed as one of the largest Integrated and comprehensive urban afforestation projects in the world, is being implemented in the Al-Aziziyah, Al-Naseem, Al-Jazeera, Al-Araija, Qurtuba, Al-Ghadir and Al-Nakhil neighbourhoods. The project will see 7.5mn trees being planted and will contribute an increase in per capita green space from 1.7sqm to 28sqm and increase the total green space in the city to 9% or 545sqm. It targets the afforestation of several locations in Riyadh.

THE BIG PICTURE

04 07 03

08 05

08 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Rachel Willacy joins Compass as head of Procurement 07 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

EWEC asks for EoIs to be submitted for new solar PV IPP in Abu Dhabi

Developer/developer consortiums have been asked to submit expressions of interest (EoIs) for a new solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power project in the Ajban area of Abu Dhabi by Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC). The Al Ajban Solar PV is the third world leading large-scale utility solar PV project EWEC is developing, following the successful closing of Noor Abu Dhabi and Al Dhafra Solar PV. The project will generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes.

Compass has announced Rachel Willacy as its Regional Head of Procurement. As part of her role, she will spearhead the evolution of the firm’s service line with the inclusion of procurement excellence, aligned with the group’s client-centric, project development consultancy focus. Willacy is a senior FCIPS qualified and chartered procurement professional, having honed her skills through assignments in the Middle East and United Kingdom. She has been acknowledged for her strategic development abilities in navigating client solutions, whilst leading major projects.

09 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Houlihan Lokey secures funding for SPIPD’s Imperial Avenue development in Dubai Global investment bank Houlihan Lokey has announced it has secured funding for Shapoorji Pallonji International Property Developers (SPIPD) to finance the completion of its Imperial Avenue residential development in Downtown Dubai. Imperial Avenue is Shapoorji’s flagship real estate project in the UAE. The 45-floor residential tower is currently 55% complete and is expected to reach completion by the end of next year.

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

THE BIG PICTURE

14 13

10 SAUDI ARABIA

12 BAHRAIN

DGDA to transform Wadi Hanifah into nature-focused getaway

Muscat Municipality begins work on Golden Jubilee Walk project

Wadi Hanifah is to be transformed into a nature-based escape from Riyadh’s bustling city centre according to Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA). Two square kilometres will be transformed with the addition of unique palm groves containing hundreds of thousands of trees from species native to the wadi, as well as creating new parks with walking trails, biking tracks, outdoor games areas and picnic spots. Wellness spaces, activity and ecotourism attractions will be at the heart of the wadi’s enhancements.

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

11 SAUDI ARABIA

KEO appoints Dani Ghandour as GM of KSA operations KEO International Consultants, the construction services firm, has announced the appointment of Dani Ghandour as general manager of its expanding operations in Saudi Arabia. Ghandour will bring decades of leadership experience in delivery and implementation of megaprojects for key public and private entities in the region and in Saudi Arabia. His specialised area of expertise has been in the delivery of strategic PMC services and establishing and running highly complex and successful Project Management Offices (PMO) in various governmental institutions.

Work will soon begin on Phase One of the Golden Jubilee Walk project in Seeb according to Muscat Municipality. The project will feature a variety of recreational elements, areas for picnics and physical activities. Spread over 84,400sqm, the key phase will be developed in the middle of a lively area surrounded by residential neighbourhoods, commercial facilities and prominent landmarks. Muscat Municipality has invited tenders for the development of the mountain walkway and the construction of internal roads.

THE BIG PICTURE

14 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

13 BAHRAIN

Alba unveils ESG roadmap

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has unveiled its environment, social and governance (ESG) roadmap, which align with Bahrain’s objective of ‘Net Zero Emissions by 2060’. The roadmap was said to have been developed in collaboration with an ESG consulting firm, and highlights six strategic priorities over the years: (1) Decarbonisation, (2) Green Energy & Aluminium, (3) Circular Economy & Secondary Aluminium, (4) Employee Welfare, (5) Collaboration & Partnership and (6) Transparency, Communications & Due Diligence. Led by the CEO, a special ESG Taskforce Committee has also been created, Alba has said.

HKS Architects to be design consultant for RAK-based Wynn Resorts on Al Marjan Island Marjan, RAK Hospitality and Wynn Resorts, have announced that HKS Architects will be the design consultant for the consortium’s integrated beachfront resort in the Northern Emirate. The multibillion-dollar development will be located on Al Marjan Island, and will be the first in the MENA region by Wynn Resorts. Set to open in 2026, the resort will be a significant addition to RAK’s tourism sector.

15 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

WSP Middle East appoints Rob Cooling as Regional HSE director

WSP Middle East has announced that Rob Cooling has rejoined its business as Regional HSE Director, following a successful tenure with EXPO 2020 Dubai, where he was VP of Health, Safety, Quality & Environment. Prior to this, Cooling held several key roles within the WSP Middle East business between 2010 and 2017, the firm noted. As part of his role, Cooling plans to further develop WSP Middle East’s reputation for implementing world-class Health & Safety practices, which positively impacts clients, projects, and people.

17 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

16 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Arada awards $125m in contracts for first residential district Arada has awarded two major contracts worth $125 million to build the first residential district at Masaar, Sharjah’s forested megaproject. Arada said that Masaar will feature 4,000 villas and townhouses, and that it is divided into eight gated districts, set in a woodland and nature-inspired masterplan. The masterplan has been carefully designed to encourage its residents to be in harmony with nature. Featuring over 50,000 trees, Masaar’s signature feature is a landscaped and walkable ‘green spine’.

DUBAL to collaborate with Nature Alu for UAE’s first HPA facility DUBAL Holding has announced a collaboration with Nature Alu (NA) to set up the UAE’s first high purity aluminium (HPA) facility. In a statement, DUBAL said that the project will focus on the production of aluminium from grade 4N and above. The development is expected to provide a major boost to the industrial sector by focusing on varied applications of aluminium in electrolytic capacitators, lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors, among other products.

18 OMAN

Hutchinson Ports breaks ground on $30m solarpowered inspection facility in Oman Hutchinson Ports, the global port developer, has broken ground on a new solar-powered integrated inspection facility in Oman, which is being developed at a total investment of $30 million. The project, which will come up on a 37,000sqm area within Terminal C premises of the Omani port of Sohar, is part of the terminal’s development plans to enhance the inspection services for inbound and outbound containers.

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

MARKET REPORT

Industry outlook

KSA Market Overview – Q1 2022 SAUDI ARABIA

JLL’s Q1 2022 KSA Market Overview report finds that the Kingdom’s home ownership drive is spurring growth in the residential sector

audi Arabia’s residential sector saw an acceleration in the number of units completed in Q1 2022, helped by the government’s continued efforts to deliver housing which meets the needs and aspirations of its citizens. The first quarter of the year saw the completion of 4,000 and 2,000 units in Riyadh and Jeddah respectively, partly driven by the Ministry of Housing’s various initiatives to increase home ownership in the Kingdom to 70% by 2030. Year-on-year, rents rose 5% in Jeddah and by 3% in Riyadh

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

in Q1. On the same basis, sale prices in Riyadh rose by 5% and by 2% in Jeddah. “KSA’s real estate sector continued to show promising signs that it has turned a corner in the first quarter of 2022, with increasing tourist numbers helping to provide a boost to the hospitality sector, consumers returning to retail outlets, and more positive business sentiment driving demand for office space. We look forward to this trend continuing over the remainder of the year,” said Khawar Khan, head of Research, MENA and Turkey at JLL. The performance of the office market picked-up across the Kingdom, supported by improving economic conditions and rising business activity in the first quarter of this year. Average rents in Riyadh across a basket of Grade A & B office buildings increased by 8% year-on-year whilst Jeddah saw a smaller rise of 3%. Riyadh’s market-wide vacancy rate edged down to 4% in Q1 2022 from 5% a year earlier. Over the same period, the average vacancy rate for Jeddah dropped by 8%-points to 11%; this was mainly driven by a combination of rising demand from semi-government entities, private businesses taking on more floorspace and tenants re-locating

from the south to better quality buildings in other locations across the city. In the hospitality market, Riyadh hotel occupancy jumped to over 71% in the first two months of 2022 compared with almost 51% in the corresponding period of 2021. Jeddah’s hotel occupancy rose by 2%-points to 46% over the same period. KSA is expected see higher numbers of pilgrims travelling to the country to perform Hajj and Umrah following the elimination of social distancing measures at the two holy mosques, which are now operating at full capacity. In the retail market, in annual terms, rents for super regional and regional malls decreased by 5% and 7%, respectively, in Riyadh in the first quarter of this year. On the same basis, in Jeddah, rents on average fell by 1% across super regional malls and declined by 5% for regional malls. Developers are increasingly focusing on creating unique F&B and entertainment experiences to attract footfall given the rebound being witnessed in these segments. For example, Comscore (which reports box office numbers) recently noted that revenues across KSA rose by 95% year-on-year in 2021.

