THE CHANGING MARKET AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

The current construction market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is experiencing a revolutionary change by adapting new technologies towards a greener environment.

Human existence in the modern world, to achieve rapid economic growth, have over-utilised lands, seas, rivers, forests, etc. Not only are these renewable natural resources but they are also creating a huge impact on non-renewable resources (fossil fuels, minerals, etc.). The entire ecosystem suffers due to pollution (air/water/soil), and the emission of carbon dioxide significantly exceeds the capacity of natural carbon to regenerate, leading to the depletion of the ozone layer. In the Middle Eastern construction industry, especially in the building sector, the current trend is to focus on sustainability. This has resulted in Dubai being ranked among the top 10 cities globally with the highest number of green certified buildings. Estidama, meaning ‘Sustainability’ in Arabic, was launched in 2008 by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi, as a part of Abu Dhabi Vision 2030. The planning council of Abu Dhabi developed the Estidama Pearl Rating System (PRS) for the purpose of green building ratings introducing the 5-Pearls system. Since 2010, the Abu Dhabi Government has mandated the requirement of a minimum of 2-Pearls for Government buildings and 1-Pearl for all other new buildings. As a part of Dubai’s Smart City Strategy, in 2016 the Dubai Municipality mandated the implementation of a green building standard for all buildings in Dubai. Al Sa'fat, as a green building rating system, was approved by His Highness Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai in 2016, and replaced the Dubai Green Building Regulations and Specifications in October 2020. To obtain Silver Sa’fa for all new buildings in the Emirate, this system comprises a set of mandatory requirements. If building owners intend to obtain Gold or Platinum Sa’fa, they may apply a set of additional requirements. The aim of the Al Sa’fat system is to improve the safety of building users and to create promising sustainable environments for present and future generations. A collaborative approach of integration between new technologies and green systems is also one of the major encouragements of this new system. The Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy aims to achieve a 30% reduction in energy and water consumption by 2030 and, in 2050, it is planned to achieve clean energy fuel mix by 75%.

In Dubai, there are more than 1500 certified and registered LEED projects. Dubai has achieved Platinum LEED city level rating, the first in the region to achieve this milestone. ICD Brookfield Place at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) comprises 1.1 million square feet (53-storey) and was awarded LEED-Platinum. This is a first in the region to achieve such status for a large and tall building and it is ranked in the list of 20 largest buildings globally recognised as LEED-Platinum certified.

Sustainable construction is rapidly growing in the region with an innovative approach collaborating with new construction technologies and materials. As Quantity Surveyors play different roles in various sectors of construction and real estate industry, the foremost responsibility is to make people aware about the importance of sustainable buildings. This concept must be included in marketing strategies for new clients and customers. The Quantity Surveyor’s role is evolving, and traditional roles of Quantity Surveyors will not be sufficient to meet the environmental performances, social responsibility, significant advancement, architectural quality, and economic efficiency. As a profession, Quantity Surveyors are actively engaging to establish a base to ensure that owners and developers are getting sustainable construction advice in terms of cost and

time. To do so, the Quantity Surveyor’s role has expanded to the following areas and form part of current services that can be offered to owners and clients:

1. sustainable life-cycle management and promoting the benefits 2. sustainable strategies and cost effectiveness

3. green capital costs - analysing and advising 4. green leasing and green financing 5. value engineering and value management of sustainable solutions 6. sustainable building property performance appraisals. In addition, Quantity Surveyors can focus on eco-friendly construction advice by considering the following: 1. carbon footprint 2. green building rating systems/ assessments

3. green costing 4. BIM.

Carbon footprint is the unit that measures current levels of carbon emissions. Measuring current carbon levels of a building can accurately establish the initial carbon management strategy. Creating benchmarks of these carbon footprints, building owners can compare carbon performance with the other properties in the region. Identifying energy efficient areas by developing carbon management strategy, building owners would have the opportunity to maximise returns and energy efficiencies in lone run.

With the requirement of green building ratings in the UAE, competencies of Quantity Surveyors enriched with the knowledge of advanced technologies and green building materials are being developed in the region. To manage extra over costs, which arise at different levels of green building certification, Quantity Surveyors have to develop cost models to fulfill client’s requirements.

Most government funded projects in the region are now adopting BIM for better construction and maintenance processes. Where visual presentation is required, the best current solution is to develop a BIM model. A major advancement of BIM is Quantitative Information Model (QIM) which enables Quantity Surveyors to generate Bill of Quantities (BOQs) automatically. Moreover, this is an advantage to Quantity Surveyors who can concentrate in other more important cost estimating and commercial activities, since BOQs are generated automatically. Depending on the data within the BIM model, QIM can harvest information to generate BOQs. BIM is a useful tool to demonstrate green assessment points in an object orientated CAD, lifecycle assessment related to carbon (green costing/carbon footprint), generating project related specifications, intelligent advice on construction/usage/maintenance, and real time costing.

The role of a Quantity Surveyor is always challenging due to various reasons in this unique industry. Implementing sustainable built environment principles requires a doubling of efforts since the region is still evolving its way to adapting sustainable properties in their developments. Challenges of implementing sustainable built environment can be identified as follows:

1. lack of awareness in sustainable construction and importance 2. lack of awareness in social responsibility and goodwill towards society 3. cost of acquiring knowledge related to the sustainable built environment such as seminars, courses, and conferences 4. lack of opportunities to get hand on experience in sustainable built environment.

Quantity Surveyors within the region are seeking knowledge related to sustainable built environments such as new technologies and green building materials. Trends in attending seminars and conferences aid young Quantity Surveyors to develop awareness of society at all levels. Also, companies building new cost data bases for sustainable building try to create best value for money. Most importantly, a collaborative approach of working with other professionals such as IT developers within the construction industry is creating more reliable cost advice to owners and developers.

St Andrews Beach House, Architect: Austin Maynard, Photographer: Derek Swalwell Clipper Quay, Architect: Quin Wyatt, Photographer: Robert Hamer

For what is one of human-kind’s oldest construction materials, timber is mighty high-tech. Over the years we have seen the humble tree grown, harvested, and processed into a wide variety of products and materials, and now a quickly growing market appetite for tall timber buildings is driving an extensive assortment of innovations.

Lightweight framing constructions systems are quickly becoming easier and more efficient to build – whether stick framing on site with the aid of a wide range of new connectors and brackets, or prefabricating wall and floor panels offsite for a speedy on-site assembly. In the same breath, engineered wood products such as cross laminated timber, glulam, and laminated veneer lumber to name a few are being produced and fabricated utilising state of the art machinery. Prefabricated elements are typically processed using large format CNC cutting machines programmed to cut, drill, and chase as required to achieve a digital design with better than millimetre accuracy. These gargantuan automated machines pre-cut penetrations, pre-drill holes, and fabricate complex connection interfaces long before the element gets to site, drastically reducing on-site labour while improving both on-site safety, and providing higher quality building envelope for the end-user. Meanwhile, lightweight framing systems have progressed in leaps and bounds over recent years. Carpenters framing a house now have a choice of dozens of highly engineered and rigorously tested screws, connectors, hangers, brackets, rods, and straps. Where two screws were once required one screw will now suffice, and where sheets of plywood bracing were once called for now a single prefabricated wall brace is effective. These innovations may be incremental in nature, but their combined effect can be seen in faster, safer, and higher quality timber frame builds around the country. While there is plenty of innovation in Australia’s construction industry, timber construction systems are well and truly leading the charge. For our only renewable building material to have reached current levels of technological sophistication is exciting, but with a wide range of new wood-based products, connectors, and construction systems on the horizon the future is looking high-tech!

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