Achieving Sustainability through Façades in the Middle East · Bioclimatic Façade Architecture:...

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH FAÇADES IN THE MIDDLE EAST 1

Achieving Sustainability through Façades in the Middle East

Copyright © 2015 IQPC Middle East. All rights reserved.

Produced by IQPC Middle East in association with the 2nd Annual Façade Design and Engineering UAE Summit taking place from 13-15 September 2015 in Dubai, UAE.

2ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH FAÇADES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The global construction industry is currently undergoing a huge surge in activity both in established and emerging markets. The recently released Global Construction 2025 report predicts that the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to achieve an annual worth of $15 trillion worldwide by 2025. It also estimates that by 2050, there will be an additional two billion city dwellers as increasing opportunities in the world’s cities drive steady urbanisation.1

Sustainable urbanisation is of particular importance in the Middle East, as its countries undergo rapid expansion and motorisation. In order to promote ecological sustainability in the construction industry, “green building” regulations have grown in range and impact over the last five years. Fortunately, major construction companies operating in the GCC have already demonstrated their commitment to sustainable building practices in accordance with the requirements of regulators both international (such as the US Green Building Council) and local (e.g.: Emirates Green Building Council).2

In order to comply with the heightened regulatory measures and construct greener, more sustainable buildings, construction companies are eager to research and develop innovative new façade products and solutions that will in turn help to contribute to building better cities for a greener future in the region.

Adhering to the Regulations

“We’re not bound by the Kyoto Protocol, because we are classified as a developing country, but all the stakeholders are conscious of the need to go green, of the need to reduce the country’s footprint.” – Ulysses Papadopoulos, Founder and Managing partner of GreenEmirates Consultants

“When we (the EGBC) started out in 2006, things were very different. I remember talking about Green Buildings and not having many takers. But the day it became a mandate that every building in Dubai has to be green, a change was felt overnight. The entire industry was suddenly talking about building green.” – Sarfraz Dairkee, the Secretary of the Board at the Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC)

1Global Construction Perspectives, Global Construction 2025, 01/06/20132Reuters Zawya, How Green are We?, 13/05/2015

“To achieve a lasting transition towards sustainability, large-scale conversion of our built environment – cities, transport systems, power generation - is key.Infrastructure built today determines tomorrow’s burdens.”Helga Weisz, Lead Editor for Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research


The UAE is seen as a massive enabler of sustainable building practices, thanks to the efforts of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the EGBC to lay out clear and comprehensive regulatory framework in all of the Emirates, such as the Dubai Municipality’s Green Building Regulations and Specifications. Attitudes towards green building have changed so much over the past 10 years, that most construction companies have already voluntarily adopted more sustainable building practices and green facility management strategies, seeing it as a business imperative rather than an enforced constraint.

This changing attitude extends beyond the UAE and into the other countries of the GCC, where key construction projects are being conducted with a heavy emphasis on sustainability. For example, in Saudi Arabia, the King Abdulla University of Science and Technology (KAUST), is the site of the largest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum project in the world.3

Similarly, Bahrain is carrying out comprehensive measures to make the façades of its government buildings more efficient, including the installing of thermal insulation on windows and switching from fluorescent to LED lighting. Oman is also adopting energy-conservation solutions and green building concepts in order to save energy and reduce power consumption.4

New Façade Technologies Improving Sustainability Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GFRC): This is one of the most versatile building materials available to architects and engineers, as it can be as much as 75% lighter than precast concrete depending on its composition. GFRC still retains a flexural strength as high as 4000 psi with a very high strength-to-weight ratio. In addition, it is remarkable, adaptable and can be sprayed or poured into a mould in order to form any complex shape. Therefore, the building’s architect doesn’t need to compromise on their aesthetic vision for the finished construction.

As for its green building properties, GFRC contains naturally-occurring materials that have no adverse effect on the environment. The use of recycled aggregates such as glass, sand, metals and other materials give GFRC a modern, adaptable look without causing ecological damage. The inclusion of such recycled content also awards the project’s designers LEED points for the completed building.5

“When we (the EGBC) started out in 2006, things were very different. I remember talking about Green Buildings and not having many takers. But the day it became a mandate that every building in Dubai has to be green, a change was felt overnight. The entire industry was suddenly talking about building green.” Sarfraz Dairkee, the Secretary of the Board at the Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC)

3Construction Week Online, Largest LEED Platinum project in the world, 28/06/20104 Reuters Zawya, How Green are We?, 13/05/20155Concrete Network, Benefits of GFRC


Bioclimatic Façade Architecture: This is an important new international design trend that can help to reduce building energy requirements where there is currently an overreliance on air-conditioning in areas with a hot or humid climate.6

It refers to designing building façades using local climatic conditions to improve thermal and visual comfort. These designs provide protection from summer sun, reduce winter heat loss, and make use of the environment (e.g. sun, air, wind, vegetation, water, soil, and sky) for building heating, cooling, and lighting. Stainless steel is being used for innovative, award-winning, bioclimatic projects across the Middle East because of its longevity and low maintenance requirements.