MARKET REPORT

RIYADH RESIDENTIAL SUPPLY Q1 2022

1.4m Total Stock

45,000 2022 Expected Deliveries

JEDDAH RESIDENTIAL SUPPLY Q1 2022

846,000

Average Rental Rates

Total Stock

RIYADH RETAIL SUPPLY Q1 2022

3.2m Total Stock (sq m GLA)

235,000 2022 Expected Deliveries (sq m GLA)

9,000

Average Rental Rates

2022 Expected Deliveries

JEDDAH RETAIL SUPPLY Q1 2022

-5%

1.7m

Average Rental Rates

Total Stock (sq m GLA)

124,000 2022 Expected Deliveries (sq m GLA)

-1%

Average Rental Rates

KSA’s real estate sector continued to show promising signs that it has turned a corner in the first quarter of 2022, with increasing tourist numbers helping to provide a boost to the hospitality sector, consumers returning to retail outlets, and more positive business sentiment driving demand for office space” RIYADH OFFICE SUPPLY Q1 2022

406,000 2022 Expected Deliveries (sq m GLA)

1.1m

Average Rental Rates

Total Stock (sq m GLA)

RIYADH HOTEL SUPPLY Q1 2022

20,000 Total Keys

15,200

Occupancy YT Feb 22

2022 Expected Deliveries

Total Keys

RIYADH HOTEL AVERAGE DAILY RATE 2021-2022

JEDDAH HOTEL AVERAGE DAILY RATE 2021-2022 2022 ADR

US$150

2021 ADR

150

100

US$183 250

200

US$151 150

Occupancy YT Feb 22

2022 Expected Deliveries

US$180 100

46%

2,500

2022 ADR

Source: JLL, MOJ, STR Global

Average Rental Rates

2022 Expected Deliveries (sq m GLA)

JEDDAH HOTEL SUPPLY Q1 2022

71%

4,300

40,000

250

Total Stock (sq m GLA)

200

4.8m

JEDDAH OFFICE SUPPLY Q1 2022

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

ANALYSIS

Sustainability

A Circular Economy can drive the way forward for Sustainable Infrastructure MIDDLE EAST

Dr. Mohamed Nazier, WSP Middle East managing director – Transport & Infrastructure, discusses how sustainability management can bridge gaps between public sector climate objectives, supply chain behaviours, and desired circular outcomes June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

ustainability has become a key focus area for governments around the world, especially following recent calls for immediate global action on climate change. With the formation of the Glasgow Climate Pact – which saw 197 countries agree to a new climate deal at the conclusion of COP26 in 2021 – the next wave of nationally determined contributions to limit greenhouse gas emissions has bolstered a collective ambition to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average by 2100. In the infrastructure domain, embedding circular models could be the ticket to greener infrastructure and sustainable construction practices. However, this is dependent on the public sector remaining firm on national climate plans and advocating stronger ownership, collaboration, and co-governance by stakeholders throughout the value chain.

Translating sustainability objectives into tangible practices throughout the various strata of the supply chain in the infrastructure space remains a key challenge. To address the gaps that exist, here are a few considerations towards how we can bridge gaps between government objectives and supply chain behaviours and strategies in order to deliver more sustainable, green infrastructure. SUSTAINABILITY AS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Since the dawn of the first industrial revolution, nearly every sector has adopted a linear approach towards the ways in which goods are manufactured from raw materials, sold, consumed, and ultimately discarded. The same ethos exists in the infrastructure sphere, with by-products of the construction process often being discarded instead of re-utilised within the built environment.

Bridging gaps By bridging gaps between government objectives and supply chain behaviours and strategies, more sustainable, greener infrastructure can be delivered.

197

Number of countries who agreed to a new climate deal at COP26 in 2021

ANALYSIS

Project owners and practitioners have the opportunity to use sustainability not only to minimise environmental damage but also to realise shortterm fiscal savings and long-term value in infrastructure projects. By carefully considering their decisions on project location, design elements, construction methodology, material sourcing alternatives, and rerouting, project owners and practitioners can achieve considerable savings and deliver better quality. For example, WSP Middle East worked with a key client in the GCC on using crumb rubber modified bitumen (CRMB) in producing more durable wearing course mixes. In 2020 alone, we were able to use 477 tonnes of recycled waste tyres, avoiding 143 tonnes of otherwise possible carbon emissions and delivering value in the form of better long-term pavement performance. With our client and contractors, we also recycled more than 8 million tonnes of milled asphalt and used them as base-course materials. With recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), we reduced our demand for aggregate, which is a limited natural resource, and we reduced carbon emissions by 60,000 tonnes and led to significant cost savings. The merits of ingraining sustainability within value management need to be clearly communicated to both project owners and their supply chains to reap the benefits of circularity in infrastructure rollout. By finding ways to share the cost savings resulting from recycling and other sustainability initiatives with designers, contractors, and suppliers, project owners can ensure that their objectives are cascaded down to the main parties in their supply chains, encouraging these organisations to embrace more sustainable practices. COLLABORATION AS AN IMPERATIVE

Encouraging higher-tier supply chain members to adopt sustainable practices is far less challenging than bringing lower-tier subcontractors and suppliers to embrace sustainability. This is particularly because of the minimal direct interaction between these organisations and project owners and their project managers.

However, by obligating higher-tier members to prepare and implement sustainability plans that engage the lower-tier members, and by extending training opportunities to include them, project owners can ensure that the right behaviours are demonstrated and reinforced. In recent years, sustainability certification has become increasingly popular as companies seek to demonstrate their environmental credentials. While certification is not a guarantee of true sustainability, it can be a useful tool for promoting best practices and raising awareness of the importance of sustainability within the supply chain. Project owners who have successfully obtained such certification can incentivise sustainable behaviours by helping their supply chain members with the certification process and by explaining the relevant standards. Project owners and their advisors can also initiate sustainability award schemes that are inclusive of all supply chain members to ensure that all tiers are fully in line with the desired

Younger influence The younger populations in the Middle East will have an influence and environmental conscience towards future development and growth in the region, says Dr Mohamed Nazier.

