Will the UAE’s Irena win put sustainability on top?

With the UAE in top position to become the permanent home of the new International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) this week, sustainability turns prime.

At the time of going to press, 104 countries had signed up as statutory members with Irena, including all the GCC countries except Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

On June 29, member states will meet at Sharm Al Shaikh in Egypt, to choose the country that will host the headquarters of the global environment agency.

Being green and sustainable have long been a sales pitch for many developers and suppliers in the region, but with the UAE becoming home to the world’s only inter-government environment agency, many will now have to put their money where their mouths are.

Speaking to Construction Week, John Vernon, market field manager for Sika, a construction chemicals company that specialises in green roofing said, “If the UAE wins it’s going to be excellent for the region. All the lip service going around over sustainability will now hopefully be replaced by some sincere action and dedication to becoming green.”

UK-based certification body, UK Cares’ boss Ben Bowsher seconds the UAE’s Irena bid. “I’m sure this will be the best thing for the region and will do away with any insincere green agendas that existed,” he said.

Last week Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s home-bred renewable energy company, engaged Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority to pursue projects that will reduce carbon emission from the production and processing of oil and gas. So the regional governments have already begun taking the message of sustainability forward.

But will the construction industry embrace this with as much enthusiasm?

Abu Dhabi-based precast concrete manufacturer Green Precast, which manufactures its products onsite, seems to already be heavily involved in green production.

“Besides our construction activities we spend a considerable amount of time on research and development to ensure that we always come out with a greener product than the conventional products that are available,” said Green Precast CEO Salvatore Saker.

“You can never have the greenest product. There’s always further research and development to do.”

But even though the term ‘green precast’ sounds more like an oxymoron, Saker insists it’s not.

“We have found a way to make the precast, which is concrete and steel, greener in concept – not just in theory. Ninety nine percent of what we deliver to the site gets used. There is hardly any wastage. You have a very clean construction site with almost zero wastage,” he said.

Saker points out that production on site saves thousands worth of transit kilometres every day. If a company is able to demonstrate conservation in some form, it makes for a greener rating.

Green products could soon become the standard if the UAE wins the Irena bid but designers become more functional and sustainable or will they still think cost?

American design firm Burt Hill is a beacon of sustainability in this regard according to the firm’s UAE healthcare director Norman Soto. He is currently designing a US $871 million (AED3.2 billion) hospital in Abu Dhabi. Hospitals in the emirate are currently exempt from any green programme regulations according to him, but Burt Hill has still designed it to Leed specifications.

“Burt Hill always designs with sustainability in mind. Any buildings we do, we always involve the concept of sustainability and conservation, no matter what. We applied our own standards so that in the future if it does come under any regulation, it would still qualify as a Leed silver or Estidama’s 3-Pearl certification,” he said.

But with the downturn taking its toll on liquidity in the market, it is believed that firms’ sustainability departments are the ones to take the first hit.

“That’s not true,” said Steven Miller, managing director of New York-based architectural firm FXFowle.

“We’re always asked to design to green standards. And, nowadays, everyone has begun to ask for some sort of green certification for their buildings. The industry is no longer unaware of the benefits of having sustainable projects. They know and they want it. Sustainability hasn’t taken a back-seat on the region’s agenda at all.”

The results from this week’s Irena vote in Egypt, will single out the country that will globally uphold sustainability and environmentally friendly practices.

A powerful position as well as a massively responsible one.

Visit www.ConstructionWeekonline.com to see the entire list of Irena members.

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