Second-Skin/Double-Skin Façade Technology: In bioclimatic design, two façade layers, an insulated wall and a second shading or sheltering layer, are used so that the inner wall is shielded from weather. The windows in the inner wall are operable and sometimes computer controlled to maximise natural ventilation. A variety of technologies are currently being used for the outer façade including louvers, woven mesh, perforated screens and green (plant) screens. They may actively change with varying conditions or remain passively fixed.

The outer façade can transform the appearance of lower-cost new buildings or revitalise outdated existing façades at a much more reasonable cost than a more elaborate curtain wall. This makes them a significantly more cost-effective and aesthetic choice for renovation or new construction projects while still following sustainable building best practices.

The main advantages of this kind of façade technology are increased natural ventilation, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, energy savings and reduced environmental impacts. 7

Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP): An immensely versatile product which can be used for many applications where conventional materials cannot meet required specifications such as fire ratings, impact resistance and weight considerations. GRP is manufactured by combining hundreds of glass strands with pigmented thermosetting UV resins. This produces immensely strong, durable and sustainable cladding panels that maintain an attractive appearance.

Nanotechnology: Nanotechnology is the use of very small particles of material either by themselves or by their manipulation to create new large scale materials. Building façades can benefit from nanotechnology in a wide variety of ways. For example, newly designed structural materials offer attractive properties such as lighter and stronger composites, fire and sound insulation, low maintenance coating, water repellents, self-disinfecting surfaces, air cleaners and solar cells to name a few.8

6University of Nottingham, The Applicability of the Bio-Climatic Façade in a Hot and Humid Climate, 10/09/20137Lund Institute of Technology, Double Skin Facades, 20068Jaypee University of Information Technology, Application of Nanotechnology in Building Materials, 01/10/2012

“We have a city made to collect solar energy ... the sidewalks, all the industrial buildings with inclined roofs, all (other) buildings’ roofs, all the walls, the options are endless.” Abdullah Raffia, Assistant Director - General for Engineering andPlanning of DubaiMunicipality


Key Projects that are Encouraging Sustainable Building“We have a city made to collect solar energy ... the sidewalks, all the industrial buildings with inclined roofs, all (other) buildings’ roofs, all the walls, the options are endless.” – Abdullah Raffia, Dubai Municipality Assistant Director-General for Engineering and Planning

The Dubai Frame, a 150m-high window frame-shaped observatory is the latest of the iconic building projects to be carried out in the Emirate. Stylish and innovative in appearance, its façade also adds sustainability into the mix as it will be covered in photovoltaic tiles that will harness the sun’s rays and produce solar energy to be fed back into Dubai’s power grid.9

The application of sustainable building principles in the construction of huge projects such as the Dubai Frame is an indication of how seriously the UAE is committed to its green future targets. According to key members of the Dubai Municipality, the city will be among the top ten most sustainable urban centres in the world by 2020.10

In Saudi Arabia, over 300 green building projects are currently underway, accounting for 15% of the 2000 such projects under development across the Middle East. Most of the building sites are located in the capital Riyadh and by the end of 2014, their combined area exceeded 20 million square feet. That figure is expected to double over the course of 2015 and the current overall investment in the kingdom’s green building projects is estimated at $53 billion and rising.11

These projects take their cue from the green building façade technology of KAUST’s pioneering green campus. The university buildings have been specifically constructed using bioclimatic architecture principles to utilise natural light

and ventilation. Also, the buildings support a roof capable of carrying 12,000 square meters of solar thermal and photovoltaic arrays. These arrays harness the sun’s rays to produce 3,300 megawatt hours of clean energy every year.12

In Qatar, construction companies are attempting to meet energy-efficiency targets by experimenting with the implementation of nanotechnology in their façade systems. Matt Kitson, Regional Director for Hilson Moran’s Qatar operations, said in a recent interview that they are using a nanotech derivative for a unique kind of paint which is manufactured by Japanese research labs working for their national space agencies to protect the nozzle of their rockets from externalities such as dust and also deflect direct sunlight. This paint is currently being tested on the façades of a number of the company’s current construction projects to test its potential to reduce wearing and improve the buildings’ energy consumption rates.13

He also outlined future plans to further improve the long-term sustainability of the company’s façades:

“Another technology we’re keen on bringing into Qatar’s market is electrochromic glass, which contains photovoltaic cells that enable the transition of a façade’s appearance and rate of sunlight deflection. We’re working with our partners here to hopefully use this glass on some of the World Cup 2022 projects too. It is a very relevant alternative for sectors which comprise of high-rise towers with glass façades, and it is also becoming very economical by industry standards now.” 14

9Khaleej Times, Sunshine harnessing solar tiles to cover Dubai Frame, 03/03/201510UAE Interact, Dubai to be the most sustainable city by 2020, 10/12/201311Arab News, KSA captures 15% of Arab green building projects, 17/01/201512KAUST, Green Campus Overview13Big Project Middle East, Use of nanotechnology underway in Qatar’s façade market, 21/08/201414Ibid

Cities across the Middle East face a host of environmental and sustainability challenges ranging from water shortages to an increasing carbon footprint through rising energy use and motorisation. Adopting more sustainable building practices and façade technologies offers a wide range of ecological and economic benefits such as improved energy efficiency and reduced pollution.