477

Tonnes of recycled waste tyres used by WSP and a client on emissionsreduction project in 2020

sustainability objectives. Our experience is that most supply chain members are eager for recognition from higher tiers and project owners. Such recognition is central to the reinforcement of the desired behaviours and a clear emphasis on the importance of sustainability as part of the owners’ strategy. THE GENERATIONAL SHIFT

In many countries in the Middle East, younger populations are an influential demographic and demonstrate a strong environmental conscious towards matters that impact the future of our planet. This trend will only grow as this innovative, digitally native generation become change agents in the private and public sectors. One bold action that organizations can make to maintain the authenticity of their sustainability initiatives is engaging young sustainability enthusiasts in management roles as early as possible. Engaging the brightest, most engaged thought leaders of this talent pool could ensure the continuity of sustainability plans and efforts and enable the utilization of digital for the design, delivery, and management of more sustainable assets in the long term. Despite the fact that sustainability has been on the global agenda for over decades now, the world is still a long way from achieving sustainable development. In order to meet the challenges of the future, it is essential that we find ways to design, build and operate infrastructure in a more sustainable manner. For this to happen, project owners, practitioners and all members of the supply chain have to work hand in hand to find innovative ways to reduce resource consumption and achieve a net-zero environmental impact. The shift to renewables and the rise of new mobility modes using cleaner energy and the rise of new digital technologies for more efficient asset management are trends that will significantly support the adoption of sustainable practices as a doctrine by all those involved in the infrastructure industry. However, deliberate and systematic efforts are required to accelerate such adoption if we want to respond with enough agility to climate change. MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

IN PROFILE

Majid Al Futtaim Holding

Sustainability at the Heart IBRAHIM AL-ZU’BI, CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER FOR MAJID AL FUTTAIM HOLDING, SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY TO BIG PROJECT ME TO EXPLAIN WHY INCORPORATING SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES IS THE ONLY WAY TO DO BUSINESS

| MEConstructionNews.com | MEConstructionNews.com October June 2022 2021

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

IN PROFILE

s the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure offerings provider in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Majid Al Futtaim has come a long way from humble beginnings. Founded in 1992, the company established City Centre Deira in its home base of Dubai in 1995, marking its first foray into the shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure sectors. From there, it has grown to be currently active in 15 countries, with reported revenues of $8.79 billion in 2021, while the group net profit for the 12 months to the end of December was $670 million. With more than 43,000 employees across its operations and approximately 560 million visitors served through its various consumer offerings (it owns and operates 25 shopping malls, 13 hotels and four mixed-use communities), the company is uniquely positioned as one of the most influential in the Middle East and North Africa region, if not even further afield. This success is because Majid Al Futtaim remains, at its heart, a company

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

that is committed to giving back to the community. It’s leadership attributes this to its robust and comprehensive approach to CSR, with considerable pride taken in implementing a number of employee-led initiatives that improve the lives of the people and cities it serves. However, amongst its many CSR programmes and offerings, it is its drive to embrace sustainability that will have the most impact, now and in the future. Created under the umbrella motto of ‘Dare Today, Change Tomorrow’, Majid Al Futtaim has developed company-wide goals and initiatives to help it meet stringent Sustainable Business Commitments and annual sustainability targets.

Employees show the way Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi says that Majid Al Futtaim takes pride in implementing employee-initiatives.

Number of countries Majid Al Futtaim is active in

These targets are aligned with the company’s strategic focus areas and are built around three key issues: Transforming Lives; Rethinking Resources; and Empowering People. Through these targets, the group aims to become one of the most sustainable companies in the world, aiming to produce more energy and water than it consumes, and becoming a Net Positive business by 2040. As part of this process, Majid Al Futtaim announced in August 2021 that it had signed an inaugural $1.5 billion Sustainability-Linked Loan (SLL) – a financial instrument that is secured primarily on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. The reason this SLL is so important is because it aims to facilitate and support environmentally and socially sustainable economic activity and growth by incentivising ‘ambitious, predetermined sustainability performance objectives.’ The five-year SLL is structured as a revolving credit facility and is the largest corporate, non-government-linked SLL in the region, as well as being the largest in the MENA real estate sector, with more than a dozen banks participating in the syndicate. Ziad Chalhoub, chief financial officer of Majid Al Futtaim Holding, has said that the SLL will provide genuine accountability in how the Group finances its operational and capital expenditures across the organisation, in line with the company’s long-term strategic targets. “While a company’s profitability is important, how you contribute to sustainability is becoming more crucial and a filter for investors to decide how much and where they will invest. To ensure that you have access to funding – and at attractive rates – in a world where sustainability is becoming more important, it is imperative to embrace this reality now and not be left behind,” he has been quoted as saying, highlighting the importance the Group places on its sustainability agenda. One of Majid Al Futtaim’s core ambitions is to have all its malls certified LEED Gold or better, a feat that has not yet been achieved by its regional competitors. As part of this push, subsidiary Majid Al Futtaim Properties, announced last year that the 13 hotels in its portfolio received LEED Platinum certification

IN PROFILE

– a regional first and a source of considerable pride for the Group. Furthermore, the company’s SLL agreement also includes a gender diversity target, with women to make up 30% of its board members and senior management roles, aligning with the global aims of the 30% Club. The driving force behind these many successes and ambitious targets is Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi, the group’s chief sustainability officer. Having joined the group in 2011 as the Head of Sustainability for Majid Al Futtaim Properties, he has seen a meteoric rise within the organisation, culminating in his current role, where he oversees the group-wide sustainability strategy for both the Middle East and globally. Al-Zu’bi also serves as the chairperson of the Corporate Advisory Board for the World Green Building Council and has authored ‘How to ‘Net’ Positive’, a book that outlines how companies can embark on their Net Positive Journey and provides a conceptual and practical blueprint to help them start the process.

$1.5bn Value of Majid Al Futtaim’s SustainabilityLinked 2021 Loan

He tells Big Project ME that his sustainability strategy for Majid Al Futtaim is built around three core pillars – Planet, People and Profit. “When it comes to the environment, our main focus area is called Rethinking Resources, which is mainly focused on our negative environmental impact, if any. We know that business as usual no longer exists – especially after COVID. “That’s why we are the first and only company in the region, and one of the few globally, to commit to be Net Positive by 2040. That means that you give more than

you take – we’re not even looking at Net Zero or Carbon Neutrality – we saw our negative environmental impact, we saw our energy consumption, our carbon emissions and our water waste and we decided to aim to be Net Positive (by 2040). This means that we’ll be producing water and clean energy, which has unleashed a lot of innovation within the company. “By 2030, the Circular Economy will be at the heart of our business operations – circularity should be embedded in the business, in the way you think and ruin it – whether it’s construction or retail. If

Drive greater collaboration, productivity and quality from one platform. The Smarter Construction Platform “When we made a rough comparison between before Procore and after, we saw more than a 40% improvement in our efficiency”

Discover more at

procore.com

Wiphak Trakanrungsi CTO, Ananda Development

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

IN PROFILE

we’re achieving an average of almost 85% divergence of waste from landfills, then we could achieve 100% if we implemented the circular economy approach and thinking in our operations. There’s a good example of this with Masdar,” he points out. “The second part is Transforming Lives – the communities that we work and operate in; and Empowering Our People. These are our three main focus areas. We have materiality issues and sustainable business commitments to achieve, as well as our long-term and short-term targets, which have been assured and audited by a third party – as they have been for the last 11 years. We believe in communicating our successes and our failures, as well as how we can fix those failures,” Al-Zu’bi adds, pointing out that transparency is a key facet of the process. He points out that the 2021 Sustainability-Linked Loan followed a landmark announcement in 2019, which saw Majid Al Futtaim listing the world’s first benchmark corporate Green Sukuk and the first Green Sukuk issued by a corporate in the region. Having raised $1.2 billion in two rounds of $600 million each, the investment has been used to finance and refinance Majid Al Futtaim’s existing and future green projects, which include green buildings, renewable energy, sustainable water management, and energy efficiency, Al-Zu’bi says. He adds that having banking and financial institutions backing sustainability will not only make it possible for companies to follow it comprehensively but will also shape the future of how the world does business. “If you look at pure risk assessment and mitigation, it’s the only way. Sustainable finance is an enabler for companies to

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

Sustainability initiatives Majid Al Futtaim has worked with partners and stakeholders to introduce sustainability-led initiatives across its operations.

43,000 Current number of employees across Majid Al Futtaim’s operations

keep running business, as well as to take us to the next level. The minute you move towards sustainable finance, it means doing a risk assessment exercise, be it on reputational and financial – as well as climate – risk, so of course it’s going to change (things) and have a positive impact. “It’s a win-win for corporates to ensure that they are transparent and making their shareholders happy. At the end of the day, humans are good – they want to make a difference. If you have a pension fund and you would like to invest somewhere without harming the environment, then your tool is sustainable finance. “At the end of the day, what’s happening globally with droughts and floods and supply chain disruption, to do sustainable finance, you should look at ESG, which adds a layer of transparency, and another layer of risk assessment and mitigation,

and you’re not hurting the planet. So, it should be a no brainer for businesses and corporates, regardless of whether they believe in it or not, but it is absolutely an enabler for people like me to achieve their targets when it comes to climate change. “Sustainable finance is the new common language between – if there is any now – the two camps of climate change deniers and those who support change. I think that sustainable finance will ensure that there will be no climate deniers because the economic value of doing such transactions for the planet, the shareholders, and the corporates,” he asserts. Al-Zu’bi believes that governments in the GCC have recognised the benefits that come with investing in sustainability. He points out that their visions and plans for their countries’ futures all have sustainability at their heart, highlighting the Dubai Urban Master Plan and Saudi Vision 2030 amongst others. “I like seeing more and more of these initiatives – the more the better! We’re young nations, so it’s our opportunity to do things right and we’re doing that. A good example is that at Majid Al Futtaim, we made the decision to remove single use plastic from all our operations (pre-COVID) and we introduced the reusable bag 15 years ago. “We’re progressive about (things like this) and this is a reflection of the region. Show me one global city or country that has an urban plan for an international city like Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Riyadh, that has sustainability at the heart of it? “These strategic plans have society at the heart of what they are – they look at walkability, technology, AI, greenery, and sustainability, they look at green building certification, they look at

IN PROFILE

We are the first and only company in the region, and one of the few globally, to commit to be Net Positive by 2040. That means that you give more than you take – we’re not even looking at Net Zero or Carbon Neutrality” the wellness. This is all a package. If you ask any practitioner or any built environment expert, they’ll say that it’s an amazing idea, that it’s like a lab for us, and that it should be a global initiative. “The way I look at these initiatives is that we should be more vocal about it. I don’t think it’s regional – it’s global and it should be copied by other countries as well. When you talk about a commitment for 2040, you’re thinking of the wellness, the walkability, the mobility, the happiness of residents, as well as the environment, and the sustainability of a whole urban city. This is exactly what we’ve been asking for 20 or 30 years ago, and this is exactly what people are talking about now, as we speak.” Majid Al Futtaim has been no small contributor to this conversation, Al-Zu’bi says, highlighting the Group’s many efforts over the years to introduce sustainability initiatives across its operations. He believes that these efforts have been noticed by the market, with competitors following suit once they saw the business case for it. “We don’t look at it as an add on, but as something that is embedded in the heart of everything we do, and this is where I think we triggered the movement of green buildings. In 2008, people did not know what green building certification was. “We believe that we have the world’s biggest LEED EBOM Platinum in the world in Mirdif, we have the first net-positive standalone structure certified in the Middle East – the Tilal Al Ghaf Experience Centre, and we have a

whole portfolio of hotels that are LEED Platinum certified,” he continues. “This means that it can be done and that there is a demand for it from stakeholders. Because of these two things, there’s a business value for it. We have created a movement and the norm now is to go and get certified. We have more than 3,000,000 square metres of green certified assets and we started from almost zero. This has created an appetite for investors to come to us because we have solid, certified assets, so it made sense for the business. “This is the key thing we did in national terms, for the business value of sustainability in the built environment and retail sector. Other developers saw that and have seized

Number of hotels certified as LEED Platinum in Majid Al Futtaim’s portfolio

the opportunity,” Al-Zu’bi elaborates. Looking forwards, he adds that when it comes to Majid Al Futtaim’s upcoming project portfolio, policies have been put in place for the incorporation of sustainability principles and renewable energy. Much like the company’s previous efforts, he expects these initiatives to have a similar impact on the wider real estate development landscape. “We have policies in place for the rebuilt environment and one of them says that everything we build must be LEED Gold certified or equivalent. This is where we control the indoor air environment, which means we integrate energy efficiency and climate change mitigation in the design, and when we do energy commissioning, we ensure that the asset is, from the design stage, green certified. “The second step is that we have a renewable energy policy on site, which states that a maximum of 25% of peak energy conserved to be generated onsite. If that’s not enough, we go offsite. That’s why in Jordan, for example, we have invested and partnered in a power purchase agreement to build an offsite power generation unit that will give us 60% to 70% of our retail energy from clean energy. We’re doing the same in Egypt. Wherever we are.” “But the most important this is that from the design stage, our policy is to aim for an energy efficient asset, and during construction and operation, we ensure that there are diversified sources of energy,” he concludes.

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

S T. R E G I S – T H E PA L M / D U B A I / U A E

Putting innovation into practice: trending alternative energy solutions and the vanguard of sustainability 21 June 2022

About the

Energy & Sustainability Summit

Make

The transition to a cleaner, greener, and more efficient future

With a vast array of building techniques, alternative energy solutions and hi-tech materials dedicated to delivering carbon neutrality, the Age of Sustainability is upon us. The Energy & Sustainability Summit is a live one-day event, that looks at the realities of the MENA region’s Energy Transition, and how the construction industry is putting sustainability into practice. The Summit focuses on critical developments in the Alternative Energy space, examines key initiatives in the quest for Net-Zero, and seeks to understand what it means to be Sustainable in the Construction Sector. The event will feature leading industry experts and voices sharing their experiences and work in facilitating the region’s energy transition. A selection of landmark projects will be in focus as pioneering examples of how large-scale developments can lead the way in showcasing how sustainability and development can go hand in hand.

Connections

2022

Mission The Energy & Sustainability Summit will use a number of highly innovative and engaging formats to communicate the views of industry champions and market-makers. The event’s content will focus on three key themes: y y y

Facilitating the regional Energy Transformation Project development in the Age of Sustainability Achieving Net-Zero – What it means to be a Carbon Neutral construction company

Networking

Get in touch

Content

Opportunity

Sponsorship Jude Slann | +971 4 375 5714 jude.slann@cpitrademedia.com Raed Kaedbey | +971 4 375 5715 raed.kaedbey@cpitrademedia.com

Date

21 Jun

Venue

St. Regis - The Palm

Website

eassummit.com

Complimentary

2022

Agenda

Profiling

The one-day event is not only a fully up-to-date snapshot of the realities of the Sustainability and alternative Energy agendas but aims to leverage further progress and lobby for systemic change in order to expedite the cultural and commercial shifts to eco-compliant working.

There is now a universe or properties, developments and commercial projects putting an emphasis on Sustainability. But what truly works and what doesn’t, and what are the state-of-the-art approaches setting new best practice benchmarks?

Value

New

Energy as you’ve never experienced it

Being Net-Zero

Today’s raft of alternative Energy solutions already supersede the output from traditional fossil fuels: but what are the real costs and the in-depth commitment to technology that’s inevitably involved?