Building a Better, Greener FutureCities across the Middle East face a host of environmental and sustainability challenges ranging from water shortages to an increasing carbon footprint through rising energy use and motorisation. Adopting more sustainable building practices and façade technologies offers a wide range of ecological and economic benefits such as improved energy efficiency and reduced pollution.

Fortunately, the region has made great strides towards the wholesale adoption of green building techniques and technologies in recent years. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are spearheading the sustainability trend in the region, having the highest share of green buildings in the Middle East and North Africa. From iconic landmark constructions such as the Dubai Frame and Saudi Arabia’s KAUST to the thousands of green building projects spread across the GCC, the concept of sustainable building is rapidly penetrating the consciousness of the region’s construction industry players.

This proactive attitude is further encouraged and supported by regulatory authorities in Middle Eastern countries where sustainability ranks as a top priority. Exemplars like Qatar and the UAE have come up with their

own green building rating system to incorporate socio-economic, environmental and cultural aspects in modern architecture. Qatar’s Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) is recognised as the world’s most comprehensive green building rating system, while Abu Dhabi’s Pearl Rating System (PRS) has also garnered international approval in the global green buildings sector.15

If the Middle East’s construction industry continues in its wholehearted acceptance of sustainable building practices, then the long-term investment will begin to bear increasing dividends in terms of reduced construction and operating costs, reduced ecological impact and a widening range of socio-economic opportunities.

15Eco Mena, Green Buildings and the Middle East, 06/12/2014


Sources:http://www.globalconstruction2025.com/

https://www.zawya.com/story/How_green_are_we-ZAWYA20150513074331/

https://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/towards-a-new-industrial-revolution-studying-societies2019-metabolism

http://www.wamda.com/2015/05/from-oil-to-tech-rethinking-work-in-mena

http://www.eco-business.com/press-releases/dubais-skyscraper-blueprint-presented-at-smart-skyscrapers-summit/

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?section=nationgeneral&xfile=data/nationgeneral/2015/March/nationgeneral_March22.xml

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/changing-the-face-of-dubai-10-major-construction-projects

http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/Dubai_to_be_the_most_sustainable_city_by_2020_Nasser_Lootah/58748.htm

http://naturalleader.com/research/2012-world-green-building-trends/

http://www.energydigital.com/greentech/2182/Middle-East-is-going-green

http://www.arabnews.com/news/690756

http://gfrcconstruction.com/gfrc-glass-fiber-reinforced-concrete-and-sustainable-design/

http://www.concretenetwork.com/glass-fiber-reinforced-concrete/benefits.html

http://www.kaust.edu.sa/green-campus-sustainable-development.html

http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/technology/2012/T30.pdf

http://www.ecomena.org/green-buildings/

http://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1169372/1169372.pdf

http://www.ijera.com/papers/Vol2_issue5/FX2510771082.pdf

http://www.ecbcs.org/docs/Annex_43_Task34-Double_Skin_Facades_A_Literature_Review.pd


Copyright © 2015 IQPC Middle East. All rights reserved.

This document may not be copied, published, or distributed, in whole or in part, or modified in any way, including by removing the copyright notice or references to IQPC Middle East, without the written permission of the copyright owners. This document and the information contained herein is provided on an “AS IS” basis and IQPC Middle East disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to any warranty that the use of the information herein will not infringe any ownership rights or any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Publisher contact details: Shrutika Shetty| IQPC Middle East | [email protected]

DESIGN & ENGINEERING | UAE SUMMIT

Join pioneers from the UAE and across the globe working on some of the most ground-breaking façades including Ramboll, Woods Bagot, Hilson Moran, Atkins, Aedas, U+A Architects, BH Architects, Benoy and many more to discuss design and engineering challenges for 2015 and beyond at the 2nd Annual Façade Design and Engineering UAE Summit,, taking place from 13-15 September 2015 at the Conrad Dubai, UAE.

Share your expertise! Have an innovative façade product or technology to showcase to the leading architects, consultants and project owners involved with projects in the UAE? If so, contact us today at [email protected] / +971 4 360 2800 to discuss your participation at this event.

For more information visit: www.facades-uae.com

Achieving Sustainability through Façades in the Middle East · Bioclimatic Façade Architecture:...

Documents

Transcript of Achieving Sustainability through Façades in the Middle East · Bioclimatic Façade Architecture:...