Being carbon neutral may be the latest buzzword in the corporate world, but what does that mean for the construction sector – globally, one of the main culprits in emissions. What can construction companies change structurally to become more carbon neutral, and how can their net-zero targets be achieved in a manner that supports profitability and performance

Sustainable solutions

2022

Event Partners GOLD SPONSOR

SUPPORTING PARTNER

BRONZE SPONSOR

SUPPORTING PARTNER

KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

PRESENTED BY

‫ﺟﻤﻌﻴﺔ اﻟﺸﺮق اﻻوﺳﻂ ﻟﺼﻨﺎﻋﺎت اﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ اﻟﺸﻤﺴﻴﺔ‬

Middle East Solar Industry Association

Empowering Solar across the Middle East

| MEConstructionNews.com September June 2022 |2021 MEConstructionNews.com

SITE VISIT

Sharjah Sustainable City PROJECT NAME: Sharjah Sustainable City LOCATION: Umm Fannain, Al Rahmaniya Area AREA DEVELOPERS: Shurooq and Diamond Developers CONTRACTOR: JEET Building Contracting TOTAL DEVELOPMENT COST: USD$544.5 million TOTAL PROJECT AREA: 668,901sqm

A Seed to Grow Across the World

BIG PROJECT ME CATCHES UP WITH DIAMOND DEVELOPERS TO DISCUSS PROGRESS AT SHARJAH SUSTAINABLE CITY AND WHAT SORT OF IMPACT THE AMBITIOUS SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE DEVELOPMENT WILL HAVE ON THE REAL ESTATE SECTOR IN THE REGION

| August | June 2022 MEConstructionNews.com MEConstructionNews.com 2021

SITE VISIT

s the global movement towards sustainable living gathers pace, real estate developers are becoming increasing cognisant about the importance of developing projects, especially residential and community ones, that answer a growing list of needs from potential investors – particularly those looking to live in their projects. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainability has never been higher on the agenda for the real estate and construction industries, with studies showing that ESGcompliant strategies, carbon emissions, energy efficiencies and smart infrastructure are key criteria for investment. Meanwhile, surveys of residents also show that there is a renewed focus on health, wellbeing and leading an active outdoor lifestyle, as well as a growing realisation about their social and environmental impact. As such, there is a greater demand for walkable neighbourhoods, open spaces, and buildings that are constructed with sustainability principles at the forefront. These shifting mindsets are indicative of a wider trend across the globe, with industries such as the retail sector seeing

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

a strong push from consumers to be more responsible and aware of their impact on the planet and on climate change. The UAE has not been immune to these changes either, with real estate experts reporting that even with the country’s real estate markets – led by Dubai – having seen an upswing over the last two years, there is a strong emphasis on sustainability that wasn’t there previously. Led by the UAE government’s policies, the built environment is being pushed towards finding economically feasible solutions that can help achieve national climate and energy goals. As such, the green agenda in real estate is now firmly in the mainstream, and

Model for the future Sharjah Sustainable City is a working model for future cities, developers Shurooq and Diamond Developers say.

1,120

Total number of villas in the project

no company has done more to put it there than Diamond Developers. Set up in 2003, the real estate development firm has long been an advocate for sustainable development. In 2010, having spent seven years developing buildings across Dubai, the developer launched its most ambitious project – a wholly integrated, fully sustainable residential community. Known as Dubai Sustainable City, the project has been a tremendous success since its completion and has been a launchpad for the developer to launch other sustainable cities around the region. One of these sustainable cities is the Sharjah Sustainable City, which is being built as a joint venture between Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and Diamond Developers. Launched in March 2018, the development is located in Sharjah’s Umm Fannain, Al Rahmaniya Area and aims to be a working model for future cities. Built around three pillars of sustainability – Social, Environmental and Economic, the SSC embraces the concept of ‘living locally’ and provides practical solutions related to food security, water and energy management, as well as natural resources conservation. Furthermore, as a fully integrated and net zero energy community, it is powered by renewable energy produced from rooftop solar panels and recycles its water and waste, while also producing its own vegetables and greens to enhance food security. In order to fully comprehend the importance of this project, Big Project ME caught up with Karim El-Jisr, chief sustainability officer at Diamond Developers, and Carl Atallah, marketing director at Sharjah Sustainable City, to hear from them about why their project is so important to the regional real estate landscape. “Sharjah Sustainable City is a 67-hectare development, making it a bit larger than its predecessor or the ‘proof of concept’ in Dubai. It is divided into four phases and we’re now finalising Phase One. The expected handover will begin this month (in June) and will extend over a period of a couple of weeks or months,” says El-Jisr, adding that there is a 90% uptake of villas in Phase One.

SITE VISIT

“Meanwhile, we also have an overlap because Phase Two construction has commenced as well, and you have overlapping phases. For now, however, all eyes are on Phase One, and the infrastructure surrounding it as well – this includes a portion of the spine, the ring road, the public spaces and domains, the pocket gardens inside the sikkas, the main entrance – all of these have to work together to begin to deliver the community,” he adds. With Phase One on schedule and nearly ready for handover, Carl Atallah says that attention is shifting towards Phase Two, which will also be handed over in Q3 or Q4 of 2022. However, he reveals that the next few phases of SSC, which is currently in a fairly remote area outside Sharjah City, will also be crucial in terms of improving accessibility to the development. “The government has big plans for the Al Rahmaniya area,” Atallah says. “We’re the first-of-its kind project in Rahmaniya itself. You’ll see a lot of development in the road infrastructure, while the access from Mohammed Bin Zayed Road will also happen. We want people to access our site easily from the main highways. We know that our project is strategically located – there’s proximity to the airport, proximity to Sharjah is there, and facilitating access to the development is being worked on and is in the pipeline,” he explains. He adds that while the project team has faced challenges along the way due to the pandemic, these

Cities like Sharjah Sustainable City are essential in showcasing the high standard of living that can be achieved in a sustainable community, to encourage other developers to follow and ensure the future health of our planet” Opportunities from challenge Karim El-Jisr says that the pandemic also offered an opportunity to focus sustainable lifestyles.

25%

Phase One consists of 25% of the total number of villas (280)

haven’t been insurmountable, and the project is still within the handover timeline that was set contractually with clients. “The client inspections happened a couple of months ago, and now it’s just a matter of us working with the government and the authorities to finalise connections and so forth. These are usually done at the last. The villas are almost done (for Phase One), and there’s a lot of landscape work happening now. We’re making the project greener,” he says. While the pandemic may have posed a challenge to the delivery of the project, El-Jisr says that it also brought some unexpected opportunities along with it. One such benefit was

the incremental interest in SSC and what it offers, as customers and buyers desired a change in lifestyle and placed greater importance on wellbeing. “This is really an outcome of the pandemic – people now realise that lifestyle is so critical to wellbeing, mental health, having neighbours, access to nature and feeling safe and secure, as well as not being confined in a small physical space. That’s the opportunity (that was presented to us) by the pandemic. “We’ve also seen a shift towards horizontal development, but also towards smaller units. Although we have four phases for the

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

SITE VISIT

development, they’re not identical. In response to consumer demand, we’re accommodating some changes in the typologies,” El-Jisr adds. Atallah points out that the pandemic has also had an interesting impact on buyer trends, with June and July of 2021 showing strong performance compared to historical data. “This is because a lot of families – and a lot of the wealth – stayed over here, and people wanted to invest in safe investments. We saw a lot of local wealth being put into the project. The types of clients we get in Sharjah are a bit different to other emirates in that people tend to buy to live – it’s not the mindset of an investor – people want to come and live in the community. “Going back to Phase Two, what I think we did well – and this because of our agility as we’re not a huge developer that has to go through a hierarchy of decisions – is that we heard from our customers when we built Phase One and we were very open about it. Some clients wanted certain things – there were two or three types of things that customers wanted, and we listened to that when working on the feasibility of Phase Two,” Atallah says, adding that this willingness and approachability has led to Phase Two being successful, as it caters to what customers actually want. With Sharjah Sustainable City

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

We’re the firstof-its kind project in Rahmaniya itself. You’ll see a lot of development in the road infrastructure, while the access from Mohammed Bin Zayed Road will also happen. We want people to access our site easily” Agile developer Carl Atallah says that one of the reasons Diamond Developers succeeded with SSC is because it was able to listen to clients and be agile enough to respond to their needs.

50%

Residents will save up to 50% on electricity

looking to be a fully integrated, net-zero energy community that offers residents a sustainable lifestyle, Diamond Developers and Shurooq have worked with their project partners to introduce a number of state-of-the-art technologies. The project has been designed with the aim of reducing Sharjah’s carbon footprint and will be fully powered by renewable energy that is produced by solar panels, while water and waste will be recycled. Furthermore, agricultural produce will be grown within the development in biodomes, utilising modern technologies such as vertical farming to help create a self-sustaining community, while also generating savings of up to 50% on utility

and energy bills, El-Jisr and Atallah say. There will also be an extensive network of walking and cycling paths to promote an active lifestyle and clean mobility, thereby reducing emissions. This includes 11.8 kms of rubberised jogging tracks, 1.6 km cycling tracks, 8.4 kms of pedestrian sikkas. The city will also feature electric mobility solutions, including charging stations for electric vehicles and a distance of 2.4 kms dedicated to electric autonomous vehicles. These initiatives aim to improve the quality of life for residents without compromising the requirements of future generations, as well as providing opportunities for research on how residential

SITE VISIT

communities can reduce carbon emissions. Waste generated is utilised in order to create a circular economy, with plans in place to build a biogas plant to treat organic waste (food waste, green waste, and sludge) and convert it into electricity and/or thermal energy. In addition, residues from the biogas plant will be dried and used as fertiliser for landscaping, while a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to treat wastewater will produce Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) for landscape irrigation, achieving 100% water recycling, and avoiding emissions associated with tankers. Dubai Sustainable City was delivered in 2016, and since then sustainability technology has evolved considerably across multiple industries. However, where Diamond Developers benefited was by having a real-world environment to see what worked and what didn’t, and how effective those technologies were when asked to operate in the real world. Therefore, when it came time to work on and deliver Sharjah Sustainable City, El-Jisr says that the team behind the project was able to take the lessons learnt from Dubai and use that acquired knowledge to develop an evolved version of the city in their plans for Sharjah. One such example is how the villas were oriented so as to maximise shading and avoid the sun, with all south-facing facades closed to reduce heat gains. The villas also have highly insulated UV reflective walls, while roofs and windows reduce air-conditioning loads electricity power consumption, and operational carbon. The villas themselves come equipped with a rooftop solar PV system, in addition to having been built with thermally insulated construction materials and windows, smart home automation, water-saving appliances, and energy saving electrical devices, the duo from Diamond Developers say. All of these measures are projected to deliver savings of at least 50% on electricity for residents, including cooling, compared to conventional housing in Sharjah. Carrying this theme forward, in the outdoor areas, pavers with high Solar Reflective Index (SRI) to reduce heat gains and reduce thermal discomfort have been installed, they add. “To give some context, the current Green Building Regulations and

Specifications (in Dubai) require an insulation value (U) of 0.30 for roofs, 0.57 for walls, and 2.10 for glazing. In Sharjah Sustainable City we will achieve insulation values of 0.18 for roofs, 0.26 for walls and 1.20 for glazing, so as you can see our design is achieving impressive results and will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the community,” El-Jisr explains. “Cities like Sharjah Sustainable City are essential in showcasing the high standard of living that can be achieved in a sustainable community, to encourage other developers to follow suit and ensure the future health of our planet and its ecosystems, and air quality is of course a

Self-sustaining Sharjah Sustainable City will have a number of biodomes that will grow agricultural produce for residents via vertical farming methods.

100%

SSC will achieve 100% water recycling

big component in this equation. Indoor Environmental Quality in the villas is ensured through natural ventilation. In the apartments and commercial outlets, Indoor Environmental Quality is provided through Fresh Air Handling Units (FAHU) and CO2 sensors,” he adds. As the Dubai and Sharjah Sustainable Cities show, the demand for sustainable living is only growing. In order to capitalise on this momentum, El-Jisr shares that Diamond Developers will soon be launching another sustainable city in Abu Dhabi, and that the developer has already launched a project in Oman, in cooperation with Omran. “The Sustainable City is a brand, and it comes with certain guidelines, and these guidelines keep evolving so that we can capture the latest in technology, in lifestyle, or AI, for example. Our vision is to seed one sustainable city in every emirate in the UAE and in every country of the world. We’ll start with the big climatic regions and then we want that seed to grow and inspire other developers and policy makers. “As we move away from this climatic zone, we’re going to capture and see new opportunities in Southern Africa, in the Mediterranean Basin, in Europe, where the climate is more inviting and less challenging. “By showing that we can be sustainable in one of the harshest climates in the world, it should be downhill from here,” he concludes.

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

THE OBEROI / DUBAI / UAE

Digital construction tools to improve delivery and operations in the smart build environment 14 Sept 2022

About the

Digital Construction Summit

Our

Welcome to the evolved, dynamic, and rebranded Digital Construction Summit, formerly the ME BIM Summit, which will take place in September 2022. A host of highly curated panel discussions, seminars, workshops, an interactive exhibition and networking activities will be put together to connect leading minds to examine the ongoing evolution of the construction industry in the middle east.

Our mission as the media arm of the industry is to continue the education, process and support of digitisation by creating a network filled with informative content and knowledge.

Over the last nine years, the ME BIM Summit has grown from strength to strength and as the digital transformation of the regional construction industry continues to gather pace, the scope of the event has grown beyond BIM and embraced all aspects of the digital construction journey.

We want to connect the minds from aspiring students all the way to the leaders in position today and to equip the decision makers of tomorrow with how all the digital tools available will help the built environment.

Mission

Equipping the

Future Leaders

In the wake of the pandemic, construction firms have awoken to the true power of digitalisation and are now heavily investing in technology to speed up their transformations into industry powerhouses of the future. We want to facilitate and energise this conversation, to help create a better, more inclusive, and adaptive smarter construction eco-system.

Participation

Get in touch

Participate by exhibiting, creating a workshop, join a panel discussion or run a demonstration – whichever way – it’s a lucrative platform to get connected. Contact us now to learn more about this opportunity to interact and connect with regional industry decision makers and influencers.

Content

Opportunity

Sponsorship Jude Slann | +971 4 375 5714 jude.slann@cpitrademedia.com Raed Kaedbey | +971 4 375 5715 raed.kaedbey@cpitrademedia.com

Date

Venue

14 Sept

The Oberoi

Website

2022.digitalconstructionsummit.com

Complimentary

2022

Agenda

Connecting

We believe content empowers us and our speakers seek to provoke insightful debate and shed light on current trends, challenges and solutions.

Connecting young minds, innovators and entrepreneurs to the principles and leading minds within the current built environment ensuring equal understanding throughout the chain.

Investment

Knowledge

Across the Board

and Expertise

The importance of funding and investment in technology and digital tools through start-ups, SMEs, enterprise and government level.

Knowledge and expertise sharing are vital for success across an industry; discussing challenges and experiences that can be overcome in the future with digital adoption, education and new normal ways of working.

Tomorrows leaders

Expo

Impact Expo 2020 Dubai will hopefully create more bilateral trade deals solidifying the country even further on the global stage. The importance of utilising technology within the building envelope needs to be on par with developed regions across the world.

2022

Event Partners GOLD SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSOR

PRESENTED BY

BRONZE SPONSOR

EXPERT VOICE

Asite

Solving the Decarbonisation Puzzle with Data

MIDDLE EAST

Rob Jackson, chief growth officer at Asite, says that data can help the construction industry shed its image of being one of the world’s largest carbon emitters

he stats may be common knowledge, but they are still startling—40% of all carbon emissions globally come from the built environment. New builds are not the only ones to blame. It is predicted

that up to 80% of buildings in operation today will still be in use in 2050, yet 75% of this stock is energy inefficient. As the world pushes to adopt a more sustainable approach to the built environment, digital technology is at the forefront of helping the construction industry meet its goals. Digital twins are already being touted as a key component of the solution. During the recent COP 26 summit, many called for technology to be pushed to the top of the agenda. Why? Technology and the creation of digital twins can help the industry reduce its carbon output, introduce sustainability to the construction and operation of assets, plan for changing scenarios, and ultimately mitigate the climate crisis the built environment finds itself in. While technologies are proliferating, so is the need for meaningful and benchmarkable data that can be filtered from the data ‘noise’.

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

IMPORTANCE OF DATA FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Data can play a huge part in helping the construction industry shed its image as one of the world’s biggest carbon emitters. But, so often, this valuable data isn’t being utilised properly. Held hostage in siloed software and disparate tools, project data becomes unstructured, uncoordinated, and inaccessible. Here, valuable insights are lost, errors pile up, time is wasted, and your bottom line takes a hit. It also means you do not realise the benefits of your data, and your ability to enact real change is left on the table. None more so than in the construction industry’s battle against the climate crisis. Take an office building for example. The building is being fitted out with poor insulation. With accessible and collaborative data, this energy-sapping issue can be caught by the project manager before installation. Here, the issue gets resolved quickly and

the environmental performance of the building is improved. Without data from across the supply chain being fed into a central source, insights, and opportunities to mitigate issues are lost. GAINING VALUABLE INSIGHTS WITH PROJECT DATA

Data without context is useless. You’ll struggle to understand the information being presented and your ability to gain the knowledge you need to problem-solve and make informed decisions is lost. A single construction project produces massive amounts of data and information. This data can be generated from various sources, including BIM, building management systems, work scheduling, building materials, environmental output, and maintenance systems. By aggregating, analysing, and visualising this data, project managers and asset owners can enable smart decision-making, leading to

Want to learn more about how Asite can help you implement a CDE, integrate your tools, remove costly data silos, and drive sustainability? Learn more at www.asite.com more sustainable outcomes. Tracking data also improves collaboration, productivity, and efficiency on a project—from the office to the jobsite. Ultimately, data provides a unique insight into your project or asset. Not only can you visualise the invisible, but data also makes it easier to make decisions with unprecedented foresight. CREATING LONG-TERM VALUE WITH DIGITAL TWINS

With structured, coordinated, and accessible data, the construction industry can begin to tap into the potential of digital twins— construction’s climate change hero. When it comes to sustainability and efficiency, optimization is a key driver. This is where digital twins excel. Already adopted globally, with governments building digital twins of entire cities, the innovative tech helps make decisions with predictive technology built into assets. It allows asset owners or managers to assess its previous, existing, and future energy outputs and, in turn, enables them to optimise the asset in the future. Here, asset managers can specifically target the areas performing poorly and improve their environmental footprint. The tech can also be used as a simulation model, showing potential future situations, comparing possible scenarios, and forecasting outcomes. Singapore, for example, has done just this. Launched in 2014, ‘Virtual Singapore,’ a digital representation of the region used to predict disaster response and manage town planning with greater efficiency. Digital twins allow resilience to be built in when creating new assets and retrospectively optimising old ones. Digital twins have the potential to completely revolutionise the way we build sustainably – both pre- and post-construction. In Dubai, for example, digital twins

at Expo 2020 Dubai were used to aggregate, analyse, and visualise data, and connect over 130 buildings to drive optimisation and efficiency. While in Saudi Arabia, the country’s megacity project, NEOM, will have a digital twin in the “metaverse.” This will provide future residents with an experience of how life will operate once the city is complete. These success stories highlight the work being done to show the benefits of adopting a sustainable approach. By sharing such stories and continuing to foster a collaborative environment, the industry can begin to drive real change and start on its journey to fulfil its net-zero obligations. IMPLEMENTING BETTER DATA MANAGEMENT

For the construction industry to maximize the potential of data and reap the rewards that digital twins can offer, there must be a way to capture, manage, analyse, and integrate the data it creates. Backed by the single source of truth principle, the golden thread of information brings all project and asset information to one location. Here, everyone on a project is working from the same trusted source of operating data. For the construction industry, this

By aggregating, analysing, and visualising this data, project managers and asset owners can enable smart decisionmaking, leading to more sustainable outcomes”

means storing all information— design, document, images, snag lists, correspondence—in one single shared location. A Common Data Environment (CDE) is the best way to implement a single source of truth on your project and facilitate the creation and maintenance of a golden thread. Here, a CDE becomes the central repository that houses all project information. It collects, manages, collaborates, and shares project information with the team. Implementing a CDE on your project also helps you comply with ISO 19650 suite of standards— the recommended collaborative processes for effectively managing information for all types of assets in the Built Environment throughout the asset lifecycle. With Asite, projects and assets can make the most of their data. Our systems allow everyone involved in a project to input their data and information into one secure location. Through the Asite Ecosystem, vendors are encouraged to tap into this and provide solutions that do the same. Asite’s plug-and-play approach means stakeholders no longer need specific software to view data in a set format, allowing project owners to make smart, sustainable decisions.

MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

COMMENT

Industry insight

PAUL WALLETT TRIMBLE SOLUTIONS

Embracing connected construction

hroughout the history of modern construction, information irregularity has been behind delayed or over-budget construction projects. The causes of the problem are obvious: all significant building projects involve a complicated network of interdependent teams performing numerous procedures at the same time. Naturally, there will be gaps in the flow of precise and realtime data, resulting in mistakes or errors on the job site, necessitating rework or, in some cases, destruction and reconstruction. A convenient and fool-proof way to address this information irregularity, that has been missing thus far, is finally changing. An attempt has been made to integrate and ‘connect’ all stakeholders, teams and individuals to a centralised software, by taking full advantage of widespread availability of high-speed mobile internet and affordable smartphones and tablets. This innovative approach to planning and execution of a project is called ‘Connected construction’. Connected construction is essentially the next step in the digitalisation of the construction industry. This digitalisation is not restricted to individual processes; rather, it connects and integrates them into a unified whole. Consider the following example to gain a better understanding: The structural engineering team makes some changes to the project's 3D BIM model, and this change is immediately and automatically communicated to the fabricator, who can now update the machine to reflect the new requirements, or to the onsite supervisor's

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

mobile device, which now has access to the necessary adjustments for work onsite. It is therefore safe to state that the 'connected construction' approach tends to eliminate the all-too-common silos in the construction industry, as it integrates and unifies people and processes involved in a project across all stages by utilising the most cutting-edge hardware, software, and services. In the end, it contributes to the creation of a single, absolute source of accurate and real-time information for everyone, allowing for data transparency and sharing. It also eliminates data duplication and rework, reduces the risk of miscommunication, and improves overall construction workflow efficiency. Data sharing between field and office when done manually, not only results in poor communication but also creates blocks that impede project efficiency and productivity. Industry experts have noted that the absence of standardised tools for data sharing is a major cause of miscommunication and rework. Another major issue for both project owners and teams is data visibility, in which one team does not have access to the data of another. Worse, nearly no one has complete project status information. Because many teams may require the same set of data, this circumstance frequently results in data duplication. Also, having erroneous or obsolete data with one team - say, the contractor or fabricator - when the structural engineering team has already made changes to it can stymie project progress. These issues can be effectively addressed by using the right methodology of connected construction, which offers better data visibility and accuracy for all project stakeholders. Every transformation initiative must start with clear objectives that tie to larger company goals. This will ensure that the initiative receives the attention, support, and focus needed. The outcomes of Connected Construction become even more valuable when they align with larger strategic initiatives and economics within the company. Any Connected Construction initiative needs more than a budget for technology; it needs top-down support and endorsement. Collaboration must become integral to company’s culture, focus, and execution. To ensure the transition momentum is maintained, it must be anchored in milestones and measured with clearly defined metrics. This way, you can track and communicate results, celebrate successes,

and keep everyone focused for the long haul. Data is invaluable in a Connected Construction ecosystem. Inventorying the data the company currently collects, quantifying its value and exploring new ways it can help the company make better and faster decisions is a prerequisite. The construction industry has dealt with the same problems for decades now. Point solutions can make incremental improvements, but to make massive strides we need to address the disconnects between people, processes, and technology that exist today. Connected Construction closes the gaps and creates transparency by providing an ecosystem for all stakeholders involved in the project lifecycle to access and share data, and work collaboratively toward a common end result. Paul Wallett, Regional Director, Middle East and India, Trimble Solutions.

ARASH JALILI

UNIQUE PROPERTIES

Why invest in Dubai?

ollowing the foreign property ownership decree in 2002, which allowed non-citizens to own property in Dubai, the city has seen a construction boom attracting investors from across not only the nation but the globe. Today, Dubai offers many investment opportunities in both the residential and commercial sectors. But what exactly makes Dubai a haven for investors in the property space? IT IS A HIGHLY REGULATED INDUSTRY

Real estate investment in Dubai is governed by a set of laws and regulations aimed at protecting

COMMENT

investors' interests. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) handles all registration of sales and purchases of land, in addition to approving, organizing, and documenting transactions concerning registered land and real estate in Dubai. Additionally, the Real Estate Registration Agency (RERA) puts legal frameworks and mechanisms in place to regulate the activity of real estate developments, owners associations, and brokerage companies, helping ensure a stable and solid foundation for all transactions to take place. There are also several services available for investors from far and wide to help make this process as easy as possible. COMPETITIVE PRICING AND ATTRACTIVE RENTAL YIELDS

Buying to let is a lucrative investment as rentals remain the popular choices for buyers looking to make a steady investment with attractive property prices and payment plans, and more. Investors looking at buy-to-let properties in Dubai can expect as much as 10% annual rental income, with short-term rentals and holiday homes. Furthermore, Dubai property rental yields are significantly higher than those offered in other popular global hubs such as London, Toronto and New York. Recent data also lists Dubai as the most ‘affordable’ city to purchase a home compared with other major international hubs such as Hong Kong, Paris and Singapore. FAVOURABLE TAXING CONDITIONS

The real estate sector is no exception to Dubai’s favourable taxation system, which is known for its tax-free real estate investments. In Dubai, real estate investors gain maximum profit without paying property tax. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

Whether near the beach, in the middle of the city, or secluded in the calm desert, location remains an essential investment element in Dubai's real estate that can largely influence the return on investment. With a vast landscape full of unique properties and communities, there is something for everyone looking to buy to live. Other factors to consider when looking at the market include facilities and proximity to transport and school, size, quality, maintenance costs, interest rates, and market conditions at the time of purchase. Arash Jalili, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unique Properties, UAE HQ.

YOUSUF FAKHRUDDIN FAKHRUDDIN PROPERTIES

How sustainable are sustainable solutions?

he green agenda in real estate is increasingly being taken into account, with the UAE government continuing to pursue sustainability and environmental conservation proactively. Sustainable practices are increasingly being used in construction projects as developers can see the numerous advantages of environmentally friendly structures. These benefits include reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change and creating prosperous communities that can help propel economic recovery and development. In addition, new technologies are providing sustainable and innovative solutions to climate change, which offer developers a chance to create carbon-conscious buildings. However, it is essential to consider whether these sustainable solutions are genuinely sustainable for developers in the long run. Though sustainable buildings may cost more to construct initially, they are more cost-effective in the long run and offer several other benefits that make them well worth the investment. Green buildings also create jobs, spur economic growth, and improve public health. Green buildings are not only more environmentally friendly, but they can also offer significant cost savings in terms of energy and water usage. In addition, they provide occupants with a healthier and more comfortable environment. As the UAE continues become more invested towards sustainability, we can expect to see more developers following suit and reaping the

rewards of building a better world. The recent Expo 2020 event in Dubai was a major propeller for sustainable development and technology integration. Its aftermath is a clear indication that the market is ripe for change and that there is a growing demand for sustainable solutions. According to research, carbon-conscious buildings will not only appreciate in value as people become more committed to environmentally responsible projects, but they also have the capacity to save up to 30% on energy consumption, according to research. The numerous benefits of carbon-friendly structures, combined with lower maintenance costs, make the slightly higher first investment immensely worthwhile for builders. Understandably, many occupants may be reluctant to spend more on standalone solutions that will benefit the environment in the future when they can save money today by moving into conventional, frequently unsustainably constructed buildings. As a result, since developers may do so at a far greater (and cheaper) scale than any single homeowner alone, the obligation for obtaining, integrating, and affording long-term answers rests on them. It is not difficult to integrate and combine a variety of these long-term solutions, and more significantly, it is cheap when planned correctly. For example, circular water management systems are affordable and save tenants money on their water bills while also optimising usage and recycling. Every new construction project should have these efficient decentralized water recycling systems. Paint and glass that are more energy-efficient also help to lower operational expenses by reducing the need for maintenance and repainting. On the other hand, automated lighting systems help save a lot of electricity as they turn off the lights when they are not in use. Furthermore, BMS enables more sophisticated automation capabilities that improve assets and reduce maintenance. This translates to significant yearly cost savings over the life of the structure. Looking ahead, it is clear that the market for sustainable buildings is only going to grow. The government’s supportive policies present an excellent opportunity for developers who are willing to invest in green architecture and in the long run, these investments will pay off in terms of lower operating costs, higher tenant satisfaction, and a more robust bottom line. Yousuf Fakhruddin is CEO at Fakhruddin Properties. MEConstructionNews.com | June 2022

PROGRESS REPORT

Final update

Infrastructure works completed on AlShahd 2 Infrastructure works completed on Jordanian-based, sustainabilityfocused, residential project

lShahd Jordan Real Estate Development Company, a business unit of the Dubai-based Nobles Properties, has announced the completion of AlShahd 2 infrastructure works, in compliance with the Ministry of Local Administration’s requirements. In a statement, the developer said that work on the Jordan-based project included rehabilitation of the surrounding road network, building of a community garden, gates and

June 2022 | MEConstructionNews.com

pedestrian pathways; as well as concrete curbs to the road network and planted greenery, which reflects the company’s policy of ensuring sustainability is an integral part of its projects. Wael Qassem, Nobles Properties’ Managing Director, said: “We made sure the infrastructure works applied the highest technical standards possible and finished well within schedule.” He also confirmed that the infrastructure works included the laying of road, water, and electricity networks. “We are committed to adding value to our developments, so we’ve also invested in aesthetic features that enhance the environment for Nobles’ customers,” he emphasised. With engineering efforts complete, Qassem said that Nobles Properties is now focused on completing the official paperwork necessary to hand over plots to their respective owners, ready for construction to begin. Omar Ayesh, Chairman of the Nobles Group Board of Directors,

Strong appetite Al Shahd 2 was sold out within days of a private offering to existing clients, highlighting the strong appetite in the Jordanian market.

$100m

The project is one of several $100m+ valued projects in the pipeline for the developer

congratulated his team on the timely completion of engineering and landscaping activity. He added that such accomplishments are an important continuation of successfully developed projects in the Jordanian real estate market. Ayesh reiterated the group’s commitment to the Hashemite kingdom, indicating that preparations were underway for the sale of AlShahd 3 plots in May 2022. The upcoming launch is one of several projects in the pipeline valued at over USD$100 million in the residential, hospitality and industrial sectors. It is part of the group’s goal of developing sustainable, environmentally friendly projects with distinctive features, he added. The developer had recently announced it had sold out the AlShahd 2 within days of a private offering to existing clients, which the company deemed an exceptional accomplishment within the Jordanian property market.

A Bukhatir Group Company

Big Project ME June 2022

Articles inside

The Briefing

The Big Picture

Analysis

Comments